The Thunder football team tops Elmhurst 38-7

Wheaton, Ill. - The Wheaton Thunder football team, ranked 14th in this week's D3football.com Top-25, earned a 38-7 victory against Elmhurst College (4-4/1-4 CCIW) on Saturday afternoon. Wheaton is now 7-1 overall and 4-1 in league play.

The Thunder will travel to Illinois Wesleyan (7-1/4-1 CCIW) next Saturday for a key contest against the Titans. Illinois Wesleyan defeated North Central (6-2/4-1 CCIW), 28-22 in overtime on Saturday in Bloomington. Illinois Wesleyan's win created a three-way tie atop the CCIW standings as Wheaton, Illinois Wesleyan and North Central each have 4-1 league records.

Wheaton totaled 400 yards of offense today. The Thunder ran for a season-high 317 rushing yards, on 55 carries and the team passed for 83 yards. Elmhurst had 196 yards of offense, rushing for 73 yards, with 123 passing yards.

Wheaton head coach Mike Swider said after the game, “Our plan today was to run the ball and we were able to do that well. Charlie Velling and Rocky Gingg both did a great job.” He added, “It really helped to have healthy tight ends today. We had been without three of our tight ends the last few weeks and having some of those guys back really made a difference.”

The Thunder mentor was pleased with a Wheaton defense that held Elmhurst to under 200 yards of offense and recorded 10 tackles for loss, including four quarterback sacks. “Our defense played really well. Our defensive front put pressure on them all day and our defensive backs did a great job the whole game.”

Velling, Wheaton's sophomore tailback, ran for a career-high 171 yards on 26 carries today to help lead Wheaton's impressive running attack. Gingg ran for 65 yards on 17 carries, with one touchdown. Senior quarterback Sean Norris carried the ball eight times for 53 yards, with a touchdown run. Norris completed eight of his 19 passing attempts for 83 yards, with two touchdown passes.

Wheaton defensive back Brian McMullen tallied nine total tackles, with a 30-yard interception return for a touchdown, a forced fumble and two tackles for lost yardage (-2 yards). Senior Brian Hollett and sophomore Jordan Chapman also each recorded nine total tackles. Junior defensive lineman Ryan Dougan made five total tackles, including two quarterback sacks, and a blocked punt.

Elmhurst quarterback Joe Furco was 13-for-28 passing, with 123 yards through the air, with one touchdown toss. All-American linebacker Randy Wright led the Bluejays' defense with 15 total tackles and Jon Janus added nine tackles.

Wheaton sophomore Teddy Watkins returned the opening kickoff 67 yards to the Elmhurst 22 yard-line. However, Wheaton missed a 34-yard field goal attempt to stall its opening drive. Wheaton's fourth drive of the game culminated with a 19-yard field goal by sophomore Scott Roche with 5:44 remaining in the second quarter. The drive was a lengthy effort that lasted 22 plays, going 85 yards and it chewed up the first 9:16 of the second quarter. Elmhurst's ensuing drive ended on a Bluejay punt attempt that was blocked by Wheaton's Dougan and recovered by the Thunder at the Elmhurst 10-yard line. On the very first play of the ensuing drive Norris connected with tight end Austin Zoerhof for a 10-yard touchdown pass to extend Wheaton's lead to 10-0 with 2:22 remaining in the first half.

The second drive of the second half ended with a Wheaton punt that was fumbled by the Bluejays and recovered by Wheaton senior Brian Leffler at the Elmhurst 39-yard line. Wheaton ran the ball for the next four plays, ending with an 11-yard touchdown run by Norris to extend Wheaton's lead to 17-0 with 10:51 remaining in the third quarter. Elmhurst used a short field due to a block of a Wheaton punt attempt to score with a one-yard touchdown pass from Furco to Alex Hammon, cutting Wheaton's lead to 17-7 with 2:09 remaining in the third quarter.

Wheaton extended its lead to 24-7 with 9:53 remaining in the fourth quarter when Norris threw a one-yard touchdown pass to tight end Mike Berttucci. Berttucci's touchdown catch was setup one play earlier when Norris connected with wide receiver Andy McClain on a 49-yard pass. On the third play of the next drive, Elmhurst's pass was intercepted by McMullen who returned the ball 30 yards into the end zone for a touchdown to extend Wheaton's lead to 31-7 with 8:12 left in the game. Wheaton's final touchdown of the game was a 14-yard scamper into the end zone by Gingg to give Wheaton a 38-7 lead with 56-seconds left in the contest.

PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE GAME, COURTESY OF MICHAEL HUDSON PHOTOGRPAHY