10th-Ranked football team defeats Washington (Mo.) 55-14

St. Louis, Mo. – The Thunder football team, ranked 10th in this week's D3Football.com Top 25 Poll, was a 48-14 victor at Washington University (Mo.) on Saturday afternoon. Today's win was the 16th consecutive non-conference win for Wheaton in regular season action. The Thunder (2-0) will host Hope College on Saturday at 7 PM in the home opener.

Wheaton opened the scoring with a seven-yard touchdown pass from Zach Ullrich to senior receiver Noah Dreyer to cap an eight-play drive of 56 yards. Sophomore Tyler Langs intercepted a Bears' pass and returned it 38 yards into the end zone to give the guests a 14-0 lead with 6:28 remaining in the first quarter.

A Thunder turnover led to the Bears' reaching the scoreboard on a four-yard run by Matt Glenn with 11:28 left in the second quarter for a 14-7 Wheaton lead. Andrew Hershey scored on a one-yard touchdown run with 7:55 left in the second quarter to give the Thunder a 21-7 lead. Chris Fossum broke free of the Bears' defense to get open for a 73-yard pass from Ullrich to extend the Wheaton lead to 28-7 with 2:44 left in the first half. Ullrich connected with senior Kirk Sundberg on a four-year touchdown toss with six-seconds left in the first half to give Wheaton a 35-7 lead it would hold at halftime.

Tim Ellingsen kicked a 43-yard field goal with 7:14 left in the third quarter to extend the Thunder lead to 38-7. The game was delayed for about 20 minutes with 5:05 remaining in the third quarter as medical personnel attended to Ullrich on the sideline. The Thunder quarterback had been removed from the game due to an injury and was taken to a nearby hospital.

Ellingsen extended the lead to 41-7 on a 30-yard field with 12:08 left in the game. Washington cut the Wheaton lead to 41-14 with 12:08 left in the fourth quarter as Buck Smith completed an 11-yard touchdown pass to Michael Casper. Freshman tailback Rocky Gingg scored on a seven-yard touchdown run to give Wheaton a 48-14 lead with 7:13 left in the fourth quarter. The final score of 55-14 was the result of a 69-yard touchdown connection from Sean Norris to Danny Hindman with 3:44 left in the game.

Wheaton recorded 493 yards of total offense, with 141 rushing yards and 352 yards through the air. Washington had 149 yards of offense, with passing yards and minus-three yards gained on the ground.

Ullrich completed 16 of his 23 passing attempts for 240 yards and three touchdowns. Kyle Bradley replaced Ullrich following the injury, with three completions on eight attempts for 35 yards. Norris completed both of his two passing attempts for 77 yards and one touchdown. Fossum caught five plays for 123 yards, with one touchdown. Junior Andrew Hershey was Wheaton's leading rusher with 13 carries for 73 yards and one touchdown run.

Pete Ittersagen led the Thunder defense with seven tackles, one interception return for 27 yards and two pass deflections. Senior captain Andy Studebaker (PICTURED RIGHT) added five total tackles, with three tackles for lost yardage, including two quarterback sacks of -27 yards. David Tokar added five tackles. Langs added four tackles, with three pass deflections and the interception return for a touchdown.

Smith, the Bears' quarterback completed 18 of his 43 passing attempts for 115 yards and one touchdown. Casper caught six passes for 45 yards, with one touchdown catch. Tyler McSparin led the Washington defense with nine tackles. Brent Sensenich added seven tackles, with three tackles for lost yardage, including two quarterback sacks.