The Thunder football team ends the season with a 31-17 loss to UW-Whitewater in the NCAA Playoffs' Second Round

Wheaton, Ill. - The Thunder football team battled UW-Whitewater on Saturday in a hard-fought matchup in the Second Round of the 2015 NCAA Division III Football Playoffs. The Warhawks emerged with a 31-17 victory against the Thunder. UW-Whitewater will face UW-Oshkosh next Saturday in a Quarterfinal Round contest in the Playoffs. UW-Oshkosh defeated Ohio Northern 42-7 in another Second Round matchup on Saturday.

The Thunder offense racked up 475 yards of offense on Saturday as Wheaton passed for 349 yards and ran for 126 yards. The Warhawks had 407 yards of total offense, with 185 rushing yards and 222 passing yards.

Wheaton sophomore Sola Olateju carried the ball 14 times for 75 yards. Super back Zach Lindquist caught nine passes for 123 yards and Trey Hanley tallied six receptions for 44 yards. Quarterback Andrew Bowers completed 26 of his 50 passing attempts for 349 yards with one interception and two touchdown tosses.

Senior linebacker Adam Dansdill (PICTURED LEFT) led the Thunder defense with 16 total tackles, including seven solo stops. Josh Aldrin (PICTURED RIGHT) made nine tackles, while Marcus Smith, Caleb Ashby and Noah Spielman each made eight total tackles. Smith forced a pair of fumbles and Ashby had a forced fumble and a fumble recovery to his credit. Spielman registered two tackles for lost yardage (-4 yards), including a quarterback sack of two yards. Mikey Swider also added a sack (-4 yards).

UW-Whitewater running back Jordan Ratliffe carried the ball 38 times for 192 yards with three touchdown runs. Quarterback Chris Nelson completed 16 of his 23 passing attempts with one touchdown toss. Vince Mason led the UW-Whitewater defense with 13 total tackles.

UW-Whitewater took the opening kickoff and the Thunder defense forced the Warhawks to punt after five plays. Wheaton's first drive of the game started at its own 37 yard line. Olateju carried the ball five times for 32 yards in the drive and his last run of the drive was a 16-yard run on fourth-and-one at the Whitewater 31-yard line to push the ball to the 15-yard line. Bowers threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Lindquist on the very next play to give the Thunder a 7-0 lead with 6:44 remaining in the first quarter. Bowers' touchdown pass capped a 10-play drive of 63 yards for the hosts. The Warhawks responded on the very next drive with a seven-play drive of 66 yards that culminated with a four-yard touchdown run by Ratliffe to tie the game at 7-7 with 3:49 left in the first quarter.

Wheaton was forced to punt after five plays on its next drive. The Warhawks put together another 10-play drive following the Wheaton punt. The drive went 62 yards and finished on a five-yard touchdown run by Ratliffe to increase the Warhawks' lead to 14-7 with 12:37 left in the second quarter. A Thunder interception on the hosts' next drive gave Whitewater the ball at the guests' 40-yard line, but the Wheaton defense held firm and forced a three-and-out on the next UW-Whitewater drive.

Wheaton's offense went three-and out on its next drive as the Warhawks started their drive at the UWW 47-yard line following a Thunder punt. Nelson opened the drive with an 18-yard pass to Ratliffe and followed that with a 32-yard pass to Joe Worth to give the Warhawks the ball at the Thunder three-yard line. Three plays later Ratliffe was in the end zone on a five-yard run that increased the guests' lead to 21-7 with 4:32 left in the second quarter.

Wheaton responded in its next drive, a drive that started at the Thunder 25-yard line. On the very first play Bowers connected with Thorson on a 36-yard pass to move the Thunder into Warhawks' territory. Three plays later Olateju (PICTURED LEFT) caught a 32-yard touchdown pass from Bowers to cut the UW-Whitewater lead to 21-14 with 3:16 left in the first half.

The Warhawks responded with a five-play drive of 59 yards that culminated with a 21-yard touchdown pass from Nelson to Marcus Hudson to give the guests a 28-14 lead with 1:04 remaining in the opening half. Wheaton's ensuing drive stalled to force a Thunder punt that was blocked by Whitewater's Jordan Gruettner to give the Warhawks the ball at the Wheaton 28-yard line and 17-seconds remaining in the second quarter. Lake Bachar of UW-Whitewater kicked a 46-yard field goal as the half ended to account for the guests' 31-14 halftime lead.

Wheaton's opening drive of the second half stalled and ended when Olateju was short of the first down when Wheaton went for it on fourth-and-two at the UWW 36-yard line. The Warhawks pushed ball to the Wheaton 16-yard line on the ensuing drive, but the Thunder defense stopped Nelson on a run on fourth-and-one to give the hosts the ball back. Wheaton punted on its next drive as Whitewater started its next drive at its own 27-yard line. The Warhawks methodically moved the ball down the field in a 10-play drive of 69 yards that lasted 4:09. Wheaton's defense stepped up late in the drive as Thunder defensive back Marcus Smith forced a fumble by Ratliffe and Caleb Ashby recovered the fumble at Wheaton's four-yard line to thwart the UW-Whitewater scoring threat.

Each team traded drives over the next two drives. The Thunder started a drive with 10:39 left in the fourth quarter and on the fifth play of the drive Bowers connected with Zach Lindquist on a 20-yard pass to give the Thunder ball at the Whitewater 28-yard line. Bowers (PICTURED RIGHT) ran for 15 yards on the next play to advance the ball to the guests' 13-yard line. Wheaton's Daniel Gray kicked a 22-yard field goal for the Thunder to cut the UW-Whitewater lead to 31-17 with 7:42 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Thunder defense forced a three-and-out by the Warhawks' offense. Wheaton's next drive saw Bowers throw a seven-yard and nine-yard pass to Zach Lindquist, but the drive stalled on a quarterback sack on fourth down to give the guests the ball with 4:02 remaining in the game. The Thunder defense forced a Warhawks' punt on the next drive. Wheaton's final drive of the game ended on a five-yard run by Bowers on fourth-and-10 at the Whitewater 27-yard line. The Warhawks ran out the final 55-seconds of the game to advance UW-Whitewater into the next round of the Playoffs.