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| River Shindledecker and the Wheaton front seven are keying themselves up for another big challenge. d3photography.com photo |
By Brian Lester
D3sports.com
It is an inspiring sound that motivates everyone else on the team. The roar of the crowd as Dallas McRae records another sack, as Ryan Schwartz makes another big tackle or as Jake Holaday comes up with another tackle for a loss.
Wheaton head coach Jesse Scott hears that roar often and calls it added motivation for the team. Few things get a team pumped up the way a big defensive play does.
“When you hear the crowd cheering for a sack or a tackle for a loss, it inspires everyone and helps us get the snowball rolling,” Scott said.
It’s no secret that the front seven of the Thunder has been nothing short of phenomenal during a 2021 season that has seen Wheaton win 10 games already and reach the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs.
It has won nine consecutive games, in part because of a defensive front seven that has brought the pressure with 48 sacks and nearly 100 tackles for a loss (97).
McRae, the reigning D3football.com national Defensive Player of the Year, has helped lead the way with 10 of those sacks to go along with 44 tackles.
He joins Holaday, River Shindledecker and Brayden Anthony along the defensive line while linebackers Ryan Schwartz, Wyatt Lee and Daniel Herber have also played a pivotal role in establishing the front seven’s reputation as arguably the best in the nation at the D-III level.
“The single thing that makes them so successful is they play together,” Scott said. “Every single one of those guys has a responsibility on a snap by snap basis and they trust the people around them to execute on their responsibility.”
All seven have recorded at least 29 tackles, with Schwartz leading the way (82).
McCrae not only has 10 sacks, but he has a total of 19 tackles for a loss as well and has hurried the quarterback six times.
Holaday leads the team in tackles for a loss (13.5) and has sacked the quarterback nine times. Lee has 41 tackles, including 11 for a loss and has come through with seven sacks.
Shindledecker has made 40 tackles, 11 of which have been for a loss, and his stat line also features 7.5 sacks.
Herber and Anthony have 38 and 29 tackles respectively. Anthony has also come through with nine tackles for a loss and 5.5 sacks.
Their stats, as impressive as they are, only tell part of the story for that group. The experience factor says a lot about the group as well, and it’s a big reason why the Thunder is still playing football the week of Thanksgiving.
“When we saw our name announced (for the playoffs), and we weren’t sure if it was going to be called, those guys were nodding about the importance of blocking out everything and staying focused,” Scott said. “They understand the significance of preparation at this time of the year and embrace the challenge that Saturdays at this time of the year bring.”
With a 66-31 win over Aurora already under its belt, the next challenge is arguably the biggest one yet, especially for Wheaton’s front seven.
That’s because the opponent for Saturday’s second-round game in Iowa is unbeaten Central (11-0) and record-setting quarterback Blaine Hawkins.
Hawkins is a semifinalist for the Gagliardi Trophy and owns a laundry list of school records –16 to be exact – while throwing for more than 3,700 yards and 57 touchdowns, the most at any level of NCAA football. He’s been picked off just four times and has completed 74 percent of his passes.
Hawkins' 3,755 yards are the most in D-III football this season, and with 172 touchdowns, he owns the career record for scoring strikes in D-III.
“Blaine has had an historic career and year. His quarterback efficiency is extraordinarily high (211.29) and he slings that ball around,” Scott said. “Our guys up front are excited to get after him and the challenge is to make Blaine as uncomfortable as possible. But it’s a tall order. We are going to have our hands full.”
Of course, facing Hawkins isn’t a new thing for Wheaton. The Thunder played Central in the 2019 playoffs as well.
Wheaton won that game 49-13 at home, forcing Hawkins into a tough day. The quarterback was 18-for-32 for 200 yards and threw two touchdown passes but was also picked off twice. He was sacked five times.
The defensive front of the Thunder played a big part in that, although jumping on top 35-0 in the opening quarter didn’t hurt the team’s cause either.
“When did a great job against him, but when you are trying to come back from that kind of deficit, it put them in a spot where they didn’t get to execute a lot of the things they wanted to,” Scott said. “I’m sure they have a bad taste in their mouth from the way things went in 2019, but we’re ready for the challenge.”
Rising up to that challenge means that not only does the front seven have to do its job, but the defense as a whole has to be on point.
Scott notes that without the secondary handling its responsibilities on the field, the Thunder wouldn’t be as successful putting pressure on the quarterback. And the Thunder will need to be able to pressure Hawkins as often as possible.
“What has allowed us to create that pressure is the relentless effort that we play with as a unit,” Scott said. “If the back half of our defense isn’t doing their job, everyone knows time won’t matter. There won’t be time to get to the quarterback. Our defensive backfield is doing things that cause the quarterback to hold onto the ball longer, and that has allowed us to get to him.”
Scott thinks back to the COVID year of 2020 when there was no season. Wheaton also opted not to play in the spring either, instead using the time to focus on itself.
That added work has helped both the defense and the offense to thrive, according to Scott. But as good as the Thunder has been, allowing 12.3 points per game and 209.6 yards per outing through the air, all that matters is how the team plays the next game.
“Relentless effort has been our theme, and that’s what we want to be about,” Scott said. “We’ve given great effort and have made improvements, but that guarantees nothing except that it puts us in the best position possible to accomplish what we want to accomplish on Saturday. Our guys will pour everything they have into this game.”