Box Score

WHEATON, Ill. - In a game that featured 915 yards of total offense, the Illinois Wesleyan football team was scored on twice in the final 4 1/2 minutes and lost for the fitrst time in 2012 by a 38-33 score at Wheaton on Saturday (Oct. 20).

The No. 12-nationally ranked Titans slipped to 6-1 overall while Wheaton improved to 5-2; both teams are now 3-1 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, in a three-way tie for second with Elmhurst, a 45-42 overtime winner at Millikin. North Central is 6-1 overall and 4-0 in the CCIW.
IWU has not won at Wheaton since 1996, also the last time an IWU team was 7-0.

“We tell our football team we win as a team and lose as a team. We don't point fingers here,” head coach Norm Eash told Jim Benson of The Pantagraph. “It's on all of us. We had to make some plays at the end and didn't.
“Offensively I thought we had a good night. But it came down to the very end where we needed to get first downs and we fumbled the ball and threw a pick. That put our defense in a tough situation.”

The Thunder opened the scoring and took a 3-0 lead when Sam Cote made a 36 yard field goal with 7:19 to play in the first quarter but the Titans scored the next 14 points. Tate Musselman caught a 7 yard TD pass from junior Rob Gallik with 3:16 to go in the first, capping a nine-play, 86 yard drive, and freshman Michael Kelley added the extra point kick.
With 14:53 left in the first half, Gallik ran in from a yard out and Kelley's boot made it 14-3 Titans.

Wheaton got a touchdown on a 35 yard pass to Ben Leong from Garrett Meador with 7:18 to play in the half to draw to within four at 14-10, but the Titans struck back just over a minute later when Gallik connected with Alex Garvey on a 60-yard TD pass to stake IWU to a 21-10 lead.

A hectic first half of scoring featured two more TDs in the final 3:18, when Thunder sophomore Mark Hiben caught a 23 yard TD pass from Jordan Roberts and Cote's kick made it 21-17 IWU. The Titans scored on Gallike's second TD run, from 2 yards out, with 13 seconds before halftime. Kelley's kick was blocked and IWU led at intermission 27-17.

With 7:11 to play in the third, Wheaton ended a 14-play, 80-yard drive with a 4-yard TD run by Charlie Velling and the PAT kick got the Thunder within three at 27-24. But Wesleyan boosted their lead to 33-24 when Gallik found Musselman on a 27 yard TD pass to cap an 8-play, 75 yard drive. Kelley's extra point kick was blocked for the second time in the game.

The rest of the scoring belonged to the Thunder - a Gallik fumble gave the ball to Wheaton on the IWU 28 and, with 4:21remaining, Roberts found Hiben on a 23 yard pass play to end a quick (32 second) drive that consumed two plays and 28 yards. Cote's kick got Wheaton within two at 33 - 31.
The Thunder got the ball back on their own 40 after an IWU three-and-out and pieced together an eight-play, 60 yards drive that climaxed with another Roberts to Hiben TD pass, this one from 21 yards out, with 1:17 left that gave the Thunder the 38-33 edge.

Gallik completed 25 of 36 passes for 337 yards and three TDs. Garvey caught eight passes for 153 yards, with one touchdown. Junior running back Devonte Jones ran for 109 yards on 21 carries as a replacement for regular starter T.J. Stinde, who missed the game with a shoulder injury. Kyle Pfister led the Titans' defense with a game-high nine tackles, an interception and a forced fumble.

For the Thunder, Hiben had eight grabs for 132 yards and three TDs. Morgan Cook caught eight passes for 115 yards on the night. Roberts completed 24 of his 38 passing attempts for 325 yards with three touchdown tosses and Meador was 4-for-7 passing for 68 yards with one touchdown toss. Velling ran for 58 yards on 16 carries with one touchdown run.

Defensive backs Jackson Edwards and Garrett Cook each recorded a team--high seven solo tackles for the Thunder. Cook also made a key interception and broke up two passes in the game. Junior linebacker Brett Anderson also made seven tackles (five solo), including 1-1/2 tackles for lost yardage of 11 yards.

The Titans are on the road again next Saturday to face No. 10-nationally ranked North Central at 2 p.m. The Cardinals were 45-10 winners over Carthage on Oct. 20 and return home after three straight road games for their Homecoming game.