Wheaton Thunder Football 2003 Game Stories Thunder gridders move on to NCAA Quarterfinals with a 16-12 win over Baldwin-Wallace (Boxscore)

LEFT: Senior tailback Dan Price leaps into the end zone to score

his second touchdown of the day and give Wheaton a 13-12 lead in a Thunder win

over Baldwin-Wallace.

Wheaton, Ill. (11/29) - The Wheaton College football team

has moved on to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III Playoffs with a 16-12

win over Baldwin-Wallace College in a second round playoff game this afternoon

at McCully Field in Wheaton, Illinois. Wheaton improves to 12-0 on the season,

while the Yellow Jackets end with a 10-2 record. Wheaton, the number-two seed

in the North Region of the Division III playoffs, will travel to top-seeded

Mount Union College next Saturday for an 11 AM CST kickoff that will be broadcast

on WETN radio and on the Internet at www.wetn.org.

Mount Union, the defending NCAA Division III Champions, advanced to the quarterfinal

with a 39-14

win over University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse today.

Baldwin-Wallace jumped out to a 12-0 lead on Wheaton, but Wheaton scored 16

unanswered points and forced two turnovers in the second half to come up with

the win. Baldwin-Wallace head coach John Snell said of his team's early

lead and the Wheaton rally, "You had two good football teams out there. (Wheaton)

did some things in the second half to get the momentum back. They just made

some plays." He said of his team, "This is a group of young men that take great

pride in what they do on the field. I think you could see that. This is a team

game and no individual player is solely responsible for anything."

Wheaton head coach Mike Swider has guided Wheaton to its first 12-win

season in school history. Swider said of his team's effort today, "This is a

football team about more than 11 or 22 players. This is about an entire team."

He continued, "Not a lot of people knew it heading into the game, but we were

pretty banged up (from last week's game). But we had people step up. We're good

because were a 'team' out there. I don't think our offense has struggled all

season like it did today, but good football teams find a way to win". Swider

said of the historic season his team has put together, "I've never been 12-0

in my life! This is as good as it gets! But it's bigger than just football at

Wheaton College. Our kids are here to grow in their walk with Christ and to

get an education. Football is just a part of that."

The Baldwin-Wallace offense was first to reach the end zone today when quarterback

Dan Larlham scored on a one-yard touchdown run to cap a 15-play drive

of 80 yards. The Yellow Jackets' point after attempt was blocked by Wheaton

to give the guests a 6-0 lead with 11:37 to play in the second quarter. Larlham's

touchdown run was setup two plays earlier with the ball at the Thunder 27-yard

line when Larlham threw a 24-yard pass to James Abbott, putting the guests

at the Thunder three-yard line. On its next drive Baldwin-Wallace scored on

a 10-yard pass from Larlham to Dave Erhman, but the two-point conversion

failed as the Yellow Jackets led 12-0 with 6:31 left in the second quarter.

Ehrman's touchdown catch was the final points of the game for the Yellow Jackets,

as Wheaton would soon put 16 unanswered points on the scoreboard. Wheaton's

first score of the game came with 2:52 left in the first half when senior tailback

Dan Price scored on an eight-yard touchdown run to cut the Yellow Jackets'

lead to 12-7. Price's touchdown capped a 10-play drive of 72 yards. A key play

in the drive occurred with the ball at the B-W 39-yard line on fourth down and

a yard to go for the first down, as Wheaton fullback Skip Ast gained

the yard that was needed, giving the hosts the opportunity to score six plays

later.

With Baldwin-Wallace leading 12-7 at halftime the Yellow Jackets took the opening

kickoff and got the ball to the Wheaton 29-yard line on fourth down with four

yards to go. The Yellow Jackets attempted to go for the first down when Wheaton

defensive tackle Ben Reedy made a critical stop to stall the guests'

drive. On the next drive of the game Wheaton took a 13-12 lead on a one-yard

touchdown run by Price with 8:27 left in the third quarter. The running attack

was critical to the drive, as the Thunder rushed for 62 yards on the eight-play

drive of 71 yards. Wheaton's next drive saw needed insurance points put on the

scoreboard as Andrew Day kicked a 24-yard field goal with 1:18 left in

the third quarter for a 16-12 Wheaton lead that would become the final score.

Day's field goal concluded a 14-play drive of 59 yards.

On the drive following Day's field goal, Baldwin-Wallace made it to the Wheaton

29-yard line when Thunder cornerback Caleb Walters intercepted a Larlham

pass at the Thunder 20-yard line. Wheaton free safety Ty Gose made a

key play late in the game when he intercepted a Larlham pass at the Wheaton

48-yard line with 1:57 to play in the game. Wheaton had the ball with 1:00 left

in the game and Baldwin-Wallace had no timeouts left when Price converted a

fourth down to secure the victory for the Thunder.

Wheaton

recorded 316 yards of total offense in the game with 190 rushing yards and 126

passing yards. Baldwin-Wallace passed for 167 yards and ran for another 85 yards

for 252 yards of total offense. The Yellow Jackets committed two turnovers,

while Wheaton did not turn the ball over in the game.

Gose (PICTURED LEFT) said of today's victory, "This means more than words can

describe. It's more than words can say. It's a tribute to our seniors who've

been together for four years." Price added, "There's no other team I'd rather

play for or no other group of guys I'd rather play with. Our offensive line

makes my job easy. I didn't have to worry about anything."

Price carried the ball 25 times for 93 yards with two touchdowns to lead the

Thunder offense. Junior tailback Garrett Granberg carried the ball 11

times for 35 yards and fullback Drew Thornfeldt had five carries for

29 yards. Quarterback Chad Bradley completed 11 of his 26 passing attempts

for 126 yards on the day. Junior receiver Brad Musso caught five passes

for 73 yards. Punter Ted Coniaris had a strong effort with five punts for 208

yards, averaging 41.6 yards per punt, including two inside the 20-yard line.

Gose led the Thunder defense with a game-high 12 total tackles, two pass deflections

and the key interception in the final minutes. Walters added seven total tackles

with an interception and three pass deflections. Linebacker Tom McAndrews

made 10 total tackles with 1-1/2 tackles for lost yardage, while fellow linebacker

Jeff Grandy had a strong effort with seven tackles and two tackles for

lost yardage (-4 yards). Reedy made nine total tackles with one tackle for lost

yardage (-2 yards).

Baldwin-Wallace receiver Dave Ehrman said of the Thunder defense, "A

lot of stuff we tried to run was there, but we missed some things. Lots of stuff

happened, too: Either we didn't have enough time or their (defensive) backs

had us covered."

For Baldwin-Wallace, Larlham completed 15 of his 29 passing attempts for 167

yards with two interceptions, one touchdown pass, seven rushing yards and a

touchdown carry. Mark Anders carried the ball 21 times for 78 yards.

David Peterson caught five passes for 65 yards.

Free safety Jeff Fox and cornerback Justin Andes led the Baldwin-Wallace

defense with 11 tackles apiece. Linebacker Justin Princehorn made nine

total tackles and strong safety Greg Koch added eight tackles. Pat

Pearson made seven tackles with one tackle for lost yardage (-2 yards) and

Nate Mitchell recorded six tackles with a quarterback sack (-3 yards).

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