No. 5 Wesley Stifles LaGrange 56-7
LAGRANGE, Ga. - Junior Shane McSweeny (Bensalem, Pa./Bensalem) threw for four touchdowns and the Wesley College defense intercepted five LaGrange passes as the fifth ranked Wolverines rolled to a 56-7 win.
McSweeny had the first four touchdown effort for a Wolverine (4-0) signal caller since Chris Warrick tossed four against Dickinson in the NCAA Playoffs in 2006. Two of the scores went to receiver Ellis Krout (Dallas, Texas/Roosevelt), who caught two touchdowns for the third time in his four games at Wesley.
The Wolverines forced the Panthers into a pair of quarterback switches as five different Wesley players intercepted passes in the contest, including an 18-yard touchdown return by Coleman Peteet (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway) in the third quarter.
Wesley jumped ahead 7-0 midway through the first quarter when a 48-yard run by Abeeb Badmus (Sharon Hill, Pa./Interboro) set up the first of two touchdowns on the afternoon by freshman Brandon Wright (Clayton, N.J./Clayton).
With just 14 seconds left in the first quarter, McSweeny hit Gene Knight (Baltimore, Md./Overlea) for a 54-yard catch and run that stretched the advantage to 14-0 at the close of the period.
Near the end of the half, one of Jeff Morgan's (Vineland, N.J./Vineland) two sacks on the afternoon forced a Panther (1-3) punt that gave the Wolverines the ball on their own 48 with 2:00 to go. After McSweeny ran for 26 yards, he hooked up with Krout twice, including a 14-yard touchdown with just 15 seconds to play.
Marcus Wilson (Pennsauken, N.J./Camden Catholic) intercepted LaGrange's Brett Mason on the second play of the second half to put Wesley on the Panthers' 37. McSweeny completed three consecutive passes with the third going to Krout for an eight-yard score and a 28-0 lead with 12:49 to go in the third.
Mason's next pass was intercepted, as well, and Peteet returned it 18 yards to paydirt and a 35-0 lead. LaGrange took over again and Mason was forced to throw on third and seven. This time it was linebacker Mike Asiedu (Yonkers, N.Y./Gorton) who hauled in the pick and Wesley took over deep inside Panther territory at the 24.
Three plays later, McSweeny hit Leonard Stevenson (Nanjemoy, Md./Lackey) for the receiver's first career touchdown and a 42-0 advantage with 8:20 left in the third.
The fourth quarter started with Wesley on the move again. Wright carried six times on the drive and back up Justin Sottilare (Columbia, Md./Oakland Mills) completed three straight passes on a nine-play drive that put the Wolverines up 49-0 after Wright's second score of the day.
With the reserves in for both squads, the LaGrange offense finally got something going. A 13-play drive ended with third string quarterback Michael May hitting Devin Billings for a two-yard score with 7:57 left in the game for just the second touchdown allowed by the Wolverine defense this season.
Wesley answered right back, however. Barry Garrard (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway) carried five times for 66 yards before Garrett Burgess (Barnegat, N.J./Southern) scampered for a 13-yard touchdown to cap the the scoring with 3:43 left.
On the Panthers' next drive, freshman Brian Snell (Lambetville, N.J./South Hunterdon) intercepted a third down pass to seal the game.
Wesley outgained the Panthers 494-134 and limited LaGrange to just 21 yards rushing on 27 attempts. The Wolverines also forced the trio of Drew Carter, Mason and May into a combined 13-of-30 for just 113 yards and five picks.
McSweeny completed 16-of-21 passes on the afternoon for 216 yards, four scores, was not intercepted and added 36 yards on the ground. Six of those completions went to Krout, while Knight had a team-high 84 yards.
Badmus rushed 10 times for 87 yards in his first career start to pace a Wesley rush attack that tallied 252 yards on the afternoon. Wright toted the rock a dozen times for a career-high 71 yards.
Defensively, Morgan had a pair of sacks and a forced fumble for the second straight week. Eric Adams (Ocean, N.J./Ocean Township) also had a sack in the game. In the secondary, Dakevis Howard (Wilmington, Del./Concord) joined Peteet, Wilson, Asiedu, and Snell with interceptions.
Wesley returns home to host Frostburg State for Homecoming on Saturday, October 3 at 1:00 PM.
