The Thunder football team closes out the regular season with a 42-10 win at home against Carroll

Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton football team closed out its regular season on Saturday with a 42-10 victory at home against Carroll University (1-9, 1-7 CCIW) at McCully Stadium. Wheaton, ranked 10th in the AFCA Division III Coaches Poll and 12th in the D3football.com Top-25 poll, is now 9-1 on the season with a 7-1 CCIW record. Wheaton is a possible at-large selection for the 2016 NCAA Division III Football Playoffs when the pairings are announced tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. (CST). Thunder fans can watch the selection show live at www.ncaa.com.

Thunder offense and defense controlled the game today as the Wheaton defense held Carroll to just 121 yards of offense as the Pioneers averaged just 2.3 yards per play. The Wheaton defense totaled 10 tackles for lost yardage (-39 yards), including five quarterback sacks (-33 yards). The Thunder offense recorded 408 yards of offense, with 248 rushing yards and 160 passing yards.

Wheaton quarterback Andrew Bowers completed 11 of his 16 passing attempts for 151 yards with two touchdown tosses. Johnny Peltz was 1-for-3 for nine yards through the air. Thunder running back Sola Olateju ran the ball 19 times for 148 yards with one touchdown run and he caught a pair of passes for 37 yards.

Sophomore linebacker Eric Stevenson (PICTURED LEFT) recorded a team-high nine total tackles, with a quarterback hurry. Chase Greenlee and Caleb Ashby each tallied eight total tackles. Greenlee registered 2-1/2 tackles for lost yardage (-8 yards), including a quarterback sack (-6 yards), a pass break-up and a hurry.

Carroll quarterback Kyle Burlingame was 10-of-18 through the air, for 18 passing yards. Cameron Cassaro led the Pioneers' defense with nine total tackles.

The Thunder broke a scoreless tie late in the first quarter when Bowers connected with tight end Zach Lindquist on a 15-yard touchdown pass as Lindquist broke several Carroll tackles on his way to the end zone. Lindquist's touchdown and the ensuing PAT gave the Thunder a 7-0 lead with 5:15 left in the first quarter. The Thunder defense forced Carroll's offense into a three-and-out on the next drive. Olateju (PICTURED RIGHT) opened the drive with a 20-yard run and he followed it with a 10-yard touchdown run that increased Wheaton's lead to 14-0 with 2:53 left in the first quarter.

Carroll's Taylor Plehn kicked a 27-yard field goal with 10:10 remaining in the second quarter to put the Pioneers on the board, as Wheaton led 14-3. The Thunder followed the Carroll field goal with a lengthy drive of eighty yards that culminated when Bowers threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Luke Van Dyke who was wide open in the end zone. Van Dyke's touchdown and the PAT that followed increased Wheaton's lead to 21-3 with 7:23 remaining in the first half. The Thunder maintained the 21-3 lead at halftime.

Bowers reached the end zone on a one-yard touchdown run on Wheaton's second drive of the third quarter to extend the hosts' lead to 28-3 with 11:42 remaining in the third quarter. Carroll reached the end zone on a three-yard touchdown run by Kyle Burlingame with 5:52 remaining in the third quarter that cut Wheaton's lead to 28-10.

The Thunder closed out the third quarter with a lengthy 90-yard drive that stretched 11 plays and ended on a five-yard touchdown run by Lindquist. The tight end's second touchdown of the day, and the PAT that followed, extended Wheaton's lead to 35-10 with 14:52 remaining in the fourth quarter. Wheaton's final score of the day was a two-yard touchdown run by Jackson Fain that accounted for the 42-10 final score.

Note Worthy: Wheaton's five sacks today gives the Thunder 44 this season, the most for the program since quarterback sacks became an official NCAA statistic in 2000...Greenlee's sack in today's game gives him 12 for the season, the most by a Wheaton player since 2006 and the fourth-highest single-season total in team history.