PICTURED ABOVE: Caleb Ashby led Wheaton with eight total tackles on Saturday night, including a pair of quarterback sacks.

Wheaton, Ill. - The Wheaton football team earned a convincing 60-7 victory at home against North Park (1-6, 0-5 CCIW) on Saturday night. The Thunder, ranked 12th this week by both the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and D3football.com, will be off next Saturday and return to action on November 5 at Augustana.

Wheaton totaled 578 yards of offense, with 320 passing yards and 258 rushing yards. The Thunder defense held North Park to just 147 yards of total offense, with 128 passing yards and 19 rushing yards. 

Thunder quarterback Andrew Bowers (PICTURED LEFT) completed 16 of his 24 passing attempts for 261 yards with three touchdown passes. The senior also ran for 53 yards on eight carries with one touchdown run. Johnny Peltz completed seven of his nine passing attempts for 59 yards. Peltz also ran the ball four times for 33 yards, with a touchdown run and he caught two passes for 35 yards with a touchdown catch.

Sola Olateju led the Thunder ground game with 11 carries for 76 yards with a touchdown runs. Trey Hanley caught four passes for 104 yards, with one touchdown catch. Zach Lindquist had three receptions with for 39 yards with one touchdown catch.

Senior linebacker Caleb Ashby registered a team-high eight total tackles for the Thunder defense, including two quarterback sacks (-13 yards) and he added two quarterback hurries. Eric Stevenson and Luke Sahly each registered five total tackles. Chase Greenlee (PICTURED RIGHT) registered four total tackles, with a quarterback sack (-11 yards).

North Park quarterback T.D. Conway was 12-for-23 passing, with 128 yards through the air and a touchdown toss. Enrique Menendez carried the ball 23 times for 58 yards. Dalton McKay and Chaun Maiava each tied the North Park's lead in tackles with eight total tackles apiece. 

Olateju (PICTURED LEFT) scored in the first quarter for the Thunder on a 37-yard run. Wheaton's lead increased to 9-0 with 10:51 left in the first quarter when the snap on a North Park punt attempt sailed out of the end zone to increase Wheaton's lead to 9-0. North Park scored with 3:39 left in the first quarter when Conway threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Martin Tigilau to cut the Thunder lead to 9-7.

Bowers scampered into the end zone on a 17-yard touchdown run with 4:06 left in the second quarter to increase the Thunder lead to 16-7. An interception by Wheaton's Patrick O'Connell gave the Thunder good field position late in the second quarter to setup a 34-yard field goal by Stefan Knoerr with 27-seconds remaining in the first half. Wheaton led the Vikings 19-7 at halftime.

The Thunder scored on its first offensive drive of the second half as Bowers connected with Zach Lindquist on a 20-yard touchdown pass with 11:45 remaining in the third quarter to increase Wheaton's lead to 26-7. Bowers added a 43-yard touchdown pass to Hanley and he tossed a 16-yard touchdown pass to Peltz (PICTURED RIGHT) in the third quarter to increase the hosts' lead to 33-7. 

Peltz scored on a six-yard touchdown run with 14:21 left in the fourth quarter to extend Wheaton's lead to 47-7. Knoerr added field goals of 40 and 39 yards to increase Wheaton's advantage to 53-7 late in the fourth quarter. Keith Johnson broke free on a 45-yard touchdown run with 1:27 left in the fourth quarter to account for the 6-07 final score.