Cedar Rapids, Iowa – The Wheaton Thunder football team, ranked seventh in Division III by D3football.com, opened up its 2015 campaign on Saturday afternoon with a convincing 52-14 win at Coe College. Today's win marked the 12th consecutive victory in the season-opener for head coach Mike Swider's program.
Wheaton will host Adrian College in a non-conference matchup next Saturday at 1:00 p.m. at McCully Stadium in the home opener for the defending CCIW Champion Thunder.
The Thunder offense was strong today as Wheaton compiled 576 yards of total offense. The 'Orange and Blue' passed for 358 yards with 218 rushing yards and 29 first downs. Coe passed for 241 yards in the game with 96 rushing yards for 337 yards of total offense.
Wheaton quarterback Johnny Peltz completed 24 of his 25 passing attempts for 350 yards, with four touchdown tosses. Peltz also scored a rushing touchdown with 28 yards on 10 carries. Andrew Bowers was 1-for-4 passing on the day.
Senior Luke Thorson made nine catches for 116 yards with one touchdown grab. Matt Norton had a strong outing with a game-high 118 receiving yards on six catches and two touchdown catches. Norton also reached the end zone on an eight-yard touchdown run.
Jordan Shive carried the ball seven times on Saturday with 93 rushing yards and a 49-yard touchdown run in the final quarter. Running back Sola Olateju carried the ball nine times for 30 yards and he caught three passes for 18 yards.
All-American linebacker Adam Dansdill led the Wheaton defense with 10 total tackles, including eight solo stops and two tackles for lost yardage (-2 yards). Mikey Swider tallied eight total tackles and fellow linebacker Caleb Ashby made seven tackles. Alex Mendez made six tackles, including four solo stops, and he tallied a 28-yard interception return that setup a 28-yard field goal for the Thunder in the second quarter. Senior Logan McRae made five tackles, including two tackles for lost yardage (-5 yards) and a quarterback sack of four yards.
Wheaton took the opening kickoff and was forced to punt after six plays. Coe scored on the ensuing drive as Sam Lahr reached the end zone on a three-yard touchdown run to give the hosts an early 7-0 lead with 7:44 remaining in the first quarter. Wheaton responded on the following drive with a lengthy 13-play drive of 76 yards that culminated with a two-yard touchdown run by Peltz with 3:20 left in the first quarter.
The Thunder defense forced Coe into a three-and-out on the Kohawks' next drive and Wheaton scored on its ensuing drive. Peltz connected with Shive on a 17-yard completion on third-and-eight to extend the drive and on the very next play Peltz hit Norton on a 46-yard pass to put Wheaton at the Coe eight-yard line. Norton scored on the very next play thanks to an eight-yard touchdown run with 14:51 left in the second quarter as Wheaton held a 14-7 lead.
Wheaton's defense again stopped Coe on three consecutive plays to setup a quick six-play scoring drive of 65 yards. Luke Thorson caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from Peltz with 10:45 remaining in the first half to extend Wheaton's lead to 21-7. Coe moved to the Wheaton 31-yard line on the hosts' next drive, but Mendez snapped the Kohawks' momentum with an interception that he returned 28 yards to the Thunder 48-yard line. Daniel Gray booted a 27-yard field goal on the drive that followed to increase Wheaton's lead to 24-7 with 4:22 left in the first half. Late in the second quarter Peltz again connected with Norton on a 12-yard touchdown pass to extend the Thunder lead to 31-7 at halftime.
Wheaton returned to the end zone on its third drive of the second half. Peltz threw a 19-yard touchdown toss to Andrew Lindquist with 3:07 remaining in the third quarter as Wheaton's lead moved to 38-7. Norton caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from Peltz early in the fourth quarter to give the guests a 45-7 lead with 12:31 remaining in the game. Coe's Elijah Phillips tallied a touchdown on a two-yard touchdown reception as Wheaton led 45-14 with 10:00 left in the fourth quarter. Shive broke free for a 49-yard touchdown run with 3:29 left in the game to account for the 52-14 final score.