Swider wins 100th at Wheaton
The Wheaton College football team , ranked sixth in this week's D3football.com Top 25 poll, opened CCIW play on Saturday with a 56-28 victory against North Park.
The win marked the 100th career victory in the 12-year coaching tenure of coach Mike Swider. Swider has compiled a career record of 100-29 since taking the helm of the Wheaton football program in 1996.
With the win Swider, a 1977 graduate of Wheaton, becomes only the second football coach in Wheaton history to earn 100 career victories at the school, joining longtime coach Harve Chrouser who guided Wheaton to 104 wins, 34 losses and eight ties in his 17 seasons (1946-60) at the helm of the program.
Junior quarterback Sean Norris (Wheaton North) set a new Wheaton single-game record in the victory as he completed 17 of his 18 passing attempts for 239 yards, with 3 touchdowns. Norris' 94.4 percent completion percentage is the highest ever in a single-game by a Wheaton quarterback, surpassing the mark of 87.5 percent by Chad Bradley against North Park on November 8, 2003.
Thunder sophomore tailback Rocky Gingg ran for 118 yards on 19 carries, with 3touchdowns. Senior receiver Alex Pokorny caught 7passes for 85 yards, with two touchdowns. Tight end Mike Berttucci (Wheaton Warrenville South) caught 2 passes for 62 yards, including a 49-yard touchdown.
Defensive end Ben Kuenzle led the Wheaton defense with six total tackles, including 1 1/2 tackles for lost yardage of five yards. Jon Ryan tallied a quarterback sack, while Cory Hart (Wheaton Warrenville South) and Tyler Langs each had an interception.
North Park quarterback Shelby Wood completed 22 of his 39 passing attempts for 346 yards, with four touchdowns. Sam Cochiaro caught eight passes for 197 yards, with 3touchdown grabs. Defensive backs Nick Pantaleo and Joe Cullotta each recorded 9 total tackles to lead the Vikings' defense.
The Thunder offense tallied a season-high 519 yards of total offense as Wheaton averaged 7.7 yards per play. The balanced Thunder attack passed for 290 yards and ran for 229 yards. North Park amassed 405 yards of total offense, with 346 passing yards and 59 rushing yards.