Sixth ranked Thunder football team shuts out Elmhurst, 44-0

Elmhurst, Ill. - The Wheaton football team, ranked sixth in this week's D3football.com Top-25 poll, shut out Elmhurst University 44-0 today at the Bluejays' (1-7, 1-6 CCIW) home Langhorst Field. Wheaton is now 7-1 overall and 6-1 in CCIW play.

Wheaton's stingy defense was effective today, holding Elmhurst to -8 rushing yards. The Bluejays passed for 164 yards and amassed just 156 yards of total offense. The Thunder offense had 465 yards of total offense, with 194 rushing yards and 281 passing yards.

Giovanni Weeks returned to the Wheaton lineup and ran for 150 yards, with one touchdown run. Quarterback Luke Anthony completed 17 of his 25 passing attempts for 271 yards, with two touchdown passes. Matthew Tucker caught seven passes for 42 yards. Adam Terrini caught four passes for 88 yards with one touchdown catch.

Caleb Egbert (PICTURED LEFT) led the Wheaton defense with nine total tackles, including seven solo stops. Egbert also had a pass break-up, and he returned an interception 68 yards for a touchdown. Senior Dallas McRae had eight total tackles, with five solo stops. McRae was a force in the Bluejays' backfield with five tackles for loss (-28 yards), including 1-1/2 sacks (-9 yards). Linebacker Ryan Schwartz made eight total tackles, including four solos with one tackle for loss (-3 yards). Linebacker Wyatt Lee and defensive lineman Brayden Anthony each made five total tackles. Anthony had 2-1/2 quarterback sacks (-17 yards) on the day.

Wheaton's second offensive drive of the game started at the Thunder 40-yard line. Weeks started the drive with a five-yard touchdown run and on the second play, Luke Anthony threw a 55-yard touchdown pass to Terrelle Brown (PICTURED RIGHT) to give Wheaton its first points. Tommy Gallagher converted the PAT kick after Brown's touchdown catch as Wheaton led 7-0 with 6:32 remaining in the first quarter.

Late in the first quarter, the Bluejays started a drive at their own 18-yard line. On the first play of the drive, Thunder defensive lineman Jake Holaday forced a fumble on an Elmhurst carry and Luke Gammichia recovered the ball at the Elmhurst 22-yard line. Weeks carried the ball on each of the three Thunder offensive plays on the drive that followed, including a two-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter. Weeks' touchdown and Gallagher's PAT kick extended Wheaton's lead to 14-0 with 14:56 left in the second quarter. Wheaton's third touchdown came near the conclusion of the first half as Sam Singleton reached the end zone on a two-yard touchdown run. Singleton's TD increased Wheaton's lead to 20-0 with 4:15 left in the second quarter. The Thunder led 20-0 at the halftime intermission.

The Bluejays tried to extend their first offensive drive of the second half on fourth-and-two at the Wheaton 39 yard line. The Elmhurst passing attempt on fourth down was broken up by Gammichia to give the Thunder ball at its own 39-yard line. Four plays later, Luke Anthony threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Terrini as Wheaton's lead increased to 27-0 with 9:52 remaining in the third quarter. Later in the third quarter, Egbert intercepted an Elmhurst pass and returned it 68 yards for a touchdown. Egbert's second INT-return for a touchdown in as many weeks gave Wheaton a 34-0 lead with 4:10 left in the third quarter. Gallagher kicked a 28-yard field goal with 1:18 remaining in the third quarter to increase Wheaton's lead to 37-0.

The Thunder added one more touchdown in the fourth quarter to account for Wheaton's 44-0 final score. The final touchdown was a four-yard touchdown run by Kyle Carter with 6:02 remaining in the game.

Wheaton hosts Illinois Wesleyan next Saturday in the home regular season finale for the Thunder. Next Saturday's matchup with the Titans kicks off at 1:00 p.m. for "Senior Day".