BOXSCORE
Naperville, Ill. - The Fourth-ranked Thunder football team rallied from a 17-0 halftime deficit to earn a 28-24 win at North Central on Saturday night. Head coach Mike Swider said following the victory, “I believe in this football team.” He added “This game was big because we came from behind, but also because we have dealt with a lot of adversity with injuries.” Swider, among the winningest active head coaches in Division III concluded, “Not only are we a good football team, but we are a family, and family doesn't quit on each other. That is what we showed tonight. This team never quit.”
North Central used a 42-yard interception return for a touchdown, a 27-yard field goal and a nine-yard touchdown pass to jump out to a 17-0 lead in the first half. Wheaton reached the scoreboard with 6:18 left in the third quarter when sophomore quarterback Sean Norris (RIGHT) connected with senior tight end Jordan Kemper on a 35-yard touchdown pass to cut the Cardinals' lead to 17-7. Wheaton intercepted a Cardinal pass with 4:53 left in the third quarter and returned it 24 yards to the Cardinals' eight-yard line. Thunder tailback Andrew Hershey reached the end zone on an eight-yard touchdown run on the next play to cut North Central's lead to 17-14, with 4:43 left in the third quarter. The Cardinals' lead increased to 24-14, two plays later on a 61-yard touchdown toss with 4:15 left in the third quarter.
Wheaton again cut North Central's lead to three when senior Kirk Sundberg caught a four-yard touchdown toss on a play-action pass from Norris with 7:04 left in the game for a 24-21 Cardinals' lead. A North Central punt with 2:00 left in the game was returned 19 yards by Pete Ittersagen to the Cardinals' 43-yard line. On the next play, Norris threw a 43-yard touchdown pass over the middle to Noah Dreyer with 1:41 left in the game to give Wheaton its first lead of the game, at 28-24. On the final drive of the game the Cardinals made it to the Wheaton 24-yard line, however, the Thunder defense stopped the hosts on fourth down, with seven yards to go for a first down. Wheaton's defensive stop gave the Thunder the ball and the opportunity to run out the clock for the victory.
Wheaton recorded 279 yards of total offense, with 204 passing yards and 75 rushing yards. North Central amassed 417 yards of offense, with 267 rushing yards and 150 rushing yards.
Norris completed 13 of his 24 passing attempts, for 204 yards and three touchdown tosses. Senior captain Chris Fossum caught a team-high four passes, for 48 yards. Kemper added two receptions for 49 yards, with the 35-yard touchdown reception. Hershey carried the ball 14 times, for 61 yards with one touchdown run.
Thunder linebacker Jesse Laizure (LEFT) recorded a game-high 12 total tackles. Defensive tackle Javier Almanza added 11 tackles, with an assisted tackle for lost yardage. Linebacker Steve Pagh added 10 tackles and senior Jonathan Toal tallied eight tackles, with 1-1/2 tackles for lost yardage (-5 yards).
North Central quarterback Aaron Fanthorpe completed 18 of his 34 passing attempts for 267 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Fanthorpe also ran for 60 yards on 20 carries. Perry Welch caught a game-high eight passes for 86 yards with one touchdown. Michael Macintosh caught five passes for a game-high 120 yards, with one touchdown. Running back Dominic Sulo carried the ball 27 times for 76 yards. Nick Hammers and Matt Wenger each led the North Central defense, with 11 total tackles.
Wheaton, ranked fourth in the most recent American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division III Coaches Poll, is now 5-0 overall and 2-0 in CCIW play. The Thunder will host Augustana next Saturday in a 6 PM at McCully Stadium. Saturday's game will be broadcast on WETN radio at 88.1 FM in the Wheaton area and on WETN-TV, channel-72 on Wheaton-area cable outlets. The game will also be streamed with video and audio broadcasts on the internet at http://www.wheaton.edu/wetn and live statistics will be available on the Wheaton website (LINK). North Central is now 3-2 overall and 1-1 in league play. The Cardinals will travel to Elmhurst next Saturday afternoon.
