Reaching the Third Round with a thrilling win #10!
The Wheaton football team takes down Wartburg College, 28-24, in Iowa to advance to the Third Round of the NCAA Division III Playoffs. Today's result marks the first road playoff win for the Thunder since 2016, and this year's campaign is the program's first with two postseason victories since 2019.
Wheaton outscored Wartburg, 21-8, in the second half of today's contest. Facing a 24-21 deficit with five minutes left to play, the Thunder drove 77 yards on 14 plays over the next four and a half minutes to score the winning touchdown through a four-yard rush by Matt Crider. The Wheaton defense then held firm as Colin Moore (pictured) batted down a Knights pass attempt on the final play of the game to seal the victory.
Crider ran for three touchdowns this afternoon, while Riley Howard tallied Wheaton's other score on the ground. Mark Forcucci threw for 228 yards, and Whit Jewett led all receivers with 113 yards on nine catches.
Moore led the Thunder with 11 total tackles and six solo stops along with a TFL and two pass break-ups. He was joined on six individual tackles and a pair of PBUs by Maison Haas, while Peter Johanik forced a fumble and posted a sack as part of his six tackles.
The Thunder will face DePauw University in next Saturday's third round matchup with the location of the game still to be confirmed.
#LetsRoll #d3fb