Wheaton, Ill. - The Thunder football team earned a 10-6 victory at home on Saturday afternoon against conference foe Elmhurst College. Wheaton is now 4-0 on the year and 2-0 in CCIW.
Wheaton eighth in the most recent D3football.com Top-25 poll. The Thunder will travel to Illinois Wesleyan next Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff in Bloomington, Illinois.
Wheaton tallied 244 yards of total offense on the day, rushing for 116 yards and 128 yards through the air. Elmhurst passed for 112 yards and ran for 73 yards as the Bluejays' offense was held to just 185 yards of total offense on the day.
Thunder quarterback Andrew Bowers completed 15 of his 26 passing attempts on the day. The senior passed for 128 yards with one touchdown toss. Bowers also ran for a team-high 53 yards on eight carries.
Zach Lindquist caught six of Bowers' completions on the day as the senior tight ends had 38 receiving yards. Thunder junior Sola Olateju carried the ball 12 times for 43 yards.
Sophomore linebackerEric Stevenson led the Thunder defense with 12 total tackles, including a quarterback sack of minus-four yards. Defensive linemen Noah Spielman and Chase Greenlee each made eight total tackles, with Spielman adding a tackle for loss (-4 yards) and Greenlee had three QB hurries. Linebacker Luke Sahly tallied five total tackles, including two tackles for lost yardage (-4 yards). Caleb Ashby recorded five tackles on the day, including 1-1/2 tackles for loss (-8 yards).
Elmhurst quarterback Orlando Hernandez completed eight of his 23 passing attempts with one interception. Hernandez passed for 112 yards and was sacked three times. The Bluejays' quarterback ran for 35 yards on 10 carries. Andy Warsen led the Elmhurst defense with 14 total tackles on the day, including 1-1/2 tackles for lost yardage (-2 yards).
Wheaton's opening drive ended on a three-and-out and Elmhurst responded with a 10-play drive of 46 yards that culminated with a 30-yard field goal by Bluejays' kicker Blake Bailey that gave the guests a 3-0 lead with 9:58 remaining in the opening quarter.
Bailey again put points on the scoreboard for the Bluejays, this time in the second quarter when he converted a 22-yard field goal with 9:18 left in the second quarter to increase the guests' lead to 6-0. Wheaton started a drive late in the second quarter at its own 27-yard line. Wheaton methodically moved the ball down the field to advance the ball to the Bluejays's six-yard line. Wheaton kicker Griffin Bowes kicked a 23-yard field goal with six-seconds remaining in the first half to cut the Elmhurst lead to 6-3 at halftime. Bowers ran for 23 yards in the drive and passed for 62 yards on the drive.
Neither team scored in a quickly paced third quarter. Thunder defensive back Kyle Fox intercepted a Bluejays' pass at the Elmhurst 49-yard line and returned it to the guests' 26-yard line. On the second play of Wheaton's drive that followed the interception, Bowers connected with Trey Hanley on a 12-yard pass that moved the Thunder offense to the Elmhurst 14-yard line. Three plays later, Bowers threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Hanley to give Wheaton its first lead of the game at 9-6. Bowes followed Hanley's touchdown catch with a PAT kick to account for the 10-6 score that would be final outcome of the game.