BOXSCORE

Wheaton, Ill. – The fourth-ranked Thunder football team closed out the non-conference portion of its schedule on Saturday night with a 32-20 victory against Hope College under the lights at Wheaton's McCully Stadium. Tonight's victory is Wheaton's 23rd consecutive win in non-conference play during the regular season and the eighth straight Thunder victory against the Flying Dutchmen.

Wheaton is now 3-0 on the season, while Hope falls to 0-4. Wheaton will begin conference play next Saturday with a 2 PM kickoff at North Park University.

The Thunder jumped out to an early 20-0 lead after one quarter of play. Wheaton's first touchdown came when senior Danny Hindman caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Sean Norris with 7:16 left in the first quarter. On Wheaton's next offensive drive, tailback Rocky Gingg scored on a one-yard touchdown run to give the Thunder a 13-0 lead with 5:55 left in the opening quarter. At the conclusion of the ensuing Hope drive, Wheaton's Charlie Velling blocked the Hope punt and picked up the ball and ran it into the end zone for a 13-yard recovery return. Velling's touchdown extended Wheaton's lead to 20-0 with 4:23 left in the third quarter.

Hope scored late in the second quarter to gain some momentum heading into halftime. Flying Dutchmen quarterback Chris Feys connected with Jared Hudson on a 16-yard touchdown pass with 1:22 left in the opening half to account for a 20-7 Wheaton lead at halftime.

The only points of the third quarter came with 2:51 left in the period when Hope's Tim Elzinga reached the end zone on a 10-yard touchdown run, as the Flying Dutchmen cut Wheaton's lead to 20-13.

Wheaton regained some momentum early in the fourth quarter when Jordan Langs blocked a Hope punt to give Wheaton possession of the ball at the Hope 42-yard line. On the very first play of the ensuing drive, Norris threw a 32-yard pass to Charlie Antal, to set up a seven-yard touchdown pass from Norris to Freddy Ellis three plays later. Ellis' touchdown increased Wheaton's lead to 26-13 with 11:49 left in the game. Elzinga scored on a two-yard touchdown run with 8:22 left in the game as Hope cut the Thunder advantage to 26-20. In Wheaton's next drive, Norris again connected with Freddy Ellis for a critical Thunder touchdown that extended the hosts lead to 32-20 with 5:30 left in the game.

The Flying Dutchmen achieved a first down on the first play of the next drive, however, the Thunder defense shut down the guests on the next four plays as Wheaton regained the ball with 4:46 left in the game. The Thunder managed to consume 4:29 off the clock on its final drive of the game to secure the victory.

Wheaton racked up 394 yards of total offense, with 261 passing yards and 133 rushing yards. Hope totaled 368 yards of offense, with 150 passing yards and 218 rushing yards.

Norris completed 17 of his 30 passing attempts, for 225 yards, with three touchdown passes. The Thunder senior also ran well for the Thunder in the game. Ellis caught six passes for 114 yards, with the two fourth-quarter touchdown passes. Gingg carried the ball 23 times for 77 yards, with one touchdown run.

Sophomore linebacker JD East led the Thunder defense with a team-high nine total tackles and a pass break-up. Brian Hollett made eight tackles with two break-ups. Defensive lineman Charley Mitchell made seven tackles, with a quarterback sack of eight yards. Langs recorded six tackles, with two tackles for lost yardage, a forced fumble and the blocked punt. Bryan McBroom had an interception in the game.

Feys completed 10 of his 34 passing attempts, for 150 yards with one touchdown run for Hope. Elzinga paced the Flying Dutchmen offense with 122 yards, on 22 carries, with two touchdowns. Kyle Warren and Zach Jones each led the Hope defense with 11 total tackles.

PHOTO GALLERY, WITH PHOTOS FROM MIKE HUDSON & THUNDERPHOTOS.COM