No. 23 Thunder football team closes the regular season with a 66-14 victory against North Park

Wheaton, Ill. – The No. 23 Wheaton football team celebrated senior day Saturday with a 66-14 victory against North Park University (5-5, 4-5 CCIW). The game marked the 44th-consecutive Thunder win against the visiting Vikings, a stretch dating back to 1980. Wheaton finished their regular in second place in the CCIW standings, with an 8-2 record overall and 8-1 in CCIW action.

The impressive Wheaton offense put up 49 points in the first half. They amassed 555 yards of total offense. They marched for 190 yards on the ground, accounting for 365 passing yards. North Park could only muster 30 yards rushing against the stout Wheaton defense. They threw for 222 yards passing, largely found on two separate 74-yard receiving touchdowns from Matt Eck to Jereme Ombogo.

Ten Thunder players had rushing attempts as Giovanni Weeks led the attack with 87 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Xaviere Jones rushed for 19 yards and a score while senior Andrew Partyka averaged five yards a carry totaling 20 yards. Davis Reeves carried for a 7-yard touchdown. Senior Brady Borger also saw action and rushed for thirteen yards.

Starting Quarterback Mark Forcucci completed 81% of his passes (17/21) and threw for 254 yards and four touchdowns. Jones passed for 111 yards and one touchdown. Senior receiver Ben Bonga caught six passes for 125 yards and three touchdowns. Weeks added 53 yards and a touchdown reception and Deuce Scott had 75 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, Peter Jonhanik led the Thunder with 11 tackles, two tackles for loss (TFL), and a fumble recovery. Isaac Parrish and Rex Kroger also tallied 1-½ TFL in a stellar day for the defensive line. Linebacker Johnny Eller finished with seven tackles and Max Wilson secured an interception.

The Vikings received the opening kickoff but were quickly forced to punt. Two-time CCIW Special Teams Player of the Week Nate Tofilon blocked the kick and the Wheaton offense began their first drive in North Park territory at the 35-yard line. It did not take long for Weeks to punch in his first rushing touchdown of the game with a 12-yard rush 1:13 minutes later.

The Thunder defense forced a three-and-out on the next possession. Forcucci led the offense downfield completing five passes to five different receivers including a 19-yard gain by Griffin Cropp. Set up in the red zone, Reeves went in motion and received a pitch for Forcucci. He out-ran a defender deep behind the line of scrimmage and was able to use his speed to find the end zone for a seven-yard rushing touchdown.

Up 14-7 with 5:27 left in the first quarter, Forcucci dumped a screen pass off left to Scott. Using a key block by center Drew Chairuangdei, Scott used his speed to weave through a couple of defenders for a 61-yard score.

After forcing a turnover on downs, Wheaton only needed two plays to find the end zone again. This time Forcucci threw a beautiful deep ball down the Viking sideline that fell into Bonga's bread-basket for a 51-yard touchdown pass. Wheaton took the lead 28-7 with 14:51 left in the second quarter.

The defense forced another three-and-out on the next drive. Wheaton's offense picked up where they had left off, using lots of pre-snap motion and misdirections to march down the field again. The possession saw Whit Jewett collect a 17-yard reception. Senior Randy Vojtisek had a catch-and-run for ten yards. The drive was capped off with another touchdown pass to Bonga, this time an in-breaking route over the middle against the Vikings' man-coverage scheme for a 14-yard score.

With 2:41 remaining in the second quarter, cornerback Wilson jumped the hitch route by the Vikings and nabbed his second interception of the season. With great field position, Bonga was able to complete his "hat trick" with his third touchdown of the day. Wheaton landed one more possession before the half where Weeks ran in a two-yard score. It marked the 18th multi-rushing touchdown game of his career.

Jones took over at quarterback for the second half. Already up 42 points, Jones hit Weeks for a 13-yard touchdown to tack on seven more points. They led 56-7 with 13:20 remaining in the third quarter.

The game largely remained on the ground for the rest of the contest. Wheaton settled for a 25-yard field courtesy of Mateo Jesch with 4:50 remaining in the third quarter. The kicker was perfect on the day and was 8-of-8 on PAT attempts.

Starting the fourth quarter, Trent Gabriele and Jones led the Thunder drive with eight rushing attempts culminating in a 12-yard rush by the quarterback. That would conclude the scoring for Wheaton as they took a 66-7 lead. North Park mustered up one more big play on a 74-yard touchdown on the next drive. The game resulted in a 66-14 victory for the home team.

Wheaton honored 30 graduating seniors at McCully Stadium, Saturday. Ryan Miller had four impactful tackles on special teams, finishing with five on the day. Jaxon Powell added the second sack of his career late in the game.