Seven Thunder football players earn All-Region honors from D3football.com

Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton Thunder football team placed seven players on the 2022 D3football.com All- Region 5 Team on Wednesday. Five players from the Thunder offense earned All-Region recognition, and two defensive players picked up the honor. Wheaton placed two players on the First Team unit, four on the Second Team and one on the Third Team.

Running back Giovanni Weeks and wide receiver Ben Bonga each earned First Team All-Region 5 honors at their respective positions.

Weeks is a three-time D3football.com All-Region honoree at running back. He picked up his third career First Team All-CCIW award earlier this fall. Weeks ran for a school record 1,687 yards this season, a mark that is currently the highest total in Division III this year. He broke his own school single-season records with 25 total touchdowns and 152 points. The senior ran for a career-high 256 yards in Wheaton's NCAA First Round win against Mount St. Joseph, the highest single-game rushing total in the playoffs this year and the 11th-highest single-game total in D3 this season. Weeks owns a school record with an average of 12.4 points per game in his career to rank 11th all-time in Division III history. His school record of 422 career points is 25th all-time in D3 history, and he holds the Wheaton school record with 70 career touchdowns. Weeks is Wheaton's career rushing yardage leader with 4,397 career rushing yards and his 5,540 career all-purpose yards is also a school record.

Bonga had an outstanding junior season for the Thunder to earn First Team All-Region 5 honors at wide receiver. Earlier this fall he was a First Team All-CCIW honoree. He led the Wheaton offense with 79 receptions this year, the most by a Wheaton WR since 2008. He accumulated a team-best 1,035 receiving yards this year, the most by a Thunder WR since 2008. Bonga had career-highs of 12 catches and 143 yards in a home win against Augustana and he recorded eight catches (16 total) in each of Wheaton's two D3 Playoff games with three TD catches in the playoffs.

Three members of the Thunder offensive line earned Second Team All-Region honors this season. Senior center Trevor Gabriele earned his third career All-Region recognition, picking up the two previous All-Region awards at guard. Senior guard Paul Fay, a Third Team honoree last season, earned his second career All-Region award this fall. Tackle Elijah Nitz joined Fay and Gabriele as Second Team All-Region honorees this fall. The trio led a Thunder offensive line that is 10th in Division III in total offense with a school record of 501.0 yards per game. Behind their stalwart O-line play, 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.

Junior Max Wilson picked up second Team All-Region 5 recognition at cornerback for his strong season with the Thunder. In November, Wilson was named a First Team All-CCIW selection at cornerback to earn his second career All-Conference award. Wilson made 42 total tackles this season, including 26 solo stops. He was named the CCIW Defensive Player of the Week and earned a spot on the D3football.com Team of the Week, following Wheaton's season-opening win against UW-Oshkosh where he intercepted two passes and had a TFL among his three total tackles. He made a season-high seven total tackles in Wheaton's dramatic last second victory against WashU, and recorded six total tackles and registered a pass break up at UW-Whitewater in the Second Round of the Division III Playoffs.

Defensive end Peter Johanik was named a Third Team All-Region honoree by D3football. Earlier this fall he was honored as a First Team All-CCIW selection at defensive end. Johanik led the Thunder defense in both tackles for loss (14 for -79 yards) and sacks (7 for -60 yards) this season. The sophomore led Wheaton with 11 QB hurries and recorded a team-high two fumble recoveries. He was third on the team in total tackles (54) and solo tackles (34). Johanik made two quarterback sacks (-15 yards) among his four total tackles against North Central in September. He registered a career-high 2-1/2 TFL (-9 yards), including a seven-yard sack in a win at Carroll. Johanik made seven total tackles, including 1-1/2 (TFL) in a dramatic one-point win against WashU.

Originally published by Wheaton College Athletics: /news/2023/12/6/football-seven-thunder-football-players-earn-all-region-honors-from-d3football-com.aspx