Familiar fate for Wheaton Academy
Like last year, Wheaton Academy's 4-0 start to the football season ended with a loss to Riverside-Brookfield.
This year the Warriors are determined to not let the setback slow them down the second half of the season.
While the 5-0 Bulldogs did travel to West Chicago on Friday night and leave with a 31-21 victory and their perfect record intact, the Warriors flashed plenty of positives and are ready to get back on the field and make sure a 4-0 start in 2015 does not fizzle into a 5-4 record and no playoff berth like last year.
"Same story as last year, starting 4-0 and losing to R-B, but we're not going to let that (miss playoffs) happen again," said receiver Harrison Taylor, who hauled in TD passes of 29 and 54 yards from David Thrasher on Friday. "We're going to do whatever it takes to take the door down and get into the playoffs."
The Warriors were hurt by three turnovers and had their hands full with Bulldogs quarterback Ryan Swift all night long, yet they trailed just 17-14 at the half and had the ball in R-B territory trailing just 24-21 in the fourth quarter before coming up short.
"We were looking for a guy to step up and make a play and it just didn't happen. We were so close. So close," Warriors coach Brad Thornton said. "I'm proud of these guys for the way that they fought. We knew it was going to be a fight for 48 minutes."
With Swift running for 165 yards, including a 44-yard TD in the third quarter and also passing for another 143 yards and a score, Wheaton Academy was tested by the visitors. But with Thrasher tossing 3 touchdowns while passing for 228 yards, the hosts kept finding themselves right in the ballgame until the very end.
"By any means we are not content with where we are," said Thrasher, whose 29-yard TD pass to Taylor on fourth-down had tied the game at 14-14 late in the first half. "We're going to work hard. Some of those plays at the end were on me. I tried to force a few things. I can't wait to come back to work with this team."
R-B scored 10 points off a fumble and an interception while taking a 17-14 lead at the half and sealed the victory with another interception late. Even so, the Bulldogs were pushed to the limit by a Wheaton Academy team that displayed a big heart.
"I'm proud of the way we came out," said Taylor, a junior wideout. "We came prepared and we fought. We were definitely capable of winning that game. We know our mistakes and we're going to fix those mistakes and come back next week."