Wheaton, Ill. - Wheaton, Ill. - The Thunder football team earned a 48-21 victory at home during Wheaton's Homecoming weekend on Saturday to improve to 4-0 on the year and 1-0 in CCIW play. Wheaton is ranked 12th this week's AFCA Division III Coaches Poll and 19th in this week's D3football.com Top-25 poll. The Thunder will travel to Augustana next Saturday afternoon for a conference matchup with the Vikings.

Wheaton struck early today, with four first-quarter touchdowns to lead the Vikings 28-0 at the end of the opening quarter. The hosts led NPU 41-7 at halftime.

The Thunder offense totaled 451 yards on Saturday, with 257 passing yards and 194 rushing yards. Wheaton ran 75 plays on the day, averaging 6.0 yards per play. North Park passed for 268 yards in the game and ran for just 48 as the Vikings racked up 316 yards of total offense.

Quarterback Andrew Bowers was 4-for-6 passing on the day as he racked up 70 passing yards, with one touchdown toss. He also ran for 57 yards on seven carries with two touchdown runs. Reece Butler completed 13 of his 20 passing attempts for 187 yards, with two touchdown tosses. Luke Thorson led Wheaton's receiving corps with five catches for 79 yards, including three touchdown catches. Jesse Geary ran for 76 yards on 15 carries and Danny Puknaitis carried the ball 15 times for 67 yards.

Adam Dansdill (PICTURED LEFT) led the Thunder defense with 14 total tackles, including three solo stops. Mikey Swider tallied nine total tackles, with four solos. Logan McRae and Caleb Ashby each recorded seven total tackles. Michael Risher (PICTURED RIGHT) intercepted two North Park passes on the afternoon, with a pass break-up.

Phillip Pendleton led the North Park defense with 12 tackles. Ryan Boswell and Dylan Woods each had two interceptions for the guests. NPU quarterback T.D. Conway completed 26 of his 44 passing attempts for 268 yards, with three touchdown tosses. Dan Anderson caught five passes for 80 yards, including two touchdown catches. Anthony Burton had seven receptions for 79 yards.
 
Wheaton's Alex Mendez picked off a Conway pass to end the Vikings' opening drive of the game at the NPU 31-yard line. Bowers (PICTURED LEFT) ran the ball 13 yards on the first play of Wheaton's ensuing drive and he carved his way through the NPU defense for a 24-yard touchdown run on the next play to give Wheaton a 7-0 lead with 12:30 remaining in the first quarter. On Wheaton's next drive, Bowers connected with Brandon Gray for a 41-yard pass and two plays later Bowers scampered into the end zone for an eight-yard touchdown run. Bowers' second TD of the game gave Wheaton a 14-0 lead with 9:21 remaining in the first quarter. Wheaton took a 21-0 lead as Reece Butler threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Thorson with 7:12 remaining in the first quarter. Danny Puknaitis increased Wheaton's lead to 28-0 thanks to a nine-yard touchdown run with 2:54 remaining in the opening quarter.
 
North Park's first touchdown of the game was a 15-yard TD pass by Conway to make it a 28-7 Wheaton lead with 11:33 left in the second quarter. Wheaton increased its lead to 35-7 on an 18-yard touchdown connection from Bowers to Thorson with 9:17 remaining in the second quarter.  Levi Hartzler extended the hosts' lead to 41-7 on a two-yard touchdown run with 2:04 remaining in the first half.
 
Conway had touchdown passes of 36 yards and nine yards in the third quarter to trim Wheaton's lead to 41-21. Butler connected with Thorson on a 15-yard touchdown pass with 11:31 remaining in regulation for a 48-21 advantage for the Thunder. Thorson's touchdown catch capped a lengthy eight-play drive of 80 yards.