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Wheaton Academy won't pass up victory

David Thrasher's first pass Saturday at Walther Christian was a screen that skidded at the feet of Steven Sellers. His second went for a 66-yard touchdown to Ty Collins.

Wheaton Academy enjoyed much more of the latter to win its season opener 39-14 at Fran Fanelli Jr. Memorial Field in Melrose Park.

Thrasher completed 13 of 22 passes for 299 yards and 5 touchdowns to four receivers. Collins scored twice, with 3 catches for 113 yards.

"A lot of my receivers made incredible plays. Mikey Alfano made a great catch, Luke Manske with a great catch. We just made plays," said Thrasher, a three-year starter.

He also credited offensive linemen Nori Kasai, Nathan Meade, David McDonell, Noah Owens and Dimitrie Skakavac.

"I wasn't touched. I did not get sacked once, it was across the board," said Thrasher, 7-of-8 passing in the second quarter. "For Week 1 I was very pleased with our passing game and I'm pumped to get it started Week 2."

Wheaton Academy led 14-0 after one quarter on Collins' 66-yarder and an 11-yard touchdown catch by Sellers set up by Grady Crawford's interception, the first of 4 picks.

After a half-hour lightning delay the Warriors went up 20-0 on a Thrasher back-shoulder flare to Manske. Walther responded with a 20-yard swing pass for a touchdown, Anthony Reedy to Corey Pugh, set up by a 59-yard run from Pugh's younger brother, Jaylen. The Broncos' main man, Jaylen Pugh ran 23 times for 166 yards.

Wheaton Academy lost fumbles on two straight possessions, once on Walther's 5-yard line, but Manske answered both times with interceptions. The second set up Kordell Bowling's 22-yard touchdown catch for a 26-7 halftime lead.

"Our coaches had told us to watch for passes because they like to run a lot," Manske said. "I saw their receiver fake and go deep and the quarterback would always fake the handoff, so that was my key for the pass."

Separated by Jaylen Pugh's 4-yard touchdown run, Wheaton Academy led 39-14 after three quarters on Chase Martin's 2-yard touchdown run and Thrasher's fifth touchdown pass, to Collins from 18 yards out. Martin had 55 of Wheaton Academy's 200 yards rushing, Sellers 57.

"I thought his performance was really solid," Wheaton Academy coach Brad Thornton said of Thrasher. "Guys feed off his energy and we saw a little bit of that in the game today."

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