Thunder football team falls to UW-Whitewater 49-42 in NCAA D3 Playoffs' Second Round

Whitewater, Wis. – The Wheaton football team (10-2) fought valiantly on Saturday in a battle of top-ten ranked teams in the second round of the NCAA Division III Football Playoffs. The UW-Whitewater Warhawks overcame a strong Wheaton effort to defeat the Thunder 49-42. The Warhawks (11-1) advance to next Saturday's Quarterfinal Round against Wartburg College.

The Thunder offense put up 532 yards of total offense today as Wheaton passed for 402 yards and ran for 130 yards. Five of Wheaton's six touchdowns today came on passes. The Warhawks had 563 yards of total offense. The hosts passed for 239 yards and ran for 314 yards.

Senior quarterback Ben Thorson was sensational today as he passed for 402 yards, completing 26 of his 41 passing attempts with five touchdown passes. Ben Bonga caught eight passes for 87 yards, with two touchdown catches. Seth Kortenhoeven had six receptions for 117 yards and one touchdown catch, while Caleb Titherington also had six receptions for 85 yards and one touchdown. Ben Juska caught both passes thrown his way for 58 yards and one touchdown catch.

All-American running back Giovanni Weeks carried the ball 21 times for 123 yards with one touchdown run. He also caught the ball three times for 51 yards.

Virgil Cannon (PICTURED LEFT) made a game-high 13 total tackles, including a half a tackle for loss (-1 yards). Caleb McClung recorded 11 total tackles, with Dimitri Cannon adding seven total tackles. Isaac Parrish, Johnny Eller and Max Wilson each made six total tackles.

Head Coach Jesse Scott noted after the game, "I have a great depth of pride for the men that ran out on the field today for the Wheaton Thunder. I am proud of how they represented our institution, and for the way they represented our football program." He added, "I am proud of our competitive character and resilience…and I am also proud of the moxie in our team through the course of this year and I thought that was well-represented here today."

The Warhawks reached the end zone first as the hosts scored on their first possession of the game when Tamir Thomas scored on a 56- yard touchdown run. Wheaton responded on its next possession with an impressive 13-play drive that marched 73 yards. The drive culminated with a one-yard touchdown run by Weeks (PICTURED RIGHT) to tie the game at 7-7 with 4:49 remaining in the first quarter. Weeks had a key one-yard rush two plays before the touchdown on fourth-and-one at the UWW four-yard line. Achieving the key fourth down allowed the All-American running back to score two plays later. The Warhawks responded with a seven-play drive that concluded with a one-yard touchdown to give the hosts a 14-7 lead with 1:46 left in the opening quarter.

Wheaton wasted no time in responding to the Warhawks' touchdown. A mere 33-seconds later, Thorson threw a short screen pass to Juska who broke through the UWW defense and scampered into the end zone on a 55-yard touchdown reception. Juska's touchdown and the PAT kick that followed tied the game at 14-14 with 1:03 left in the first quarter. The score remained 14-14 at end of the first quarter.

The Wheaton defense made a stand, and the Thunder offense got the ball and responded with a five-play drive of 77 yards that concluded with a 44-yard touchdown pass from Thorson to a wide-open Titherington to give the guests a 21-14 lead. Wheaton again scored on its next possession as Thorson connected with Kortenhoeven on an 18-yard touchdown pass for a 28-14 Wheaton lead with 6:54 left in the first half. The Wheaton defense stood tall on the Warhawks' final offensive drive of the first half to force a field goal attempt. The kick was blocked by Wheaton and allowed the Thunder to lead 28-14 at the halftime break.

UW-Whitewater responded quickly in its first possession of the second half as the hosts had a 50-yard touchdown pass just 1:03 into the start of the third quarter to cut Wheaton's lead to 28-21 with 13:57 left in the third quarter. The Warhawks gained terrific field position later in the third quarter on a Wheaton miscue on a punt return. The hosts capitalized with a four-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 28-28 with 6:26 left in the third quarter.

UW-Whitewater had a 56-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter as the hosts regained the lead at 35-28 with 14:50 remaining in the fourth quarter. Thorson again led Wheaton's response when had a 14-yard touchdown pass to Ben Bonga. Bonga's TD catch and the PAT kick that followed tied the game at 35-35 with 12:27 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Warhawks' Tamir Thomas had a six-yard touchdown catch and a 20-yard touchdown on back-to-back UWW drives to give the hosts a 49-35 lead with 7:00 remaining in the game. The Thunder would not go quietly though as Thorson had a 10-yard touchdown pass to Bonga with 3:49 left in the game to trim the hosts' lead to 49-42. Wheaton had a an onsides kick on the kickoff that followed, and it was recovered by UW-Whitewater. The Warhawks turned the ball over on downs and Wheaton had two offensive plays in the closing seconds of the game but were unable to tie the matchup.

Thorson commented of his season and time with the Thunder, "It has been a wild ride for me at Wheaton. I have loved every minute of it and love this program with everything I have. Last year when Coach Scott told me that I was going to be a backup it was hard. But I knew there was going to be a time that I was going to have to make some plays. Fortunately, I got that opportunity this year and there is no one that I would rather do it with than the guys on this team."

When asked about his record-setting career at Wheaton, Weeks noted, "When it comes to what we accomplished you have to look at the guys up front – Paul Fay, Trevor Gabriele, Elijah Nitz. Those are some guys that I have been with whole time and we have been doing it together. I think the legacy I would like to leave is no regrets – I would like to say that I did that today. I also would like to be able to say that every time I was on the field I brought as much physicality as I could. I am thankful for everything and I love Wheaton Football."

Note Worthy (Team Single-Season Records Edition): The Thunder offense amassed 6,012 yards of total offense this season for a new school record, surpassing the previous record of 5,926 yards set in 2003…Wheaton's offense averaged 501.0 yards per game this year for a new school record that bested the old school record of 491.0 yards per game that was set in 2021.

Note Worthy (Individual Single-Season Records Edition): Quarterback Ben Thorson threw for 36 touchdowns this year to establish a new single-season record…Thorson also set a new single-season passing yardage record with 3,289 yards to break the previous record of 3,267 yards that was set by Keith Bishop in 1983…Thorson's 3,289 yards of total offense this year is second in the Wheaton record books…Weeks ran for 1,687 yards this season for a new single-season record…Weeks also broke his own single-season records for total touchdowns (25) and points (152) this season.

Note Worthy (Giovanni Weeks Career Records Edition): Weeks' school record of 12.4 points per game in his 34 career games ranks 11th all-time in Division III history…his school record of 422 career points is 25th all-time in Division III history…Weeks also holds the Wheaton school record with 70 career touchdowns…his 4,397 career rushing yards and 5,540 career all-purpose yards are both new school records…Weeks' career average of 6.98 yards per carry is also a school record.