Wheaton football opens the Division III Playoffs with a 45-10 victory against Huntingdon

Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton Thunder football team defeated Huntingdon College 45-10 under cold and windy conditions on Saturday afternoon in a First Round Playoff game of the NCAA Division III Playoffs. Wheaton (10-1) advances to the Second Round, where the Thunder will face off against CCIW rival North Central next Saturday at noon. Huntingdon caps the season with a 9-2 record.

The Thunder led the Hawks 35-3 at halftime today, thanks in large part to a 28-3 Thunder advantage in the second quarter. Wheaton blocked two punts in the second quarter, including one for a touchdown return; and the Thunder had an interception return for a touchdown in the quarter.

Wheaton tallied 419 yards of total offense in the game as the Thunder ran for 215 yards and passed for 204 yards. Huntingdon recorded 310 yards of offense with 178 passing yards on the ground.

Thunder quarterback Andrew Bowers (PICTURED LEFT) completed 10 of his 18 passing attempts for 204 yards with two touchdown passes. Bowers ran for 47 yards on six carries.

Stone Watson led the Thunder ground game with 111 rushing yards on nine carries and a touchdown run Sola Olateju carried the ball 17 times for 55 yards with one touchdown run. Zach Lindquist caught four passes for 67 yards with a touchdown catch. Trey Hanley caught three passes for 103 yards with one touchdown catch.

Luke Sahly led the Wheaton defense with 10 total tackles and he forced a fumble. Kyle Fox (PICTURED RIGHT) made nine total tackles, including nine solos. Eric Stevenson made eight total tackles and he returned an interception 54 yards for a touchdown. Tyler Sigler registered seven total tackles, including one tackle for loss (-6 yards) and broke up three passes.

Wheaton head coach Mike Swider noted of the game, "It was a fun game, I am proud of our kids and I thought we played well." Swider added, "Our special teams played well today. We blocked two punts, managed the wind today and did not miss an extra point or field goal."

Huntingdon quarterback Luke Bailey completed 19 of his 39 passing attempts, with one interception and one touchdown pass. Jamichael Bibb caught six passes for 39 yards with one touchdown catch. John Iwaniec ran for 99 yards on 23 carries for the Hawks. Demetrius Brown led the Hawks' defense with 10 total tackles.

Huntingdon head coach Mike Turk mentioned of the game, "Hats off to Wheaton. They have a fine football team and a really good program. They are a lot of where we want to be, since we are kind of new at this." Turk continued, "I don't think we played very well today. Wheaton had a lot to do with that obviously. That was about a bad a first half as we have played since I have been a coach here." He concluded, "I am proud of the way we continued to fight in the second half. I appreciate the fact that the guys came out and tried to play."

Huntingdon quarterback Luke Bailey completed 19 of his 39 passing attempts, with one interception and one touchdown pass. Jamichael Bibb caught six passes for 39 yards with one touchdown catch. John Iwaniec ran for 99 yards on 23 carries for the Hawks. Demetrius Brown led the Hawks' defense with 10 total tackles.

Wheaton took the opening kickoff and put together a 12-play drive of 65 yards that consumed the first 6:19 of the game. The drive culminated with a one-yard touchdown run by Olateju to give Wheaton a 7-0 lead with 8:46 remaining in the first quarter.

Huntingdon compiled an eight-play drive of 42 yards early in the second quarter that concluded with a 28-yard field goal by Hawks' kicker Chase Young. Young's field goal cut the Wheaton lead to 7-3 with 13:18 remaining in the second quarter. Wheaton responded just three plays after the field goal with a 66-yard touchdown pass from Bowers to Hanley that extended Wheaton's lead to 14-3 with 12:14 left in the second quarter. The Wheaton defense forced a three-and-out on the Hawks' ensuing drive and Wheaton's Logan Miller blocked the Huntingdon punt deep inside Hawks territory and he followed the ball in the end zone where he recovered it for a touchdown. Miller's touchdown increased the hosts' lead to 21-3 with 11:11 remaining in the first half.

The Hawks' eighth play of the drive that followed Miller's touchdown saw Stevenson pick off Bailey's pass at the Thunder 46-yard line and the Thunder linebacker returned it 54 yards for touchdown thanks to some key blocks by teammates along the way. Stevenson's touchdown increased Wheaton's lead to 28-3 with 8:37 remaining in the second quarter. The Thunder defense again forced a three-and-out on the Huntingdon drive that followed and the Hawks' punt was again blocked as Jacob Killeen got a piece of it and recovered it at the Huntingdon 24-yard line. Bowers connected with Lindquist on the very first play of the ensuing drive for a 24-yard touchdown pass that extended the hosts' lead to 35-3 with 7:12 remaining in the second quarter. Wheaton maintained its 35-3 lead at halftime.

Huntingdon put together an eight-play drive of 47 yards in the third quarter that culminated with a seven-yard touchdown pass from Bailey to Jamichael Bibb. Bibb's touchdown reception accounted for a 35-10 Wheaton lead with 7:42 remaining in the third quarter. Thunder kicker Stefan Knoerr converted a 28-yard field goal with 2:36 remaining in the third quarter as Wheaton's lead increased to 38-10.

Wheaton's final touchdown of the game came early in the fourth quarter as Watson reached the end zone on an eight-yard touchdown run to culminate a six-play drive of 68 yards. Watson's (PICTURED LEFT) touchdown accounted for the 45-10 final score.

Note Worthy: Today's victory improves Wheaton to 10-0 all-time in the first round of the NCAA Division III Playoffs.

PLEASE NOTE: This story will be updated throughout the evening.