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Time of Poss.
Decorah, Iowa - The Wheaton Thunder football scored 39 second-half points to pull away and coast to a 53-7 victory at Luther College on Saturday afternoon. Wheaton scored on five of its six second half possessions and didn't allow the Norse to reach the scoreboard until the fourth quarter.
The Thunder improves to 2-1 as they head into their bye week before traveling to Augustana to take on the Vikings on September 29 in the CCIW opener. Luther falls to 0-3 on the season.
Jordan Roberts was 26-for-36 through the air for 242 yards and four touchdowns.Roberts also ran for 50 yards on eight carries. Peter Jarrett was the leading rusher for the Thunder with 64 yards on 19 carries and one touchdown.The Thunder were 10-for-16 on third down, while holding Luther to just 3-for-16 on third down and 2-for-4 on fourth down.
Wheaton put points on the scoreboard first with a six-yard pass from Roberts to Morgan Cook that gave the Thunder an early 7-0 lead. Wheaton would get another score before the end of the quarter as Jordan Roberts hooked up with freshman Grayson Roberts for another six-yard touchdown pass putting the Thunder up 14-0 after the first quarter. Jordan Roberts was 9-9 passing in the first quarter.
The Norse righted the ship in the second quarter outgaining the Thunder 52-29 but could not get into scoring range and Wheaton's 14-0 lead held into halftime.
The Roberts-Roberts connection paid dividends again early in the third quarter when Jordan found Grayson for a nine-yard touchdown pass putting the Thunder up 21-0 thanks to the second TD connection of the day for the brothers. Sam Cote converted his first field goal of the season, a 28-yarder, with 2:43 left in the third to put the Thunder up 24-0.
Wheaton's defense came up big on the ensuing possession when Sam Weatherred forced a fumble that was recovered by John Carnegie inside the Norse one-yard line. Jarrett cashed it in from there putting Wheaton on top 31-0 at the end of the third quarter.
A 32-yard punt return by Thunder freshman Luke Davis set up a short field on the Wheaton's next possession which led to a 14-yard TD pass from Roberts to David Washko. Cote's PAT was blocked and recovered in the end zone by Luther, but the Norse fumbled the ball and it was recovered by Stephen Seitz for a two-point conversion to make it 39-0.
Luther ended Wheaton's shutout bid with 11:29 remaining when Kody Moore found Matt Jaronik in the end zone on fourth and goal from the seven. Moore finished 18-for-32 on the day for 154 yards. Jaronik was Luther's leading receiver with five catches for 40 yards.
Justin Swider powered Wheaton's next scoring drive and capped it with a three-yard touchdown run. Swider ran for 47 yards on 11 carries. Freshman Adam Dansdill provided Wheaton with its first defensive touchdown of the season when he intercepted Moore's final pass of the game and took it 70 yards for a touchdown. Cote's extra point provided the final score of 53-7.
Pat Dansdill was Wheaton's leading tackler with 10 tackles, one for loss and half a sack. Jared Todd tallied 1.5 sacks as part of a seven-tackle effort that included two tackles for loss yardage.