Wheaton Thunder Football 2004 Game Stories Wheaton's season ends with a 27-6 loss at #1-ranked Mount Union

Alliance, Ohio The Wheaton College football team (10-2) had its season ended on Saturday with a 27-6 loss (Boxscore) at top-ranked Mount Union College (11-0) in the Second Round of the NCAA Division III Football Playoffs. The Thunder, ranked 11th in the final American Football Coaches Poll (AFCA) of the regular season, ends with its third consecutive CCIW Championship and third NCAA straight playoff appearance. Wheaton head coach Mike Swider said of his team's season, We had a great season. Any time you win 10 games you have had a great season. We have been able to win at least 10 games in each of the last three seasons.

Mount Union took the opening kickoff, but forced the Purple Raiders to punt. Wheaton marched the ball down the field 69 yards over 15 plays in 5:40. Junior Andrew Day (PICTURED LEFT) kicked a 31-yard field goal to give the guests a 3-0 lead. Day's field goal concluded a 15-play drive of 69 yards that lasted 5:56. The Purple Raiders took a 6-3 lead with 1:58 remaining in the first quarter when Kelechi Ibeh scored on a 17-yard touchdown run, but the ensuing extra point attempt failed.

Wheaton tied the game at 6-6 with 8:27 left to play in the first half with a 29-yard field goal by Day. Wheaton 's second field goal was the culmination of a 17-play drive that went 54 yards and lasted 8:26. The Purple Raiders regained the lead with a 13-6 advantage when running back Jeff Strauch scored on an 11-yard touchdown run with 5:39 left to play in the first half. Quarterback Zac Bruney increased Mount Union 's lead to 20-6 with a 36-yard touchdown run with 37-seconds left in the first half.

The two teams battled through a scoreless third quarter. Mount Union extended its lead to 27-6 with 5:44 to play in the game when Strauch broke through the Thunder defense for an 81-yard touchdown.

Wheaton recorded 316 yards of total offense, with 193 passing yards and 123 rushing yards. The Purple Raiders collected 489 yards of offense with 399 rushing yards and only 90 passing yards. Wheaton possessed the ball for 34:34 to 25:26 for Mount Union. Wheaton did have problems with turnovers as the Thunder gave the ball away five times in the game, including three occasions inside the Mount Union 30-yard line.

Junior quarterback Frank Andrews completed 17 of his 25 passing attempts for 193 yards in his first start for the Thunder. Senior receiver Brad Musso caught eight passes for 98 yards. Musso ends his brilliant career with 255 receptions for 4,287 yards. Musso leaves Wheaton with the fifth-highest receiving yardage total in Division III history. Senior Colin Sinclair (PICTURED RIGHT) caught eight passes for 86 yards. Sinclair ends his fine career in 10th place on Wheaton's all-time list for receiving yards with 1,909 career yards. Senior tailback Garrett Granberg carried the ball 25 times for 73 yards. He ends the season the season as the first player in Wheaton history to surpass 1,300 yards in a season with 1,371 yards this year. He also leaves with the second-highest career rushing yardage total in school history with 2,963 yards in his four-year career.

Safety Todd Travis made eight tackles and forced one fumble in leading a strong effort by the Thunder defense. Marcos Gutierrez (PICTURED LEFT) added seven tackles and Scott Ast and linebacker Phil Montes each had six tackles.

Strauch ran for 206 yards with two touchdowns on 25 carries to lead the Mount Union offense. Bruney carried the ball 14 times for 145 yards with his one touchdown scamper. Shaun Spisak led the Purple Raiders' defense with 18 tackles and Jesse Clum recorded 14 stops with two interceptions and a forced fumble.