Thunder gridders improve to 2-0 with a 58-7 victory against Greenville

Wheaton, Ill. (9/17) The #22-ranked Thunder football team opened the home portion of its schedule with a 58-7 victory (Boxscore) against Greenville College on Saturday afternoon at McCully Field. Wheaton improves to 2-0 on the season, while Greenville is 0-2. The Thunder will return to action next Saturday afternoon with a 1 PM kickoff against Hope College at McCully Field. Next Saturday's game will be broadcast on WETN radio at 88.1 FM in the Wheaton area and on WETN-TV, found on the local cable system in the Wheaton area. Saturday's game will also have streaming audio and video on the internet at www.wetn.org.

The Thunder amassed 486 yards of total offense, with 282 rushing yards and 204 passing yards, averaging 5.8 yards per play. Greenville recorded 87 yards of offense, with 86 rushing yards and one passing yard. Junior quarterback Jeremy Chupp completed 17 of his 27 passing attempts for 165 yards with two touchdowns and he also carried the ball six times for 43 yards. Jeremy's twin brother Joe Chupp (LEFT)caught seven passes for 89 yards, with two touchdown receptions. Sophomore Brett Jackson caught three passes for 29 yards, with a touchdown grab. Senior tailback Luke Bazacas carried the ball 16 times for 86 yards and junior Chaz Black had nine carries for 58 yards and two touchdowns.

Sophomore Andy Studebaker (RIGHT) made six total tackles, with three tackles for lost yardage (-19 yards) and two quarterback sacks (-19 yards). Studebaker also forced a Greenville fumble that he recovered in the end zone for touchdown. Linebacker Mike McKinney made four total tackles, with two tackles for loss (-4 yards), Dan Hahn made four tackles with two four for lost yards and a quarterback sack. Pete Ittersagen also had four tackles and snatched an interception and senior Caleb Walter recorded an interception.

Brandon Tripp led the Panthers with 59 yards. Quarterback Lee Thompson completed one of his eight passing attempts for one yard. J.R. Harriel led the Greenville defense with 10 total tackles. Mark Schopp, Barton Davis and Juan Garcia each made nine total tackles.

Wheaton took a 7-0 lead on a one-yard touchdown run by Brad Thornton with 9:52 left in the first quarter. Senior Andrew Day (LEFT) kicked a 32-yard field goal to increase the lead to 10-0 with 3:21 left in the first quarter. Day's field goal was the 26 th of his career as he tied Bob Unruh (1975-78) for Wheaton 's career field goals record. Black scored on a four-yard touchdown run with 14:40 left in the second quarter. Two consecutive touchdown passes by Jeremy Chupp to Joe Chupp increased Wheaton 's lead to 31-0 at halftime. Black reached the end zone on a two-yard run with 5:14 left in the third quarter for a 38-0 Wheaton lead. Greenville scored with 3:48 left in the third quarter on a seven yard touchdown run. Studebaker's fumble recovery with 13:42 left in the game was followed a few minutes later by a four-yard touchdown run from Walker Smith as the Thunder lead increased to 52-7. Sophomore Brett Jackson caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Frank Andrews with 5:46 left in the game for the 58-7 final result.