Andrew Day and J.R. Bishop to represent Wheaton in Aztec Bowl

Waco, Texas (11/28) - Two members of the Wheaton Thunder football program will participate in the 2005 Aztec Bowl on December 17 in Toluca, Mexico. Placekicker Andrew Day has been selected to play for the American Football Coaches Association's (AFCA) Division III all-star team that will represent the United States against the Mexican National Team in the 2005 Aztec Bowl. Joining Day will be J.R. Bishop, who will serve as a member of the coaching staff for the United States all-star squad. Bishop, Wheaton's head coach from 1982-95, recently retired as the team's offensive coordinator.

This is the fourth consecutive year that a Thunder player has participated in the Aztec Bowl. All-American wide receiver Brad Musso played in last year's Aztec Bowl, All-American offensive lineman James Hoxworth was a participant on the 2003 U.S. team and All-American linebacker Justin Knapp played in the 2002 game, setting the Aztec Bowl record for tackles. Day is one of 46 NCAA Division III seniors from around the country who will make up this year's team.

Andrew Day holds Wheaton 's school-record for field goals in a career, with 32 over the past four seasons, breaking the previous mark of 26 which had stood for 27 years. He also holds the team-record for career PAT's with 166. This season Day was a First Team All-CCIW selection. He was 10-for-13 on his field goal attempts this year with a 76.9% field goal accuracy, the highest in the CCIW. His 66 points this season led the CCIW in kick scoring and he was a perfect 36-for-36 on his PAT attempts with the Thunder. He is 14 th among all Division III kickers in field goals per game.

Bishop (RIGHT) will join former Division III head coaches Jim Christopherson (Concordia-Moorhead), Bill Manlove (Widener, Delaware Valley), Bob Packard (Baldwin-Wallace) and Wally Hood (Ohio Northern, Otterbein) as assistants on the staff that was selected by U.S. Head Coach Ron Schipper. This is the ninth consecutive year that Schipper, the former head coach at Central College (Iowa), is coaching the U.S. team.

Bishop (RIGHTis making his third coaching appearance on the Aztec Bowl coaching staff. He served as an assistant coach on the first U.S. team in 1997 in Toluca and was also a member of last year's coaching staff for the game in Cancun. He completed his 24th year at Wheaton in 2005, his 10th as offensive coordinator. As Wheaton 's head coach from 1982-95 Bishop guided the program to a record of 84-43-1.

This year's game is scheduled to kickoff at 1 PM CST on Dec. 17 at Estadio Chivo Cordoba in Toluca. The Aztec Bowl is the traditional season-ending game for Mexico 's college football season. The game has been played 34 times since 1947 with the last eight contests featuring the United States-Mexico matchup. The United States is 7-1 in the series and defeated Mexico 23-3 in the 2004 game in Cancun.

Chitwood Sports Media of Jefferson, Texas will provide a live webcast of the Aztec Bowl in 2005. Along with the game webcast on Dec. 17, 90-minute preview shows will be held on Dec. 14-16. The preview shows will begin each night at 6:30 p.m. CST. The preview shows and game webcast can all be accessed via the AFCA's website at www.afca.com and via the Aztec Bowl website at www.aztecbowl.com.