Wheaton Academy sees progress in loss

While the end result of its last two games has been a pair of losses, Wheaton Academy's football team will look you straight in the eye and remind you that not all losses are created equal.

A week after a mistake-riddled loss at Luther North, the Warriors battled Walther Lutheran on Friday night at West Chicago's football field.

Wheaton Academy lost the Private School League contest 35-14 to the Broncos but walked off the field in a much different mood than it had just seven days earlier.

"Our theme was 'respond,' " Wheaton Academy coach Ben Wilson said. "In life and on the football field, they have to learn to respond to any situation -- positive or negative -- in a positive way that's going to glorify God."

So when Walther Lutheran (4-1, 3-0) opened the scoring after a dominating drive, Wheaton Academy (2-3, 1-2) replied instantly, with an 86-yard kickoff return by Josh Kruel.

And when the game looked as if it was about to unravel, the Warriors again found an instant retort in a 54-yard completion from quarterback Brian Pell to Kruel.

"That's the type of thing we're still learning, how to respond," Wilson said. "It's something we've talked about all season."

Walther Lutheran moved the ball with some ease. The Broncos gained 453 total yards and 364 of that came as rushing yards. Dan Green had 149 yards and 2 touchdowns on 28 carries while Brandon Sims added 132 yards and 1 TD on 11 carries.

But even in the fourth quarter Wheaton Academy was able to still occasionally throw Broncos runners for a loss.

"We played physical with them," Wilson said. "We were outmanned. Our biggest defensive lineman is 190 pounds and their hogs were 270 and 280."

Kruel had an eye-opening first varsity contest for the Warriors. Not only did he return the kickoff for a touchdown, he intercepted a pass and caught 6 passes for 82 yards.

In recent games Anthony Ritchie, Jake Jones and now Kruel have stepped forward to further diversify the offense.

"He was a big addition for us," Wilson said. "Now we'll be able to have some options on offense and teams won't be able to double Ritchie and our other guys as much."

With Chicago Christian and Aurora Christian still on the schedule, a fairy tale postseason berth in the school's first varsity season since the resumption of the football program is unlikely. But the season has had numerous bright spots through its first half.

"Our guys are going to keep fighting," Wilson said. "We're going to keep learning and keep fighting and keep growing. Hopefully as we hit the second half of the season, we'll keep going."