Thunder gridders shut out North Park 52-0

Chicago, Ill. (11/5) The Thunder football team improved to 7-2 overall and 4-2 in CCIW play with a 52-0 win (Boxcsore) at North Park on Saturday. Today's impressive effort by the Thunder defense marks the first time that Wheaton has allowed an opponent scoreless in 31 games. The last Thunder shutout was a 49-0 Wheaton win against Rose-Hulman at home in the second game of the 2002 season.

The Vikings fall to 3-6 overall and 0-6 in conference play. Wheaton will conclude its regular season next Saturday against Augustana in a 1 PM kickoff at Wheaton 's McCully Field. Saturday's game will be broadcast on WETN radio at 88.1 FM and on the internet at www.wetn.org.

The Thunder tallied 436 yards of total offense, with 277 rushing yards and 159 passing yards. North Park recorded 254 yards of total offense, with 161 passing yards and 93 rushing yards.

Junior running back Chaz Black (LEFT) led the Thunder offense with 82 rushing yards and one touchdown run. Junior fullback Brad Thornton ran for 45 yards with two touchdown runs and Matt Prudhomme tallied 43 rushing yards with one touchdown. Senior quarterback Frank Andrews ran for 62 yards with two touchdown runs and he completed three of his five passing attempts for 59 yards. Junior quarterback Jeremy Chupp completed seven of his 10 passing attempts for 89 yards. Junior receiver Chris Fossum caught two passes for 55 yards and junior Joe Chupp made two receptions for 45 yards.

Linebacker Erik Sartin led a solid effort as by the Thunder defense with nine total tackles. Defensive lineman Kirk Swanson made six tackles including two for lost yardage. Kirk McKenney made five total tackles, with an interception and a pass broken-up. Freshman Pete Ittersagen made two tackles, had a 72-yard interception returned for a touchdown, he forced a fumble and also recovered a fumble.

North Park quarterback Mike Haehn completed 10 of his 27 passing attempts for 150 yards. Sherman Gant caught six passes for 150 yards. Ahke Waterford led North Park in rushing with 57 yards on 12 carries. Tim Rotenberry led the Vikings' defense with 11 tackles and Paul Mutschler made 11 tackles.

The Thunder took a 7-0 lead when Thornton scored on a one-yard touchdown run to cap an 11-play drive of 64 yards with 9:37 remaining in the first quarter. With 12:28 left in the second quarter North Park fumbled a Wheaton punt that was forced by Ittersagen and recovered by Isaac Boyd. On the very first play of the ensuing drive Thornton scored on a 32-yard touchdown run with 12:20 left in the second quarter to increase Wheaton 's edge to 14-0. With 10:19 remaining in the first half Ittersagen intercepted a Viking pass and returned it 72 yards for a touchdown to increase Wheaton 's lead to 21-0. Andrews scored on a two-yard touchdown run with 1:29 left in the first half to give the Thunder a 28-0 edge heading into halftime.

The Thunder lead was extended to 35-0 when Black scored on a two-yard touchdown run with 6:50 remaining in the third quarter. Black's touchdown run was setup three plays earlier by a 41-yard pass from Jeremy Chupp to Fossum that sent the Thunder to the Viking nine-yard line. With 5:38 left to play in the third quarter the game was interrupted by a 31-minute lightning delay. Once play resumed Wheaton received a Viking punt and senior Andrew Day ended the ensuing drive with a 35-yard field goal with 2:49 remaining in the third quarter. Andrews reached the endzone a second time on an 11-yard spinning touchdown run to increase Wheaton 's lead to 45-0 with 13:53 left in the fourth quarter. Prudhomme scored on a four-yard touchdown run to increase Wheaton 's lead to 52-0 with 5:58 remaining in the game.