Illinois Wesleyan scores 16 fourth quarter points to defeat the Thunder 23-14

Bloomington, Ill. (10/22) The Illinois Wesleyan football team scored 16 fourth-quarter points to stun the 23rd-ranked Wheaton football team 23-14 today (Boxscore) on the Titans' home field. Wheaton is now 5-2 overall and 2-2 in the CCIW, while Illinois Wesleyan is 2-5 overall and 1-3 in league play. The Thunder will remain in league action next Saturday when Carthage visits McCully Field in a 1 PM kickoff.

Wheaton took a 7-0 lead when junior quarterback Jeremy Chupp threw a four-yard touchdown pass to Chris Fossum (LEFT) with 9:47 left in the first quarter. Illinois Wesleyan tied the game at 7-7 when quarterback Tom Kudyba threw a three-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Musselman with 6:40 remaining in the first half. The score remained 7-7 at halftime and for most of the third quarter until Wheaton regained the lead with a two-yard touchdown run by Jeremy Chupp to give the Thunder a 14-7 lead with 1:01 left in the third quarter. Illinois Wesleyan started a third quarter scoring surge with a 30-yard field goal by Mike Berry to cut Wheaton's lead to 14-10 with 13:46 left in the fourth quarter. The Titans took 16-14 lead when Damon Banks returned an interception for touchdown with 10:27 remaining in the game. Illinois Wesleyan secured the shocking victory when Kudyba threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Martin Ceisel with 3:13 remaining the game.

The Thunder amassed 339 yards of total offense, with 177 passing yards and 162 rushing yards. Illinois Wesleyan recorded 270 yards of offense with 232 passing yards and 38 rushing yards.

Jeremy Chupp completed 16 of his 42 passing attempts for 177 yards with one touchdown pass and he also ran for 52 yards on eight carries, with one touchdown run. Fossum caught five passes for 78 yards, with one touchdown grab and Joe Chupp caught five passes for 51 yards. Junior tailback Chaz Black ran for 107 yards on 31 carries.

Sophomore Andrew Studebaker recorded 11 total tackles, including 4-1/2 tackles for lost yardage (-14 yards), including a quarterback sack (-3 yards), with two pass deflections to lead the Thunder defense. Freshman defensive back Pete Ittersagen (RIGHT) made seven total tackles, with a pass break-up. Linebacker Mike McKinney made five total tackles, with two tackles for loss (-7 yards). Jonathan Toal, Scott Ast and Tim March also each made five total tackles.

Kudyba completed 26 of his 40 passing attempts for 232 yards, with two touchdowns. Ceisel caught six passes for 118 yards, with one touchdown grab. Banks made 16 tackles, with two forced fumbles and the pass interception returned for a touchdown. Mike Mastro made 13 total tackles for the Titans.