No. 15 Thunder football team handles Carroll in a 61-9 victory

Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton football team, ranked 15th in this week's D3football.com Top-25 Poll, defeated Carroll University 61-9 on Saturday afternoon at McCully Stadium. The Thunder are now 5-2 overall and 5-1 overall on the season. The Pioneers fall to 4-3 overall and 3-3 in CCIW action.

Today's contest was the first of a string that that sees Wheaton play three of its final four regular season games on the 2022 schedule at home. The Thunder remain at home next Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff against Millikin.

Wheaton racked up a season-high 663 yards of total offense. The Thunder ran for 335 yards and passed for 328 yards. Wheaton had 75 plays in the game with an average of 8.8 yards per play. Carroll tallied 206 yards of total offense, with 66 rushing yards and 140 passing yards.

Running back Giovanni Weeks carried the ball 12 times for 105 yards averaging 8.8 yards per carry. Matthew Tucker caught seven passes for 75 yards, with one touchdown catch. Tyler Gautier nabbed six catches for 59 yards, with one touchdown grab.

Thunder quarterback Will Bowers (PICTURED LEFT) completed 21 of his 23 passing attempts for a completion percentage of 91.3% that is the fourth-highest in a single game in Division III this season. Bowers threw for 240 yards, with four touchdowns and no interceptions.

Thunder linebacker Jalen Shaffer tallied a team-high nine total tackles, with a pass broken up. Jaden Ferlita had four total tackles, including two tackles for loss (minus-9 yards), and a sack (minus-7 yards). Sam Bell, among the nation's leaders in interceptions had another pick today, and he added a pass break-up. Philip LoChirco had a quarterback sack of minus-6 yards and a QB hurry.

Wheaton received the opening kickoff today and seized the opportunity with a 10-play drive of 70 yards. The opening drive culminated with a four-yard touchdown pass from Bowers to Matthew Tucker. The Pioneers' opening drive was a three-and-out that ended with a seven-yard sack by Jaden Ferlita. (PICTURED RIGHT) The ensuing Thunder drive started at Wheaton 46-yard line and concluded in the end zone on a five-yard touchdown pass from Bowers to Tyler Gautier to give Wheaton a 13-0 lead. The Thunder defense again held Carroll's offense to a three-and-out on the next drive. The hosts' next drive started at the Wheaton 50-yard line and Wheaton's offense utilized Weeks' ground game as he ran for 40 yards in the 50-yard drive. The drive culminated with a six-yard touchdown run for Weeks to increase the Thunder lead to 20-0 with 1:15 left in the first quarter.

Carroll's next drive concluded on an interception in the end zone by Wheaton's Bell. The Thunder defensive back returned the INT 14 yards. The Thunder offensive put together a 10-play drive of 93 yards that concluded with a sensational one-handed catch in the end zone by running back Cristian Carstens. Carstens' 10-yard touchdown catch from Bowers 27-0 lead with 7:21 remaining in the second quarter. Following Carstens' touchdown the Thunder defense again held Carroll to a three-and-out. Four plays into Wheaton's next drive, Weeks reached the end zone on a 33-yard touchdown run that extended the hosts' lead to 34-0 with 3:54 remaining in the first half. Tight end Ben Juska caught a 25-yard touchdown pass from Bowers to give the hosts a 41-0 lead with 18-seconds remaining in the first half.

Wheaton extended its lead to 48-0 on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Jeremiah Tucker to Ben Bonga with 7:47 left in the third quarter. Tucker scored Wheaton's next touchdown on his own as he scored on a three-yard touchdown run with 1:41 remaining in the third quarter to increase the hosts' lead to 55-0.

Thunder running back Henry Brown scored on a 29-yard touchdown run with 8:50 remaining in the fourth quarter to give Wheaton a 61-0 lead. The snap of the Thunder PAT attempt that followed Brown's touchdown was muffed and picked up Carroll's Joshua Wilkes who returned it to the end zone for a two-point PAT return. Carroll wide receiver Austin Eichstaedt caught a four-yard touchdown pass with 4:43 remaining in the game to account for the 61-9 final score.