Wheaton, Ill. - The Wheaton football team opened the 2019 NCAA Division III Football Playoffs on Saturday with a 51-7 victory at home against Martin Luther College (9-2). Wheaton improves to 11-0 in the season and will continue in the Playoffs next Saturday against Central (Iowa) in the Second Round. Central rallied to defeat UW-Oshkosh in overtime in another First Round matchup on Saturday.

Wheaton recorded 447 yards of offense, with 273 passing yards and 174 rushing yards. The Knights tallied 238 yards, with 156 rushing yards with 82 passing yards.

Thunder quarterback Luke Anthony (PICTURED RIGHT) completed 16 of his 24 passing attempts for 239 yards with four touchdown tosses. Dave Beamer was 3-of-11 passing, for 34 yards and he ran for 16 yards with one touchdown runs.

Phillip Nichols caught six passes for 100 yards with three touchdown catches. Adam Terrini grabbed five passes for 87 yards with one touchdown catch. T.J. Williams ran for 58 yards on 16 carries with one touchdown run. Stone Watson carried the ball five times for 31 yards.

Jake Holaday led the Thunder defense with 10 tackles, including six solo stops. Holaday added a tackle for lost yardage. Wyatt Lee registered seven total tackles and River Shindledecker had six total tackles, including four solo stops. Dallas McRae had five total tackles. Ryan Schwartz foorced a fumble and broke up one pass attempt. Luke Gammichia (-1 yard) and Corey Kennedy (-2 yards) each had a tackle for lost yardage.

Wheaton gained an early 7-0 lead when Anthony connected with Terrini on a 35-yard touchdown pass to give the hosts an advantage with 11:56 remaining in the first quarter (VIDEO). Griffin Bowes kicked a 31-yard field goal with 9:04 remaining in the first quarter to extend the Wheaton lead to 10-0.

Nichols caught touchdown passes of 22 (VIDEO) and 37 yards (VIDEO)from Anthony early in the second quarter to extend Wheaton's lead to 24-0. T.J. Williams scored on a one-yard touchdown run with 31-seconds remaining in the first half to give Wheaton a 31-0 lead it would hold at halftime (VIDEO).

Anthony connected with Nichols on a 16-yard touchdown pass on Wheaton's first drive of the second half to give the Thunder a 37-0 lead with 13:06 remaining in the third quarter (VIDEO). Nichols' touchdown was setup two plays later on an interception by Kennedy. Martin Luther's Joshua Kren scored on a 44-yard touchdown run with 5:57 remaining in the third quarter for a 37-7 Wheaton lead. Wheaton running back Sam Singleton scored on a four-yard touchdown run to extend the Thunder lead to 44-7 with 2:51 remaining in the third quarter (VIDEO).

Wheaton's final touchdown of the day came late in the fourth quarter. Beamer scored on an 18-yard touchdown scamper with 2:26 remaining in the game to account for the 51-7 final score (VIDEO).