Wheaton Thunder football team tops North Park 55-7 to earn a share of the CCIW Championship
Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton Thunder football team closed out the regular season with a 55-7 victory against North Park University on Saturday afternoon. Wheaton is 8-2 on the year, with a 6-1 record in CCIW play. Wheaton finishes the conference schedule tied with Elmhurst and North Central atop the CCIW standings. Each team shares the 2012 CCIW Football Championship at Wheaton earns its first conference title since 2006.
The start of today's game was delayed a little more than one hour due to thunderstorms in the area. Once the game got started the Thunder took an early 20-0 first-quarter lead with touchdown catches by Morgan Cook and David Washko, along with a four-yard touchdown run by Charlie Velling.
North Park scored its lone touchdown of the day early in the second quarter on a four-yard TD run by Matt Hassan. Thunder sophomore Mark Hiben caught a pair of touchdown passes (13 and 36 yards) in the second quarter as the hosts held a 27-7 lead at halftime.
Morgan Cook and Washko added third-quarter touchdown catches to increase the Wheaton lead to 48-7. Junior Justin Swider ran for a 19-yard touchdown scamper in the fourth quarter to account for the 55-7 final score.
Wheaton amassed 484 yards of offense, with 368 passing yards and 116 rushing yards. North Park recorded 287 of total offense, with 92 passing yards and 195 rushing yards.
Thunder quarterback Jordan Roberts was 17-for-21 passing, for 223 yards, with four touchdown passes. Garrett Meador was 8-for-10, with 130 yards through the air and two touchdown tosses. Velling ran for 54 yards on six carries, with one touchdown run. Cook caught eight passes for 111 yards, with two touchdowns. Hiben caught seven passes, for 87 yards, with two TD receptions and Washko recorded six receptions for 96 yards, with two touchdowns.
Brett Anderson led the Wheaton defense with eight total tackles, including one tackle for lost yardage. Garrett Cook added six total tackles. Sam Burt, Sam VanHeest, Austin Brooks, Ben Johnson and Ben Benton each tallied five total tackles.
North Park quarterback Ruben Cruz completed eight of his 14 passing attempts for 77 yards. Hassan led the Vikings' ground game with 83 yards, on 20 carries and one touchdown run. Talaave Meyers led the North Park defense with nine total tackles and one interception.
