St. Louis, Mo. – The fifth-ranked Wheaton football team played its second-consecutive road conference game on Saturday night. The Thunder earned a 40-10 victory at Washington University-St. Louis (2-2, 2-1 CCIW) in a strong performance for the Thunder in all facets of the game. Wheaton is now 3-1 on the season with a 2-1 mark in conference play.

The Wheaton defense gave an impressive performance tonight against the Bears. Wheaton held the WashU running game to just seven rushing yards. The Bears passed for 146 yards, with 86 of those yards coming in the fourth quarter. The Thunder defense kept the hosts to just 153 yards of total offense tonight. Wheaton recorded 13 tackles for lost yardage (-55 yards), including six quarterback sacks (-36 yards).

Wheaton amassed 386 yards of offense tonight as Wheaton averaged 4.8 yards per play. The Thunder gained 207 yards on the ground, with 50 rushing attempts. Wheaton passed for 179 yards, averaging 11.2 yards per pass.

Linebacker Wyatt Lee (PICTURED LEFT) led the Wheaton defense with a team-high six total tackles, all solo stops. Three of Lee's tackles were for lost yardage (-11 yards), including a seven-yard quarterback sack. Jake Holaday made five total tackles, all solos. Holaday registered four tackles for loss (-22 yards), including three quarterback sacks (-18 yards). Linebacker Ryan Schwartz made five total tackles, including four solos. Schwartz registered a tackle for lost yardage (-2 yards) and recovered a fumble. Philip LoChirco, Jalen Shaffer and Luke Gammichia each made four total tackles. Daniel Herber registered two tackles for loss (-10 yards), including a nine-yard sack and he intercepted a pass.

Running back Giovanni Weeks (PICTURED RIGHT) carried the ball 24 times for 140 yards, with two touchdown runs. Sam Singleton ran the ball seven times for 49 yards. Adam Terrini caught eight passes for 93 yards with one touchdown reception. Tight end Spencer Peterson caught three passes for 45 yards with two touchdown runs.

Starting quarterback Luke Anthony completed 12 of his 26 passing attempts for 116 yards with one touchdown pass. Jeremiah Tucker was 3-for-4 passing, with 42 yards and a touchdown pass.

Wheaton received the opening kickoff and methodically moved down the field in a nine-play drive of 73 yards. The drive culminated with an 11-yard touchdown run for Weeks, followed by a PAT kick to give the Thunder a 7-0 lead with 11:43 remaining in the first quarter. Weeks ran for 30 of Wheaton's 73 yards in the drive. On its second drive of the game, WashU fumbled at its own 35-yard line. The ball was recovered by Schwartz. Three plays later, Wheaton ran a halfback pass as Nate Magnusson threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Peterson. Tommy Gallagher converted the PAT kick and Wheaton's lead increased to 14-0 with 3:08 remaining in the first quarter.
Wheaton's Fielding Davis blocked a WashU punt attempt late in the second quarter to give Wheaton the ball at the Bears' 35-yard line. The Wheaton drive that followed the blocked punt concluded with a a 37-yard field goal by Gallagher with 39-seconds remaining in the second quarter. The field goal increased Wheaton's advantage to 17-0. The Thunder maintained the 17-0 lead at the halftime intermission.

Herber (PICTURED LEFT) intercepted a WashU pass on the third play of the opening drive of the second half. Herber's interception gave the Thunder offense the ball at the WashU 40-yard line. Wheaton put together a 10-paly drive of 40 yards that concluded on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Anthony to Peterson. The TD toss gave Wheaton a 24-0 lead with 10:20 remaining in the third quarter. WashU kicker Chris Vartanian kicked a 30-yard field goal with 4:51 left in the third quarter to give the Bears their first points of the game. The Wheaton drive that followed the field goal concluded with terrific John Bickle punt that was downed at the Bears' one-yard line. The Wheaton defense forced a three-and-out that had the Bears attempt a punt from their end zone. The Thunder special teams again struck as Jack Allen blocked the punt that went out of bounds for a safety to increase Wheaton's edge to 26-3 with 1:48 remaining in the fourth quarter. Weeks ran for his second touchdown of the game to give Wheaton a 33-3 lead with 1:30 left in the third quarter.

Wheaton's final score of the game was a 14-yard touchdown pass from Jeremiah Tucker to Terrini. The touchdown toss increased Wheaton's lead to 40-3 with 5:38 remaining in the fourth quarter. WashU quarterback Matt Rush connected with Collin Hoyhtya on a 14-yard touchdown pass with 30-seconds left in the game to account for the 40-10 final score.

Wheaton returns home next Saturday to host Augustana for Wheaton's annual Homecoming contest. The kickoff for the contest between the Vikings and the Thunder is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at McCully Stadium.