Wheaton, Ill. -- On Saturday, March 19th, the Wheaton football program gathered for a team banquet to recap the 2021 season and hand out awards to individual players in recognition of an impressive campaign. 

Prior to the individual accolades being handed out, Wheaton's All-CCIW, All-Region, and All-American honorees were recognized at Saturday's banquet. They are listed in alphabetical order below:

All-Americans - Jake Hibben, Jake Holaday, Dallas McRae, Spencer Peterson, Ryan Schwartz, Giovanni Weeks
All-Region - John Bickle, Caleb Egbert, Trevor Gabriele, Tommy Gallagher, Jake Hibben, Jake Holaday, Wyatt Lee, Gabriel McGill, Dallas McRae, Spencer Peterson, Ryan Schwartz, Jalen Shaffer, River Shindledecker, Giovanni Weeks
All-Conference - John Bickle, Caleb Egbert, Trevor Gabriele, Tommy Gallagher, Daniel Herber, Jake Hibben, Jake Holaday, Wyatt Lee, Gabriel McGill, Dallas McRae, Spencer Peterson, Ryan Schwartz, River Shindledecker, Adam Terrini, Giovanni Weeks

Individual Award Winners:

Freshman wide receiver Davis Reeves and sophomore linebacker Ian Hanafee were each given the 12th Man Award for their positive spirit and hard work during the season.

Standout defensive tackle Dallas McRae collected the John Henry "Hammer" Award for toughness after earning a team-high 13 sacks in the 2021 season, as well as a team-leading 22 tackles for loss, and rising to fifth place on Wheaton's all-time sack list with 26.5 to his name. The senior swept the First Team accolades this fall, earning recognition from D3football.com, the Associated Press, and the AFCA. Additionally, McRae was named the D3football.com All-Region Defensive Player of the Year and the CCIW Defensive Player of the Year for the second season in a row.

Senior linebacker Jalen Shaffer was honored as the Special Teams Player of the Year for the Thunder as a result of his Division III-best six blocked punts in the 2021 campaign. Shaffer picked up First Team All-Region recognition from D3football.com in 2021.

Quarterback Luke Anthony was named the team's J.R. Bishop Scholar-Athlete Award winner after being honored as a CoSIDA Academic All-American First Team member. The business/economics major was also named to the CoSIDA Academic All-Region team in 2021 for his excellence in the classroom as well as on the gridiron. 

Wyatt Lee, a senior linebacker from Peyton, Colorado, earned the team's James Parmalee "Most Respected Player" Award for his contributions to the program on and off the field. 

Finally, junior running back Giovanni Weeks earned the team's Fred J. Lange "Most Valuable Player" Award after an outstanding year that saw him set the single-season program record with 20 rushing touchdowns and pick up Third Team All-American honors from D3football.com. Weeks was also named to the D3football.com All-Region Second Team and the CCIW All-Conference First Team.

The Thunder football team finished the 2021 season ranked ninth in the country according to D3football.com and placed highly in multiple areas of the game. Wheaton finished the campaign first in Division III in team sacks and led Division III in blocked kicks and punts. The Thunder had the second-best rushing defense in the country and the fourth-highest scoring offense. The team came in seventh overall in tackles for loss and eighth in number of defensive touchdowns. They rounded out the national top ten in total offense and placed 11th in rushing offense.

After reflecting on a strong 2021 season, the Wheaton football team can begin preparing for the upcoming fall campaign. The Thunder are scheduled to begin their 2022 season with a trip to San Antonio to face Trinity University (Texas) on September 10th.