Wheaton, Ill. - The Wheaton football team, ranked sixth in this week's D3football.com Top-25 poll, defeated Illinois Wesleyan 72-7 this afternoon at McCully Stadium. Wheaton improves to 8-1 on the season with the victory and 7-1 in CCIW play. Illinois Wesleyan falls to 3-6 overall and 3-5 in conference play. The 65-point win for the Thunder is the largest margin of victory for Wheaton in the all-time series with the Titans that dates back to 1922 (65 games).

For the second-consecutive week, the Thunder defense held an opponent to negative rushing yards. The Titans had minus-34 yards on the ground today, and passed for 207 yards as IWU had 173 yards of total offense. The Thunder offense ran for 278 yards, with 233 passing yards for 511 yards of total offense.

Thunder running back Giovanni Weeks ran for 167 yards on just eight carries today as he averaged 20.9 yards per carry. Four of Weeks' eight runs today concluded in the end zone.

Quarterback Luke Anthony completed six of his 15 passing attempts for 150 yards, with two touchdown passes. Jeremiah Tucker relieved Anthony and completed seven of his 12 passing attempts for 82 yards, with two touchdown tosses. Spencer Peterson caught two passes for 101 yards, with an 80-yard touchdown reception. Matthew Tucker caught three passes for 41 yards. Adam Terrini and Terrelle Brown each had a touchdown catch for the hosts. 

Senior linebacker Ryan Schwartz (PICTURED LEFT) led the Thunder defense with 10 total tackles, including two solo stops. He also recorded two interceptions on the day. Fellow linebacker Wyatt Lee had eight total tackles, with seven solos. Lee recorded three tackles for loss (-14 yards), including two sacks (-13 yards). River Shindledecker made six solo tackles, with five solos, including two sacks (-9 yards). Jalen Schaffer was stellar on defense and special teams as he recorded six total tackles (five solos), with a tackle for loss and he blocked two punts on the day. Brayden Anthony had four total tackles, and returned an interception 29 yards for a touchdown.

Wheaton special teams continues to play a key role for the Thunder, and did so early in today's matchup. An Illinois Wesleyan punt attempt from the Titans' 22-yard line on the first drive of the game was blocked by Jalen Shaffer and recovered by Jackson Schmid at the Titans' eight-yard line for great field possession for Wheaton's first offensive drive of the game. The drive concluded with a 10-yard touchdown run for Weeks to give the Thunder a 7-0 lead with 10:52 remaining in the first quarter.

The Titans' second offensive drive ended when Brayden Anthony intercepted the IWU pass and rumbled 29 yards into the end zone for a touchdown. Anthony's touchdown increased Wheaton's lead to 14-0 with 9:34 left in the first quarter. The Wheaton defense stalled the Titans' offense on the next IWU drive and Wheaton regained the ball at its own 35-yard line. On the second play of the drive, Weeks broke free for a 65-yard touchdown run to extend his team's lead to 21-0 with 6:41 remaining in the first quarter. Wheaton again regained the ball with 2:01 left in the first quarter and on the first play of the drive, Luke Anthony threw a deep pass to a wide open Spencer Peterson (PICTURED RIGHT) who reached the end zone on an 80-yard touchdown reception. Peterson's touchdown gave Wheaton a 28-0 lead with 1:49 remaining in the first quarter.

Weeks reached the end zone for a third time, on a five-yard touchdown run that increased the hosts' lead to 35-0 with 12:43 left in the second quarter. The IWU punt attempt that concluded the drive that followed Weeks' touchdown was again blocked by Shaffer. Shaffer's blocked punt was recovered by Fielding Davis and allowed the Thunder offense to start it's next drive at the Titans' 25-yard line. The Thunder drive concluded with a 26-yard field goal for Tommy Gallagher, extending Wheaton's lead to 38-0 with 8:43 remaining in the first half. Luke Anthony threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Adam Terrini to conclude the next Thunder drive as Wheaton's lead increased to 45-0 with 4:53 remaining in the second quarter. Gallagher added his second field goal of the day on a 23-yard kick with 1:23 remaining in the first half to account for Wheaton's 48-0 halftime lead.

Weeks again made his mark on the first play of the second half. The Thunder broke free for a 75-yard touchdown run on the first play of the third quarter to increase Wheaton's lead to 55-0 with 14:46 left in the third quarter. Jeremiah Tucker connected with Terrelle Brown for a 26-yard touchdown pass with 7:27 remaining in the third quarter to extend the hosts' lead to 62-0. Gallagher converted his third field goal of the game in the third quarter. His 27-yard kick improved the Wheaton lead to 65-0 with 1:07 remaining in the third quarter. The Wheaton defense forced a quick three-and-out on the Titans' next drive forcing an IWU punt attempt. The bad snap saw the ball go past the punter and Wheaton started its next drive at the IWU two-yard line. Wheaton quickly took advantage as Jeremiah Tucker threw a two-yard touchdown pass to McNeill Stout to increase Wheaton's lead to 72-0 with 31 seconds left in the third quarter.

Illinois Wesleyan scored its lone touchwon of the game on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Caleb Robinson to Seth Albin with 1:45 remaining in the game. 

Wheaton concludes the regular season next Saturday at Millikin. The matchup with the Big Blue kicks off at 1:00 p.m. in Decatur, Illinois.

 PLEASE NOTE: This story will be updated throughout the evening.