Oct 31, 2015

#5-Thunder football shuts out Elmhurst, 31-0

Wheaton, Ill. - The Wheaton football team, ranked fifth in this week's AFCA Division III Top-25 Poll, earned a 31-0 victory at home under rainy and sloppy conditions against Elmhurst College on Saturday afternoon. Wheaton is now 8-0 on the year and 5-0 in CCIW play.

Wheaton is now alone in first place in the CCIW standings following today's win against the Bluejays. North Central topped previously undefeated Illinois Wesleyan 33-15 today in Bloomington. The Thunder will travel to Bloomington next Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff at Illinois Wesleyan (7-1, 4-1 CCIW) with CCIW Championship implications. If Wheaton defeats IWU next Saturday, the Thunder will be assured at least a share of the CCIW Championship heading into the regular season finale on November 14 at home against Carthage. If the Titans prevail next week it will create a three-way tie atop the CCIW standings between Wheaton, North Central and IWU heading into the final week of the regular season.

The Thunder offense had 390 total yards against the Bluejays' defense today. Wheaton, the top-ranked rushing offense in the CCIW, ran for 256 yards in the rainy conditions. The Thunder passed for 134 yards in the game.

The Wheaton defense held Elmhurst to just 16 passing yards in the game. The Bluejays totaled 184 rushing yards in the game, with 200 yards of total offense for the guests.

Elmhurst's first play of the game was a 61-yard rush following the opening kickoff to give the Bluejays the ball in Thunder territory. An Elmhurst fumble was recovered at the Wheaton 14-yard line by Noah Spielman (PICTURED LEFT) as the Thunder defense thwarted the Bluejays' scoring drive. On the third play of the ensuing drive, Wheaton quarterback Andrew Bowers broke through the Bluejays' defense for a 65-yard touchdown run to give Wheaton a 7-0 lead with 12:22 left in the first quarter.

The Thunder defense again made the big play on Elmhurst's next drive as Wes Cannonier (PICTURED RIGHT) intercepted an Elmhurst pass at the Thunder 37-yard line and returned it 63 yards for a touchdown to give the hosts a 14-0 lead with 9:58 remaining in the first quarter.

Thunder defensive back Marcus Smith intercepted a Bluejays' pass with 13-seconds left in the first quarter to give the hosts the ball at the Elmhurst 37-yard line. Daniel Gray converted a 26-yard field goal six plays later to increase Wheaton's lead to 17-0 with 12:54 remaining in the first half. The Thunder held a 17-0 lead at halftime.

Wheaton received the opening kickoff of the second half and on the third play of the drive Bowers connected with Andrew Lindquist for a 51-yard touchdown pass to increase the Thunder lead to 24-0 with 13:43 left in the third quarter.

Cannonier collected his second interception of the day with 12:44 left in the game when he picked off an Elmhurst pass at the Bluejays' 37-yard line. The Wheaton running game chewed through all 37 yards to the end zone on nine carries as Danny Puknaitis' four-yard touchdown run increased Wheaton's lead to 31-0 with 7:58 left in the game and Wheaton closed out the shutout win over the final minutes of the afternoon.

Adam Dansdill (PICTURED LEFT) recorded a team-high eight total tackles for the Thunder offense with a quarterback sack (-1 yard). Linebacker Caleb Ashby tallied five total tackles and Spielman had four solo tackles, including a fourth quarter sack of seven yards and he added the first-quarter fumble recovery. Linebacker Mikey Swider had four total tackles, including a quarterback sack (-5 yards). Cannonier had three solo tackles in the game, with a tackle for loss (-6 yards) and two interceptions. Logan McRae registered two tackles for lost yardage (-5 yard) and Marcus Smith had an interception.

Bowers completed seven of his 16 passing attempts on the day for 134 yards with one touchdown toss. The junior also ran for 101 yards, including his 65-yard touchdown run. Sola Olateju (PICTURED RIGHT) ran for 116 yards on 21 carries for the Thunder sophomore. Zach Lindquist caught three passes for 45 yards.Print Friendly Version