The Wheaton Academy Warrior football team won its 5th game of the year on Saturday afternoon, beating the Fenton Bison by a score of 53-7. The win marks the third season in a row the Warriors will finish with a winning record, and Wheaton Academy is now playoff eligible. Winning the week 9 game against St. Edward will guarantee a playoff spot. The Warriors rode a dominant defensive performance which yielded 7 turnovers and gave up only 66 total yards in the homcoming game.
On the first offensive play of the game for Fenton,
Harrison Taylor intercepted a pass and returned it 46 yards for a touchdown. The score was negated by a penalty, but the play set the tone for the rest of the day defensively. The Warriors were able to capitalize, scoring off the turnover on a
Kent Harmon 2-yard touchdown run. The Warrior defense was overwhelming in the 1st quarter, forcing several more turnovers, and Wheaton Academy was able to score three more times in the 1st. Harmon broke a 34-yard touchdown run, and quarterback
Ben Thorson connected with receivers
Mikey Alfano and
Noah Jones on touchdowns of 17 and 22 yards, respectively. The Warriors took a 27-0 lead into the 2nd quarter.
Wheaton Academy kept the pressure on in the 2nd quarter, scoring 3 more times before halftime. Alfano caught his 2nd touchdown of the day, this time on a pass of 17 yards from Thorson. Harmon punched another one in the end zone from 1 yard, and linebacker
Dimitrie Skakavac intercepted a Fenton pass and returned it 40 yards for a touchdown. Wheaton Academy lead 47-7 at the half.
With the clock running in the second half, the only score was on a 1 yard touchdown run from running back
Jordan Gum to account for the 53-7 final.
On offense, the Warriors were lead by Harmon's rushing effort. He carried the ball 6 times for 77 yards and 3 touchdowns. Thorson completed 9 of 13 passes for 115 yards and 3 touchdowns, and
Noah Jones was the leading receiver with 4 catches for 57 yards and 1 touchdown.
Harrison Taylor made his return from a knee injury, and despite not scoring a touchdown, was a major impact on the game as his speed was a concern for the Fenton defense and opened up opportunities for other Warrior players.
Five different Warrior defenders recorded interceptions:
Harrison Taylor,
Mikey Alfano,
Miles VanderKlok,
Dimitrie Skakavac, and
Cooper Williams.
Nori Kasai recovered two fumbles. In addition to returning his interception for a touchdown, Skakavac was also the team's leading tackler, tallying 5 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, and 1 quarterback hurry.
Next week Wheaton Academy will host St. Edward for the regular season finale. Kickoff is at 7:15 PM.
