advertisement

Wheaton Academy falls short at Riverside-Brookfield

Wheaton Academy had Riverside-Brookfield right where it wanted it.

A 33-yard field goal by Miles Vander Klok gave the Warriors the lead at the midpoint of the third quarter in a tight, hard-fought game. And Wheaton Academy's defense had been up to the challenge in slowing down the high-powered Bulldogs offense.

But on homecoming night for R-B, the Bulldogs found a way to punch in a late touchdown and then a late interception that was returned for a score sealed a 20-9 victory over the Warriors in Brookfield in the Metro Suburban Conference Blue Division opener for both teams.

"It was a fight for four quarters and we knew it was going to be," said Wheaton Academy coach Brad Thornton. "(The Bulldogs) are a good football team. They are tough. I am proud of these guys fighting for four quarters. It comes down to the little things. They did more of the little things right tonight."

Before a packed house, the Warriors (3-2, 0-1) showed that they came to play when they drew first blood by scoring late in the first quarter. Following a fumble recovery by Vander Klok, quarterback Ben Thorson led 5-play, 41-yard scoring drive. The big play during that drive was a 26-yard play action rollout to the right where he hit wideout Noah Jones cutting across the field. Thorson and Jones then linked up on 6-yard touchdown play three plays later.

"We fought hard and made some big plays," said Jones, who had 9 catches for 119 yards.

One of those big plays by the Warriors came from their defense. R-B (5-0, 1-0) marched down to the Wheaton Academy 2-yard line and was about to punch it in when the Warriors defense swarmed the ball and Vander Klok came up with another recovery.

The Wheaton Academy secondary kept the Bulldogs from getting any quick strike long touchdowns. Gerald Blackmon had an interception.

"I am really proud of our defense," Thornton said. "We needed a superhuman effort to keep them out of the end zone."

"They came to fight," added R-B coach Brendan Curtin of the Warriors.

On offense Wheaton Academy showed it could up with clutch plays such as a fourth down with 6 yards to go late in the game. Thorson and Steve Ryan connected for the first down but the drive stalled on a fumble.

Bulldogs running back Nicolas Del Nodal rushed for 130 yards on 17 carries, including 2 touchdowns. Anthony Walsh picked off a Thorson pass and ran it from 30 yards out with 0.2 seconds left on the clock.

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.