Wheaton handed 1st loss

The men of Carthage were resolute in the end, and Wheaton College had its season-long unbeaten streak snapped in the process.

Carthage scored five unanswered touchdowns over the two middle quarters, only to see the Thunder respond with a scoring onslaught of its own.

Unfortunately for the Thunder, its final two possessions ended on downs and a fourth turnover.

The Redmen escaped McCully Stadium in Wheaton on Saturday afternoon with a 35-27 Collegiate Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin football victory.

"It's one of the hardest losses I've ever had to deal with," said Wheaton College coach Mike Swider. "It's the way we lost that makes me sick."

Wheaton native Pete Ittersagen galloped 70 yards on a punt return to give the Thunder a 10-0 lead, but Carthage responded with a gamble that paid huge dividends.

Donovan Moore threw a 40-yard strike on a fake punt to put the Redmen on the board, and the senior gave Carthage the lead for good when he rumbled 86 yards on an interception return.

"We were trying to thread the needle, and the linebacker (Moore) made a good play," said Wheaton quarterback Sean Norris, a Wheaton North grad who completed 25 of 48 passes for 363 yards and a pair of scores.

"We needed a play, and I saw an opportunity," Moore said. "I about had a heart attack running (the interception) all the way back."

Carthage (7-2, 3-2) scored in the waning seconds before halftime to take a 21-10 lead at the break, and the Thunder coughed it up again on its first play of the third quarter.

Carthage quarterback Brennan O'Boyle added two more scoring strikes in the quarter to give the Redmen a commanding 35-10 lead, only to see Wheaton College finally answer in kind.

Noah Dreyer had 10 catches for 153 yards for Wheaton (8-1, 5-1), and the tight end hauled in Norris' first of two throwing scores from 4 yards out.

The Wheaton defense stiffened, allowing Norris to mount another scoring drive midway through the fourth quarter.

The sophomore found Alex Pokorny in the left flat, and the Geneva product made a quick, darting move to score from 26 yards, reducing the deficit to 35-24.

"There were opportunities there all day," Pokorny said. "The story of the game was that we couldn't take advantage of them."

"Dropped balls, missed tackles," Swider said.

Tim Ellingsen kicked his second field goal of the game to make it a one-score margin, but Wheaton could come no closer.

"I'm proud of my football team for the way they fought back," Swider said.