The Thunder football team tops Millikin 69-3 at home

Wheaton, Ill. - The Wheaton College football team, ranked 15th in this week's D3football.com Top-25 Poll, defeated Millikin University 69-3 on Saturday afternoon at McCully Stadium. Wheaton improves to 6-2 on the season, with a 6-1 record in CCIW play. Wheaton travels to WashU in St. Louis next Saturday for a key CCIW matchup at 1:00 p.m. in the regular season road finale for the Thunder.

Wheaton had 598 yards of offense this afternoon as the hosts passed for 343 yards and ran for 255. The Thunder defense held Millikin to just 86 yards of total offense as the Big Blue had minus-56 yards on the ground and passed for just 86 yards.

Thunder running back Giovanni Weeks (PICTURED LEFT) averaged 9.2 yards per carry with three touchdown runs. Weeks ran for 166 yards on 18 carries. Matthew Tucker caught a team-high seven receptions for 80 yards. Ben Juska grabbed six catches for 81 yards, with two touchdown receptions. Tyler Gautier caught five passes for 82 yards with one touchdown catch.

Starting quarterback Will Bowers completed 25 of his 31 passing attempts for 286 yards with four touchdown passes. Jeremiah Tucker was 3-for-3 passing, with 48 yards through the air and one a touchdown pass. Ben Thorson was 1-for-3 passing for seven yards, with a 35-yard touchdown run to his credit.

Clay Campbell led a strong effort by the Thunde defense today with a team-high five total tackles. Jaden Ferlita, Jalen Shaffer, and Brayden Anthony (PICTURED RIGHT) each added four total tackles. Defensive lineman Philip LoChirco was all over the place today with three total tackles, including two quarterback sacks (minus15-yards). LoChirco also forced a fumble and blocked a punt that he recovered at the Big Blue two-yard line to setup a Wheaton touchdown on the very next play. Johnny Eller (minus-16 yards), Brayden Anthony (minus-8 yards) and Caleb McClung (minus-7 yards) also recorded solo sacks.

Weeks scored Wheaton's first touchdown with 10:40 remaining in the first quarter when he blasted through the Big Blue defense on a 61-yard touchdown run. Caleb Mary converted the PAT kick to give Wheaton a 7-0 lead with 10:40 remaining in the opening quarter. Millikin's lone points in the game came on a 22-yard field goal with 3:12 remaining in the first quarter to trim Wheaton's lead to 7-3. The Thunder would go on to scored 62-unanswered points.

Bowers had a 31-yard touchdown pass and a two-yard touchdown pass to Eggleston in the second quarter. Weeks scored on a seven-yard touchdown run in the quarter as the Thunder led 27-3 at halftime.

The Thunder scored 22 points in the third quarter. Bowers threw touchdown passes of 16 yards and 22 yards to Juska (PICTURED RIGHT) in the third quarter. Weeks' third and final touchdown of the game was a 32-yard run into the end zone in the third quarter. Wheaton's special teams recorded a safety when a the snap of a Millikin punt attempt sailed out of the end zone.

The Thunder offense tallied three more touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Cristian Carstens scored on a one-yard touchdown run and quarterback Ben Thorson scored on a 35-yard touchdown run in the final quarter. Eggleston's second touchdown catch of the day was a 17-yard touchdown pass from Jeremiah Tucker.