The Wheaton Academy Warrior football team needed a win Friday night to secure its 2nd straight playoff season. The Warriors played a tightly-contested game in the first half, and then used an efficient air attack to pull away in the second. The 44-30 win marks the second straight playoff birth and 6-3 record for the Warriors.
St. Eds got on the board first on a touchdown pass in the first quarter. Wheaton Academy responded immediately with a
Kent Harmon 32-yard touchdown run. It was 7-7 at the end of the 1st quarter.
In the second quarter, the Warriors struck again on a 33-yard touchdown pass from quarterback
Ben Thorson to receiver
Mikey Alfano. St. Edward came right back and scored again through the air to make it 14-13 in favor of the Green Wave. Right before halftime, Wheaton Academy was able to score again, this time on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Thorson to receiver
Miles VanderKlok. The Warriors took a 20-14 lead into halftime.
The Warriors opened the half strong, scoring on a trick play, a halfback pass from
Harrison Taylor to VanderKlok for a 29-yard touchdown. On the very next St. Edward offensive play, VanderKlok jumped a pass, intercepted it, and returned it 45 yards for another touchdown. Minutes later, after the defense shut down the St. Eds attack, VanderKlok scored his 4th touchdown of the game, another pass of 35 yards, this time from Thorson. At the end of the third quarter, the Warriors lead 38-14.
In the fourth, Wheaton Academy would score one more time on a 30 yard pass from Thorson to Taylor. St. Edward tacked on two late scores, and the final was 44-30.
Offensively,
Kent Harmon lead all rushers with 8 carries for 72 yards and 1 touchdown. Thorson completed 12 of 16 passes for 245 yards and 4 touchdowns. VanderKlok caught 5 of those passes for 134 yards and 3 touchdowns. Taylor had 4 catches for 75 yards and 1 TD.
On defense, corner
Mikey Alfano tallied 10 total tackles with 1 tackle for loss and 1 interception. Defensive end
Michael Callentine also had a good game, recording 4 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, and 2 sacks.
Next week the Warriors will travel to a first-round playoff opponent. The opponent will be announced on Saturday night, and kickoff time is TBD.
