Wheaton Academy blows out Chicago Christian

Nice, clean and (mostly) neat.

And just like that Wheaton Academy is 3-0 and a win away from equaling its 2015 start - which led to an IHSA Class 4A playoff berth.

Despite a little light rain the Warriors exploded for 33 second-quarter points to dispatch host Chicago Christian 46-6 Friday in a Metro Suburban Conference crossover.

But senior wide receiver and defensive back Harrison Taylor thinks his team could have been even better. For example, his team was penalized 7 times for 65 yards.

"We're in the driver's seat, but tough games are to come and we've just got to keep getting better," said Taylor, who scored a pair of rushing touchdowns and had an interception on defense. "Too many penalties tonight, and that's one thing coach has been emphasizing a lot. We can't keep shooting ourselves in the foot."

Wheaton Academy coach Brad Thornton saw things a little differently.

"Last week we were a bit sloppy execution-wise, we had 10 penalties," he said. "Tonight was much smoother, blocking assignments were sound, defense stepped up, they played well. I'm real proud of our effort tonight."

But it was that second quarter that was the difference Friday for the Warriors.

All five drives resulted in touchdowns, including scoring passes of 20 and 50 yards from sophomore quarterback Ben Thorson to fellow soph Noah Jones. Taylor picked off Knights quarterback Henry Light late in the first quarter that led to a 1-yard scoring run by Dimitrie Skakavac early in the second. Taylor added a 5-yard touchdown run later in the period.

And for good measure, the Warriors got the ball on Chicago Christian's 35-yard line with 50.5 seconds left in the half. Two plays later, junior Kent Harmon had a 32-yard scoring run, which started a running clock and made the second half essentially academic.

Meanwhile, a stout defensive front of junior Sean Blum, senior Mitch Brunner and junior Michael Callentine held the Knights to minus-8 yards rushing in the first half and sacked Light once.

"Yeah, they were great," Thornton said. "Our ends are very quick and athletic. They get off the ball fast, they can fight off the blocks and Sean's a big body inside and eats up double-teams."

"Once we get it going, we all pump our adrenalin up and we're just like a train, we just keep going," Blum added.

Harmon led the Warriors with 116 yards rushing on 9 carries, while Thorson went 7-for-14 passing for 158 yards and the two touchdowns to Jones, who had 95 yards on 3 catches. Taylor had 3 catches for 41 yards and 36 yards rushing on 5 carries.