More than 25 Wheaton-area high school graduates play college football Saturday, Sept. 12. The No. 2-ranked Wheaton College Thunder headline the slate with an 11 a.m. road game at Albion, Mich., according to a DuPage Policy Journal roundup of former area standouts.
The Thunder earned that ranking the hard way. On Sept. 5, Wheaton beat No. 3 Mount Union 24-23, snapping the Purple Raiders' 85-game regular-season winning streak and their 38-game streak of season-opening wins, Fox Sports reported. Wheaton had lost all seven previous meetings with Mount Union.
The game-sealing play: junior offensive lineman Aiden Byrne blocked Mount Union's potential tying extra point with 22 seconds left. Senior quarterback Mark Forcucci, a Wheaton North graduate, threw the go-ahead touchdown on a 5-yard pass to junior running back Malachi Jones. That score capped a 10-play, 96-yard drive with 5:28 remaining.
"I just went and ran and threw up my hands and, next thing you know, the ball hit my hands, and then the ball was not in the field goal. I turned back after and heard everyone cheering. It was amazing," Byrne told D3football.com after the Sept. 5 win.
Forcucci is one of four Wheaton North alumni on the Thunder roster. Sophomore wide receiver Charlie Mangin and sophomore offensive linemen Drew Sisson and Jonathan Hurst join him. Wheaton Warrenville South senior defensive back Colin Moore also suits up for the Thunder against the Britons.
Big Ten and FCS
Wheaton North's Joe Barna, a junior defensive lineman at Illinois, faces Duke at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Barna played all 13 games for the Illini in 2025 and earned his first career start against USC. He delivered a strip sack converted into a defensive touchdown in the Music City Bowl win over Tennessee, according to a Sports Illustrated scouting report. Illinois defensive line coach Jordan Thomas called Barna "TSD-certified: tough, smart, dependable" in that August preseason report. Illinois is 1-0 after beating UAB 42-23.
Nick Duzansky, a junior long snapper out of St. Francis High School in Wheaton, plays for Michigan State against Eastern Michigan at 3:30 p.m. Brady Palmer, a St. Francis graduate from Wheaton, is a freshman quarterback on the Temple roster. The Owls face Penn State at noon.
Ian Willis, a sophomore wide receiver at Illinois State, has three catches for 37 yards and four punt returns for 26 yards through two games, Shaw Local reported. The 2-0 Redbirds visit Northern Illinois at 6 p.m.
Around the divisions
Wheaton North graduates are scattered across the Midwest. Matt Kuczaj, a junior wide receiver, plays for UW Eau Claire against Carroll at 1 p.m. Matt Rambasek and Nik Schaafsma, both at Augustana, face UW-Stout at 1 p.m.
Matt Shelton Jr., a sophomore cornerback at Lincoln, takes on Langston at 6 p.m.
Wheaton Warrenville South sends three more players out Saturday. Freshman linebacker Axel Boecker at Bentley faces Saint Anselm at 4 p.m. Freshman defensive lineman Cesar Calderon at College of DuPage hosts Hocking at noon. Junior defensive lineman Kyle Powelke at Central Dutch meets Northwestern-St. Paul at 6 p.m.
West Chicago Community High School senior linebacker Mark Wimbish plays for Lawrence against Buena Vista at noon. Three Wheaton Academy graduates from West Chicago also take the field: freshman punter Dallas Johnston at Hillsdale faces Wayne State at noon, kicker Ethan Head at Troy faces Alabama State at 3 p.m., and freshman offensive lineman Hezekiah Garcia at Elmhurst faces Rockford at 1 p.m.
Brandon Kiebles, a sophomore running back out of Wheaton Academy, plays for No. 1 North Central against Wartburg at 1 p.m.
What's ahead
The Thunder's biggest date looms Oct. 10, when No. 2 Wheaton travels to No. 1 North Central for the annual Battle for the Little Brass Bell.
