Thunder to travel to Mount Union for NCAA Semifinal

Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton College football team will be playing in the NCAA Division III National Semifinal for the first time in school history on Saturday December 13 in Alliance, Ohio. Wheaton will be facing top-ranked Mount Union College in a noon (EST) kickoff at Mount Union Stadium. Saturday's Semifinal appearance by the Thunder will mark the first time a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) team has played in the National Semifinal since 1988 when Augustana played Central College (Iowa.).

The winner of Saturday's Semifinal will play in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, in Salem, Virginia, on December 20 for the NCAA Division III Championship. Saturday's victor in Alliance will face the winner of another Semifinal between UW-Whitewater and Mary-Hardin Baylor.

Wheaton (11-2) has advanced to the Semifinals with three consecutive road victories after earning an at-large bid to the playoffs. Wheaton opened the postseason with a 14-0 victory at #20-Trine University on November 22. Wheaton was a Second Round victor at #15-Wabash College on November 29 and the Thunder topped #18- Franklin College 45-28 last Saturday.

The Thunder has averaged 39.3 points per game in the playoffs, while the Wheaton defense has held opponents to just 18.7 points per game. Wheaton has averaged 411 yards of offense per game, with 170 rushing yards and 241 passing yards. The Thunder defense has held postseason opponents to 352 yards per game, with just 86.3 rushing yards per game.

This year's postseason appearance is the sixth time Wheaton has played in the NCAA-III Playoffs, with a 9-5 all-time record in the postseason.

Mount Union (13-0) is making its 14th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Semifinals. The Purple Raiders won the Ohio Athletic Conference and its automatic bid into the playoffs and got to Saturday's Semifinal after a 56-0 first round win over Randolph-Macon (Va.), a 42-7 win over Hobart (NY) College and a 41-14 win against Cortland State (NY). (VISIT THE MOUNT UNION SITE FOR MORE INFORMATION)

Wheaton fans wishing to purchase tickets in advance by credit card cancall the Mount Union ticket line. Thunder Fans can call the Mount Union ticket line at 330-821-6759 and ask for tickets in the Wheaton section. The ticket line will be available on Tuesday from 9 AM-2 PM (EST) Tuesday and open again from 9 AM-2 PM (EST). After Wednesday fans will need to purchase tickets when the gates open at 10:30 AM (EST) on Saturday morning.

WETN radio will carry Saturday's game live at 88.1 FM in the Wheaton area and on the internet at www.wetn.org. A live streaming video broadcast of the game will also be available at www.ncaa.com. Regional sports network, SportsTime Ohio will also broadcast the game on a tape delay basis. SportsTime Ohio can be found on DirectTV (Ch. 662) and Dish Network (Ch. 431) on certain sports packages. Tentative replay times for the game is at 10 PM (EST) on Dec. 13 and 3 PM (EST) on Dec. 14.

Originally published by Wheaton College Athletics: /news/2008/12/7/semi_annc.aspx