Wheaton Thunder Football 2003 Game Stories Wheaton wins CCIW Championship earns a berth to the NCAA Division III Playoffs with a dramatic 28-27 win at Augustana (Boxscore)

Rock Island, Ill. (11/15) - The #4-ranked Wheaton College

football team completed an undefeated regular season with a dramatic 28-27 win

at Augustana College this afternoon. The victory gives Wheaton a 10-0 overall

record and a 7-0 record in the CCIW to secure the program's second consecutive

conference championship. The CCIW Title gives the Thunder the conference's automatic

bid to the NCAA Division III Playoffs, which begin next Saturday. Playoff pairings

will be announced on Sunday at 12 PM Central time and will be televised on ESPNews.

Information on Wheaton's participation in the playoffs will be posted on the

Wheaton website Sunday afternoon by 1 PM.

This

is Wheaton's first back-to-back conference titles since the 1958-59 seasons.

The Thunder becomes the first program to win an outright CCIW Championship in

back-to-back seasons since Augustana accomplished the feat in the 1986-87 campaigns.

Today's victory marked four consecutive Wheaton wins over Augustana for the

first time since coach Harve Chrouser's teams won eight straight over the Vikings

in 1948, 1952 and 1954-59. Head coach Mike Swider said of his team's

accomplishments, "I am excited for the football program, the players, and for

Wheaton College." Augustana finishes with a 7-3 overall record and a 6-1 record

in the CCIW.

Wheaton led 14-10 at halftime, but the Vikings countered with a field goal

and a touchdown in the third quarter to take a 20-14 lead. Wheaton regained

a 21-20 lead when quarterback Chad Bradley (PICTURED LEFT) hit Brad

Musso on a 67-yard touchdown pass with 9:35 to play in the game. Augustana

scored on a two-yard run and kicked an extra point with 1:14 to play in the

game to give the Vikings a 27-21 lead.

Wheaton

marched down the field on a five-play drive of 79 yards that was keyed by a

32-yard pass over the middle from Bradley to receiver Colin Sinclair (PICTURED

RIGHT) that started the drive. The drive concluded when Bradley found Andrew

King in the middle of the end zone on a five-yard pass to give the Thunder

a 28-27 lead with 22-seconds to play in the game. Wheaton's Todd Travis got

a piece of a 55-yard field goal attempt by Augustana as the kick fell short

and time expired for the dramatic win.

Swider said of his team's game-winning drive, "We have too many athletes to

not make the plays when it counts. I have said all along that we have a Cadillac

on offense and that was proven when it matters." He added, "Our defense kept

us in the football game, so that we had a chance to win."

The Thunder amassed 353 yards of total offense with 302 passing yards and 51

rushing yards on 47 plays for an average of 7.5 yards per play. Augustana's

vaunted rushing attack gained 273 yards on the ground and the Vikings added

another 133 passing yards for 406 yards of total offense and an average of 5.1

yards per play. Augustana possessed the ball for 42 minutes of the game, while

Wheaton controlled the pigskin for 18 minutes.

Bradley

passed for 302 yards with three touchdowns and completed 17 of his 25 passes.

Musso caught six receptions for 152 yards with two touchdowns. Sinclair caught

five catches for 101 yards and King added five receptions for 44 yards and the

game-winning touchdown.

Linebacker Tom McAndrews (PICTURED LEFT) led the Thunder defense with

14 total tackles, including seven solo hits. Seniors Michael Drach, Jeff

Mumm and Ben Reedy each made 10 total tackles, while Mumm and Reedy

each recorded a quarterback sack. Ty Gose and Jeff Grandy each

made eight total tackles on the afternoon.

Viking quarterback Brad Wendell completed eight of his 14 passing attempts

for 133 yards and he ran for 55 yards on 16 carries with a touchdown run. Aaron

Kuzniar ran for 98 yards on 16 carries, while Mike Guzman accumulated

71 yards on 19 carries with one touchdown run. Kicker Michael Clark made

two field goals, a 27-yarder and a 28-yarder, before missing his 55-yard attempt

at the conclusion of the game. Ben Hodges recorded a team-leading six

tackles with two pass deflections. Viking Mike Brasile made five tackles,

including three quarterback sacks and a forced fumble.