ELMHURST DROPS HEARTBREAKER TO WHEATON 23-19
Bluejays unable to topple fifth ranked Thunder

Boxscore      

ELMHURST, Ill. October 4, 2003 -- The Elmhurst College football team finished 14-yards away from pulling off one of the biggest upsets in school history. The Bluejays suffered their first loss of the season in a 23-19 heartbreaker to Wheaton College.

"This is certainly a tough loss for us," said Head Coach Paul Krohn. "We were in a position to win but couldn't quite punch the ball in."

Wheaton College (4-0) jumped out to an early lead, but Elmhurst responded to lead the Thunder twice in the second half.

The Thunder wasted little time getting on the scoreboard. The Thunder took the opening kickoff and marched 74 yards downfield in over six minutes, but had to settle for an Andrew Day 32-yard field goal.

The Bluejays defense then stopped the Thunder on their next possession as Wheaton turned the ball over on downs at the Elmhurst eight-yard line. When the Bluejays failed to score, the Thunder again moved downfield but came away with just a Day field goal, this time from 22 yards out.

Wheaton would run their lead to 12-0 when Chad Bradley hit Brad Musso for a 22-yard touchdown, capping a 12-play, 61-yard drive in the second quarter. Bradley's pass attempt on the two-point conversion failed.

It was late in the second quarter when the Bluejay offense got started. Dom Demma (Carol Stream-Glenbard North) led an impressive 10-play, 68-yard drive that resulted in the Bluejays' first points. The key play of the drive came when Juan Quesada (Miami, Fla.-Palmetto) made an acrobatic catch on a 25-yard pass from Demma to give Elmhurst the Ball at the Wheaton 12-yard line. Two plays later, Eric Luna (Wadsworth-Carmel) plunged into the end zone from four yards out to make the score 12-7 at halftime.

Wheaton dominated in first half statistics, holding the ball for over 20 minutes of the half and amassing 273 yards on 51 plays, compared to Elmhurst's 118 yards on 29 plays.

After neither team was able to generate offense early in the third quarter, it was the Elmhurst defense that came up big. Ramone Flowers (Maywood-Proviso East) picked off a Bradley pass at the Wheaton seven-yard line. Two plays later, Elmhurst had their first lead of the game when Demma hit Quesada on a seven-yard fade to the corner of the end zone. The Bluejays could no convert the two-point conversion and led 13-12 with under two minutes in the third quarter.

Wheaton responded immediately on their next possession. Bradley hit Musso for a big 45-yard completion and Wheaton pushed the ball to the Bluejay 10-yard line before settling for Day's third field goal of the game, this time from 27-yards out. The Thunder were back on top 15-13.

After neither team could move the ball on their next two possessions it was the Bluejays who turned in a quick strike to reclaim the lead. On the first play from scrimmage after a Thunder punt, Demma found Quesada streaking down the sideline. Quesada made his second great juggling catch of the day and broke free from the defender and scored on a 74-yard play. The two-point conversion was no good and Elmhurst led 19-15. W

heaton answered back on their next possession as Musso led 12-play 76-yard drive capped by a nine-yard touchdown pass to Colin Sinclair. Day lined up for the extra point, but the snap was botched. Garrett Granberg lofted the ball into the end zone and Andrew King game down with a catch to give the Thunder a 23-19 lead.

Elmhurst took possession at their own 18-yard line after the kickoff with 1:32 to work with. The offense immediately started moving downfield as Demma threw first down completions to Terrence Young (Chicago-De la Salle), David Brechin (Addison-Addison Trail) and Quesada to put the ball at the Wheaton 40-yard line. A pass interference call on Wheaton gave the Bluejays a first down at the Thunder 29-yard line. The Thunder were hit with a 15-yard personal foul penalty on a late hit and Elmhurst had the ball at the 14-yard line of Wheaton. Demma just missed Justin Teliga (Bradenton, Fla-Manatee) on first down in the back of the end zone. On second down, Quesada made a catch in the end zone but couldn't come down in bounds. After an incomplete pass on third down, Demma was sacked on fourth down and the Thunder were able to run out the clock on offense.

Wheaton totaled 460 yards of total offense on 96 plays, including 205 yards on the ground and 286 through the air. Elmhurst finished with 313 total yards on 65 plays, with 265 yards coming through the passing attack.

Dan Price led the Thunder ground attack with85 yards on 19 carries, while Bradley passed for 286 yards while completing 19-of-36 attempts for two touchdowns and an interception. Andrew King caught seven passes for 97 yards while Musso hauled in five balls for 119 yards.

Eric Luna led the ground attack for the Bluejays, finishing with 49 yards on 21 carries. Demma completed 21 of his 34 pass attempts for 265 yards and two touchdowns while not throwing an interception. Teliga caught seven passes for 47 yards while Quesada caught six balls for 146 yards and two touchdowns.

Defensively, Matt Irps (Bourbonnais/Bradley-Bourbonnais) led the Bluejays with 18 tackles while David Soccaras (Miami, Fla.-Florida Christian) added 16 tackles. Travis Rueckert (Hawthron Woods-Lake Zurich),Chris Dembosz (Elmhurst-Immaculate Conception) and Benitez Brown (Sparta-H.S.) all finished with tackles in double digits.

The Bluejays will continue CCIW play next weekend, when Elmhurst hosts Carthage College on Saturday, October 11, at 1:00 p.m. as part of the College's homecoming festivities.