Wheaton Academy homecoming feels a little bittersweet

As part of being in the first year of rebuilding its varsity football program after nearly two decades without a team, it would have been nice if Wheaton Academy could pick its homecoming opponent.

But that's not the way things work in the Private School League, and a powerful Chicago Christian team roared into town Saturday and made fast work of the Warriors in a 56-6 romp at Wheaton College.

Plagued by 6 fumbles and 2 interceptions, Wheaton Academy (1-4, 2-5) never came close to threatening the Knights, who bolted to a 30-0 lead after one quarter and initiated a running clock in the second half by building a 49-6 halftime lead.

Chicago Christian (6-1, 3-1) followed the talented feet and arm of senior quarterback Alex Haan, who threw a touchdown pass of 66 yards to Andy Stuursma to open the scoring, then followed it up with a 41-yard scamper of his own for a touchdown.

When the Knights added a safety on a botched snap on a punt attempt deep in Wheaton Academy territory, and Haan found Scott Gillman on a 2-yard scoring pass, the rout was on late in the first quarter.

The Knights notched 4 more rushing touchdowns before the half ended as Haan ran in from 22 yards, Dan Merrick scored on a 1-yard plunge, Jake Tiesenga went up the middle on his own 22-yard scoring jaunt, and Stuursma finished things off with a 20-yard TD run.

On an unusually hot October afternoon, the undermanned Warriors wilted against the Chicago Christian offense, which compiled 478 yards of total offense. Haan accounted for 181 of those passing, but also ran for 102 yards in 5 carries.

But Wheaton Academy coach Ben Wilson was looking at the big picture of his rebuilding program, and an 18-14 victory by the sophomore team Saturday on the last play of the game was reason for optimism.

"The bright side is that last year we lost our opening game 35-0 in the junior-varsity game to these guys, and today our JV beat them which is a huge step for the future," Wilson said.

"We have a long ways to go," Wilson added. "We had some off-the-field issues this week and our focus isn't what it should have been today in the varsity game.

"I feel we could have kept the score much closer than it was."

Wheaton Academy tallied its lone touchdown on a 1-yard plunge by quarterback Brian Pell just before halftime.

Chris Wolf finished the day's scoring with a 20-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter for the Knights.