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

Wheaton, Ill. – Eight members of the Wheaton Thunder football team earned All-North Region honors from D3football.com on Tuesday afternoon. Four players from the Thunder defense earned All-Region recognition and four offensive players picked up the honor. Wheaton placed two players on the First Team unit, three on the Second Team and three on the Third Team.

Wheaton's two First Team selections are both repeat honorees from the 2016 All-North Region Team. Senior Chase Greenlee earned his second-consecutive award at defensive end and fellow senior Zach Lindquist is now a three-time All-Region honoree at tight end with First Team honors in 2017 and 2016 to go with Second Team recognition in 2015.

Greenlee led Wheaton with 21.5 tackles for lost yardage (-98 yards) this year, including 15.5 sacks (-86 yards). Greenlee's 15.5 sacks is the third-highest single-season total in school history and ranked second this year in Division III. He ranked fourth among Wheaton's defensive players this season with 44 total tackles (28 solo). In CCIW games this year, Greenlee recorded a league-best 20-1/2 tackles for lost yardage (-95 yards). His 14-1/2 sacks (-83 yards) in CCIW play led the conference this season.

Lindquist is a three-time All-Region pick from D3football.com and earned All-America recognition from the website in 2016. Lindquist was second among Thunder receivers in 2017 with 27 receptions, racking up 324 receiving yards with four touchdown catches. He was second on the squad in receptions during conference play with 24 catches against league opponents, for 306 yards, with three touchdowns.

Two Thunder defensive players earned Second Team All-North Region honors from the website as Patrick O'Connell was a Second Team pick at defensive tackle and Marcus Smith earned recognition at corner back. A two-time honoree, O'Connell also earned Second Team All-Region honors at defensive tackle in 2016. O'Connell recorded 26 total tackles for the Thunder this fall. He tallied 8-1/2 tackles for loss (-34 yards), including five quarterback sacks (-27 yards). Smith, a senior, had 29 total tackles and 18 solo stops for the Thunder this season. He had a team-high seven passes broken-up, with one interception.

Two members of the Thunder offensive line earned All-Region honors as senior Jon Callaway was a Second Team honoree at guard and junior Andrew Jones picked up Third Team recognition at tackle. The duo led a Wheaton offensive line that helped the Thunder offense to 465.9 yards per game, a mark that ranked 24th in Division III this season. The Thunder offensive line keyed an offense that put up 245.4 passing yards per game and 219.6 rushing yards per game.

Senior Sola Olateju is a Third Team All-North Region honoree at running back for the second-consecutive season. Olateju had a league-best 1,270 rushing yards this season, averaging 7.7 yards per carry with 13 touchdowns runs. Olateju's 7.7 yards per carry ranked third in Division III this season and he was 40th in the nation in points per game. Wheaton's all-time leading rusher with 3,194 career yards on the ground, he is fifth in program history with 34 career touchdowns

Junior Eric Stevenson picked up Third Team All-North Region recognition this year at linebacker. Stevenson led the Wheaton defense with 85 total tackles this season, including 47 solo stops. He made nine tackles for loss (-23 yards) in the campaign, including 1-1/2 sacks (-8 yards).

Originally published by Wheaton College Athletics: /news/2017/12/5/eight-thunder-football-players-earn-all-north-region-honors-from-d3football-com.aspx