Judah Newby | Sports Editor
Slow starts continue to follow the Wheaton Thunder football team so far in 2012, but thankfully so have second-half surges. That was the story once again last weekend as Wheaton knocked off Carthage College 44-10 in front of 3,682 homecoming faithful.
“It’s always a good win when you get to come away with a victory on homecoming,” Head Coach Mike Swider said following the win. “To do it in front of the home crowd and all the alumni around, it’s really a good opportunity to show everybody what we’re all about.”
The Thunder rise to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the CCIW standings as they prepare for Saturday’s game at Elmhurst College (4-1; 1-1 CCIW). Wheaton is ranked No. 20 in this week’s d3football.com poll.
Senior quarterback Jordan Roberts was named CCIW Offensive Player of the Week on Monday for his efforts in the victory. He completed 24 of his 27 attempts for 258 yards and five touchdowns. The signal-caller also set a school record in the win for consecutive completions with 17, breaking the previous mark of 16 set in 1983 by Keith Bishop against Elmhurst.
The home Thunder did not get off to the best of starts against the Red Men on Saturday, turning the ball over five times in the first half. However, the defense forced Carthage to punt six of their eight first half possessions and held them to 10 points. Wheaton fell behind 3-0 early, but a field goal by sophomore kicker Sam Cote tied it at 3-3 and a second-quarter touchdown pass from Roberts to sophomore receiver Luke Thorson made it a 10-3 Thunder lead.
Carthage tied it at 10-10 on their ensuing drive, but those would be the final points the Red Men would get. Wheaton grabbed control of the contest at the end of the first half, taking their next drive 13 plays and 51 yards into the end zone when Roberts hooked up with sophomore wide out Mark Hiben for a 4-yard scoring strike to make it a 17-10 Thunder lead. Wheaton’s two-minute offense went into high gear before the half came to an end, with Cote nailing a 39-yard field goal just prior to halftime, putting Wheaton in front 20-10 at the break.
The Wheaton defense shone in the second half, holding the Carthage offense to 25 yards of total offense while forcing two more turnovers in the process. Not to be outdone, Wheaton’s offense began firing on all cylinders and scored touchdowns on each of their first three second-half possessions.
The first scoring strike came after a six-play 53-yard drive that culminated in Roberts finding senior receiver Morgan Cook from eight yards out for the touchdown. After the Thunder defense forced another punt, the Thunder offense went right back to work, putting together another lengthy drive deep into Red Men territory. This time it was junior wide out David Washko who was on the receiving end of a Roberts throw in the end zone. Washko dove for the pass and made a nice one-handed grab to secure the score and increase Wheaton’s lead to 34-10.
The Thunder capped off their momentous third quarter with senior safety Sam Burt intercepting a pass by Carthage quarterback A.J. Simoncelli to set up the offense in opposing territory. Roberts took over from there, wasting little time in recording his fifth touchdown pass of the day by throwing a 29-yard strike to Cook, making it 41-10 in the Thunder’s favor. It was Cook’s second touchdown of the day. Cote added a 28-yard field goal later on in the fourth quarter to account for the final of 44-10.
“You gotta credit our kids,” Swider said following the game. “They really came out to play, they played hard, they keep competing and keep encouraging each other, and you got to give them credit for that, that’s exciting to see.”
Wheaton (4-1; 2-0 CCIW) faces another tough conference opponent Saturday afternoon, Oct. 13, as they travel to Elmhurst College to take on the Blue Jays. Elmhurst is 1-1 in CCIW play and 4-1 overall so far in 2012. Game time is set for 2 p.m. and can be heard on WETN 88.1 FM or wetn.org.
Photo credit: Allison Freet
Printed in the October 12, 2012, issue of The Wheaton Record. Send comments to the.record@my.wheaton.edu.