Fifth-ranked Wheaton football impresses in a 52-13 victory at home against WashU

Wheaton, Ill. - The fifth-ranked Wheaton Thunder football team remained undefeated on Saturday with a 52-13 victory at home against WashU (4-2, 3-2 CCIW). Wheaton improves to 6-0 overall and 5-0 in CCIW play.

Wheaton scored 35 points in the first quarter and led the Bears 38-0 at halftime. The Thunder offense put up 698 yards of offense tonight, the most ever by a Wheaton team in the regular season, snapped the previous record of 688 yards against Millikin on October 19, 1996. The school record for total yards in a game is the 708 yards put up by Wheaton in a NCAA Division III Playoff First Round game against Wittenberg in 1995.

Wheaton's 698 yards of offense tonight came on 415 rushing yards and 283 passing yards. The WashU offense had 205 total yards tonight with 159 passing yards and 46 rushing yards.

Wheaton running back T.J. Williams led the Thunder offense with 160 rushing yards on 12 carries with two touchdowns. Will Smith ran for 120 yards on 20 carries with one touchdown run. Quarterback Luke Anthony completed 12 of his 17 passing attempts for 252 yards with three touchdown passes. Jeremiah Tucker was 2-of-5 passing for 19 yards and he ran for 53 yards with one touchdown run. Adam Terrini caught five passes for 126 yards, with two touchdown catches. Phillip Nichols had five receptions for 106 yards in the game.

Ryan Schwartz and Wyatt Lee (PICTURED LEFT) led the Thunder defense with eight tackles apiece. Schwartz had 2-1/2 tackles for loss (-13 yards) and Lee had two tackles for loss (-15 yards). Caleb Egbert had six tackles, all solo, for the Thunder. Dallas McRae had three tackles for lost yardage (-21 yards), including two quarterback sacks (-19 yards). Patrick O'Connell recorded two sacks in the game (-7 yards).

Wheaton scored on the fourth play of the opening drive of the game as Anthony connected with Adam Terrini on a 44-yard touchdown pass (VIDEO). Terrini's touchdown catch and the PAT that followed gave Wheaton a 7-0 lead with 13:30 left in the first quarter. Williams (PICTURED RIGHT) scored on a two-yard touchdown run (VIDEO) on Wheaton's second drive to extend the Thunder lead to 14-0 with 11:11 left in the first quarter. Will Smith reached the end zone on a one-yard touchdown run (VIDEO) with 6:58 remaining in the first quarter as Wheaton increased the lead to 21-0 with 6:58 left in the first quarter. Wheaton's Bert McJunkin blocked a WashU punt on the Bears' next drive and the Thunder began their next drive at the Bears' 16-yard line. Anthony threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Carson Lien on the first play of the drive to extend the hosts' lead to 28-0 with 3:54 remaining in the first quarter (VIDEO). The Wheaton defense again shut down the Bears' offense and Wheaton started its next drive at its own 35-yard line. Williams broke free for a 33-yard touchdown run on the sixth play of the drive to give Wheaton a 35-0 lead with 1:05 remaining in the first quarter (VIDEO).

Griffin Bowes connected on a 27-yard field with 10:04 left in the second quarter to increase Wheaton's lead to 38-0. Wheaton maintained its 38-0 lead at the halftime intermission.

Anthony threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Terrini with 8:55 remaining in the third quarter as Wheaton extended its lead to 45-0 (VIDEO). Wheaton's final touchdown of the night was a 13-yard touchdown run by Jeremiah Tucker to increase the hosts' lead to 52-0 (VIDEO).

WashU scored twice in the fourth quarter to account for the 52-13 final score. Quarterback Johnny Davidson scored on a two-yard touchdown with 9:41 remaining in the game. The final score of the game on a blocked punt by the Bears that was recovered by Will Hurley of WashU and returned five yards for a touchdown.

Wheaton remains at home next week as the Thunder host Augustana at 1:00 p.m.