Christian Life 55, Wheaton Academy 28
Saturday, September 29, 2007 - Daily Herald
Rockford Christian Life 55, Wheaton Academy 28:ŒDespite a 55-28 nonconference loss to Rockford Christian Life, Wheaton Academy actually played pretty well. The Warriors were done in by a series of mistakes during the second quarter and the first two minutes of the third quarter, when the Eagles scored 36 unanswered points.
Trailing 42-7 in the third quarter, the Warriors rallied behind sophomore quarterback Brian Pell. Pell led Wheaton Academy to 3 third-quarter touchdowns, but the Warriors (2-4) couldn't dig themselves all the way out of the big hole.
Pell completed 16 of 27 passes for 227 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also ran for a score.
Seven of Pell's completions, covering 115 yards, went to Josh Kuell. Kuell caught both of the TD passes.
In the big third quarter he led touchdown drives of 64, 74, and 42 yards. The last came after David Spitler recovered an onside kickoff.
Pell capped the first drive with a 17-yard pass to Kuell and the second with a 5-yarder to Kuell. He scored the third himself on a 5-yard run, pushing the pile into the end zone.
"I was very happy with how our offense battled in the second half," said Wheaton Academy coach Ben Wilson. "Our quarterback Brian Pell had his best game of the season, I thought. Hopefully, we'll learn from it and get better."
After Wheaton Academy took a 7-6 lead, things began to unravel for the Warriors. Christian Life regained the lead following a 15-play drive. The Eagles scored again on a 1-play drive after a bad snap on a punt set them up at the 26-yard line. Pell was sacked on back-to-back plays before the ill-fated punt attempt.
Another long drive gave the Eagles a 28-7 halftime lead.
Christian Life pounded away at the Eagles all night, rushing for 283 yards. Zander Pineschi ran for 102 and 2 scores, and Paul Yuccus added 95 yards and another score.
But it was the start of the third quarter that really put the Warriors in a hole. First, A.J. Nice returned the second-half kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown. Two plays later, a fumble recover set the Eagles up at the 5-yard line, where Pineschi took it in. Christian Life's female kicker, Lativia Koslofski, converted the extra point for a 42-7 lead.
"Against a team like this, any mistakes you make, they're going to capitalize on," Wilson said.
The buzz on the sideline was about the possibility of a running clock if Christian Life scored again. Indeed, an apparent blocked punt would have given the Eagles -- already leading 49-14 -- the ball at the 2-yard line. However, a roughing-the-passer call gave the ball back to the Warriors, who wound up scoring on the drive.
-- Allen Oshinski