Wheaton College Thunder reaches No. 1 in Division III rankings for first time in program history

There may have been at least a little bit of a changing of the guard in Division III football, with another area team trying to steal the Thunder.

The Wheaton College Thunder is having a breakthrough regular season that includes a program first.

The Thunder say much of their success this season was built on the heels of last season's deep playoff run.

"It felt like there was a hump we got over late last year, especially with that Wartburg win and DePauw — those were great teams. Just finally being able to prove to ourselves what we're capable of, I think, led to a lot of momentum coming into this year," said senior defensive back Colin Moore.

The momentum and belief reached new heights last month. 

Wheaton College knocked off their rivals and top-ranked Division III national powerhouse, North Central College, in a defensive struggle, 13-10, their first win over the Cardinals since 2019.

"That was a special game for sure. I mean, I've been playing football for a long time, and that was probably one of the more memorable games I've played in, no doubt. And just to his program, I mean that game means a ton to us. A rivalry that dates back to decades. They've kinda been on the winning side of it for some time now, so to get that one back it's huge, and it was just awesome to celebrate that one with the team," said senior quarterback Mark Forcucci.

"One of the things that we casually discuss is that our brand wins. If we go out there and we really are relentless and everybody's doing their job on a snap-by-snap basis, our team's going to be in a great spot. So to see that come to fruition on a big stage against a particularly good opponent who happens to be our rival five miles away was pretty special," said Head Coach Jesse Scott.

For the first time in program history, the Wheaton Thunder football team reached number one in the country in the Division III rankings. 

While that is certainly something special, coach Scott really wanted his guys to be aware of the trappings that come with that recognition.

"I ended up ordering 120 rat traps for our guys, so that they would understand that, hey, all of this noise is distraction," he said.

"Yeah. Monday meetings. We had about 100 mouse traps in our meetings — calling it rat poison. Just to keep us humble, for sure," Moore said.

This season has also meant just a little bit more. 

The Wheaton College football family was hit with a tragedy over the summer. A pair of former players, Jalen Shaffer and Phillip LoChirco, passed away in a drowning accident in Lake Michigan. 

To honor their memory, the team named its special teams player of the year award after them.

"It creates an opportunity for our program every year to talk about their story, and these were two relatively young alumni who were really full of life doing different things. Jalen was serving an inner-city ministry. Philip was working in the financial world and insurance — but really wanted to have a pretty marked impact on their communities for the sake of the gospel, and to be able to stand up at our banquet every year and talk about their legacy is going to be significant for Wheaton football going forward," Scott said.

The team is looking to leave their own legacy on the field, finishing off one of their most successful regular seasons with what they hope is a deep playoff run.