Thunder gridders earn a 24-7 victory at Elmhurst

Elmhurst, Ill. (10/15) The Wheaton Thunder football team created and capitalized on five Elmhurst College turnovers to gain a 24-7 victory (Boxscore) at the Bluejays' Langhorst Field on Saturday afternoon. All three of Wheaton's touchdowns came following an Elmhurst turnover that occurred in Bluejays territory. Wheaton, ranked 23rd in this week's American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Top 25, improves to 5-1 and 2-1 in CCIW games. Elmhurst is now 5-1 overall and 2-1 in league play. The Thunder will be at Illinois Wesleyan (1-5/0-3) next Saturday at 1 PM, while the Bluejays will host North Central (6-0/3-0). Wheaton 's game will be broadcast live from Bloomington next Saturday on WETN radio at 88.1 FM in the Wheaton area and on the internet at www.wetn.org.

Elmhurst fumbled at its own 11-yard line three plays into the opening drive of the game and Wheaton senior Scott Ast recovered the ball for the Orange and Blue'. Wheaton took advantage of the field position three plays later when junior fullback Brad Thornton (LEFT) scored on a two-yard touchdown run to give the guests a 7-0 lead with 12:52 remaining in the first quarter. Elmhurst tied the game at 7-7 when quarterback Chris Kudyba threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Todd Evans with 13:20 left in the first half. Junior tailback Chaz Black helped Wheaton regain a 14-7 lead when he scored on a one-yard touchdown run with 4:47 remaining in the first half. Wheaton 's nine-play scoring drive of 30 yards was setup by an Elmhurst interception that was picked off by Thunder senior safety Todd Travis at the Bluejays' 30-yard line.

Senior Andrew Day kicked a 37-yard field goal with 11:08 remaining in the third quarter to extend Wheaton 's lead to 17-7. Day's field goal was at the conclusion of a 13-play drive of 72 yards, highlighted by 35 rushing yards on three carries by Thornton. With 6:26 remaining in the fourth quarter Wheaton forced an Elmhurst fumble that was recovered by senior defensive end Jason Isaacson (RIGHT) at the Bluejays' 33-yard line. On the third play following the fumble, senior tailback Luke Bazacas reached the end zone on a 27-yard run to give Wheaton a 24-7 lead with 5:12 left in the fourth quarter. Bazacas accounted for all 33 rushing yards on the three-play scoring drive. Thunder defensive back Jon Shuptar intercepted an Elmhurst pass at the Thunder eight-yard-line with 2:12 left in the game to stop the Bluejays' final scoring opportunity.

Wheaton recorded 260 yards of total offense, with 202 rushing yards and 58 passing yards. Wheaton ran 67 offensive plays, averaging 3.9 yards per play on the day. Elmhurst tallied 335 yards of offense, with 210 passing yards and 125 rushing yards. The Bluejays ran 80 offensive plays, averaging 4.2 yards per play.

Junior linebacker Jonathan Toal led the Thunder defense with 11 total tackles, an interception and two tackles for lost yardage (-3 yards). Senior linebacker Jeff Grandy and freshman defensive back Pete Ittersagen each recorded six total tackles. Tim March and Isaacson each made five tackles.

Bazacas (LEFT) ran for 107 yards on 23 carries, with one touchdown. Thornton carried the ball seven times for 52 yards and a touchdown, while Black racked up 40 rushing yards on 13 carries with his second quarter touchdown. Thunder quarterback Jeremy Chupp completed six of his 20 passing attempts for 58 yards.

Ward Brady led the Elmhurst defense with 17 total tackles. Zach Spears and Kyle Maple each made nine total tackles on the day for the Bluejays.

Kudyba completed 17 of his 37 passing attempts, with one touchdown pass and he was also Elmhurst 's leading rusher with 64 yards on 17 carries. Evans caught four passes four 92 yards, with the lone Elmhurst touchdown. Michael Cooley caught five passes for 64 yards and Eric Luna carried the ball 17 times for 50 yards.