Wheaton College’s football team ended its 2025 season after a 46-21 defeat to UW-River Falls in the NCAA Division III Playoff quarterfinals. The game, played in River Falls, Wisconsin, saw the Thunder finish their campaign with an 11-3 record while the Falcons advanced with a 12-1 mark.
UW-River Falls started strongly, scoring on their opening drive and maintaining momentum throughout much of the contest. Wheaton tied the game early in the second quarter when quarterback Mark Forcucci ran for a one-yard touchdown following a key pass to Seth Kortenhoeven. However, UW-River Falls responded with two more touchdowns before halftime, leading 20-7 at the break.
The third quarter featured some offensive highlights for Wheaton, including a 44-yard touchdown pass from Forcucci to Caleb Titherington that narrowed the deficit to six points. Despite this effort, UW-River Falls pulled away with multiple long drives and big plays, including a 71-yard touchdown pass from Kaleb Blaha to Jake Hilton late in the third quarter.
Wheaton managed another score early in the fourth quarter after blocking a punt and starting at UWRF’s one-yard line. Giovanni Crider ran it in for a touchdown but UW-River Falls answered quickly and maintained control for the remainder of the game.
Statistically, Wheaton produced 429 yards of total offense—365 passing and 64 rushing—while UW-River Falls tallied 507 yards (407 passing and 100 rushing). Forcucci completed over half his passes (27-of-53) for 331 yards with one passing and one rushing touchdown. Titherington led all receivers with nine catches for 153 yards and a score. Defensively, linebacker Caleb Coburn made a game-high 13 tackles.
Reflecting on the result, head coach Jesse Scott said: “We were excited for an opportunity to compete on this stage, with a trip to the semifinals on the line. We were confident in our team. We have been playing well over the home stretch of the season and been playing well in the postseason. Unfortunately we made too many mistakes today in a variety of different spots. We couldn’t convert in some critical third and fourth down opportunities and we had a number of trips to the red zone where we came up completely empty.”
Senior player Ben Juska spoke about returning from injury: “I was going to PT everyday. I tore my hamstring against Wartburg, it was a grade one tear and I was doing PT every single day as much as I could. I have a kind of different lifestyle than most of the guys on the team. I work and I have a wife and trying to fit that into my schedule and fit football in – I just had to be really diligent with my time.”
Juska also reflected on using his final semester of eligibility: “I completely destroyed my knee last year, in the fourth game against North Central and I really thought I was done and it was time to move on. I just didn’t think it was possible to return to football, but one of our coaches told me that ‘every reason I was coming up with to not come back was just a hurdle and it’s just – am I willing to jump that hurdle’. I made a commitment to do that. We have a great alumni network that really helped me out and allowed me to play. I seriously did not know if I would return until about two weeks before the season started that I was going to be able to come back. And I am so grateful that I did. I love everything about Wheaton football. It has changed life. I would not be the same person I am today, I would not have the marriage I have today, not the friends without Wheaton football. The friends that I made on this team are going to be my brothers for the rest of my life – and I am so grateful that I came back.”
This season’s performance matched several program milestones for Wheaton College football: their eleven wins tied them for second-most victories ever by any Thunder squad; three postseason wins equaled previous records set by teams advancing deep into national playoffs; defensive end Peter Johanik concluded his career as school leader in tackles-for-loss (60) while ranking second all-time in sacks (32); Mark Forcucci tied school records both for single-season (36) touchdown passes as well as career completion percentage (68%).
