Wheaton, Ill. - A pair of Wheaton football players earned CCIW Football Student-Athlete of the Week recognition on Monday. Giovanni Weeks earned the conference's weekly award on offense and Ryan Schwartz received the honor on defense. This is the first CCIW weekly award for Weeks and the third time Schwartz has received the honor. Schwartz was also named CCIW Student-Athlete of the Week on September 23, 2019 and September 13, 2021.


Weeks had an impressive day for the Thunder in Wheaton's 72-7 victory at home against Illinois Wesleyan last Saturday. Weeks carried the ball eight times for 167 yards and a career-high four touchdowns, just one touchdown shy of tying Wheaton's single-game record for rushing touchdowns. Weeks opened the scoring in Saturday's game with a 10-yard touchdown run and added a 65-yard scoring scamper later in the first quarter. His third score came on a five-yard run early in the second quarter and he capped his day with a 75-yard touchdown run on Wheaton's first offensive play of the second half. With his explosive offensive performance, Weeks surpassed the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the season.

Weeks currently ranks second in Division III in yards per carry (8.48 YPC), seventh in all-purpose yards per game (171.7 YPG). and ninth in rushing yards per game (134.6 YPG). The junior is 10th in the nation in rushing touchdowns (15), 12th in total rushing yards (1,077 yards) and 17th in scoring (11.2 PPG).

Schwartz, a linebacker for the Thunder, was the leading tackler for the Thunder defense that held the Titans to negative-34 yards rushing last Saturday. He tallied a team-high 10 tackles including eight solo stops, and two tackles for loss. Schwartz recorded two of Wheaton's four interceptions on the day, recording returns of 21 yards and 14 yards.

Schwartz is fifth in the CCIW this season in both solo tackles (5.3 STPG) and total tackles (7.6 TTPG). His 5.3 solo tackles per game average ranks 27th in Division III.

Wheaton concludes the regular season this Saturday at 1:00 p.m. with a CCIW matchup in Decatur, Illinois against Millikin University