Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton football team earned a 31-19 victory against North Central in front of a full Homecoming crowd at McCully Field on Saturday afternoon. The Thunder trailed the Cardinals 13-0 at halftime, but the hosts rallied with 31-unanswered points in the second half.
With the victory, Wheaton regains possession of the “Little Brass Bell” trophy that is on the line annually when the two programs meet on the gridiron. Wheaton has earned “The Bell” in 18 of the last 20 meetings with Cardinals.
North Central falls to 3-2 on the season and is now 1-1 in conference play. Wheaton improves to 5-0 on the season and 2-0 in the CCIW. The win was the 25 th victory out of the last 26 games the Thunder has played on McCully Field. The Thunder will travel to Augustana next Saturday for a 1 PM kickoff that will feature the only two conference programs that remain undefeated in CCIW action after today's games. Augustana (3-2/2-0) was a 28-14 victor at Elmhurst today. Saturday's game will be broadcast live on WETN radio at 88.1 FM in the Wheaton area and on the internet at www.wetn.org.
In a game that was a tale of two halves; Wheaton tallied 97 yards of offense in the first half, but racked up 310 yards of total offense in the second half. The Thunder ran for 247 yards in the game and passed for 160 yards to record 407 yards of total offense. The Cardinals tallied 298 offensive yards in the first half, however, the Thunder defense adjusted to hold North Central to just 124 yards in the second half. After North Central rushed for 138 yards in the first half, Wheaton held the Cardinals to just five yards on the ground in the second half. For the game North Central tallied 422 yards of total offense with 279 passing yards and 143 rushing yards. Thunder head coach Mike Swider said of his team's second half rally, “North Central is a good football team, and when you have to change momentum against a good team, you are making a statement."
North Central's Anthony Bognanno concluded the first quarter with a 22-yard field goal to give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead. North Central quarterback Kam Kniss tossed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Michael MacIntosh with 7:31 remaining in the first half to increase the guests' lead to 10-0. Bognanno kicked a 31-yard field goal at the conclusion of the first half as North Central held a 13-0 lead at halftime.
Thunder senior tailback Chaz Black put the hosts on the scoreboard with a 56-yard touchdown run with 13:37 remaining in the third quarter to cut the Cardinals' lead to 13-7. Wheaton 's Tim Ellingsen booted a career-long 40-yard field goal with 8:24 remaining in the third quarter, as the North Central lead was cut to 13-10. Ellingsen's kick capped a nine-play drive of 50 yards that was highlighted by 38 rushing yards for Black. Wheaton took its first lead of the game as the hosts led 17-13 with 3:28 left in the third quarter as Black reached the end zone on a 13-yard touchdown run. Black carried the ball five times for 26 of Wheaton 's 31 yards on the six-play drive.
Thunder quarterback Zach Ullrich tossed a 17-yard touchdown pass to Noah Dreyer with 11:45 left in the fourth quarter to increase the Wheaton lead to 24-13. North Central muffed a field goal attempt with 6:40 remaining in the game. Wheaton earned the ball following the failed kick attempt and the Thunder drove down the field in nine plays, culminating with a one-yard touchdown run by Jeremy Chupp to increase the Wheaton lead to 31-13 with 3:10 remaining in the game. North Central's Dominic Sulo cut the Thunder advantage to 31-19 with a four-yard touchdown run with 1:13 remaining in the game. Following the touchdown, Wheaton recovered the ball on North Central's onside kick attempt and the Thunder ran out the clock to ensure the come-from-behind victory.
Black carried the ball 25 times, for 191 yards, with two touchdown carries to lead the Thunder offense. Wheaton utilized two quarterbacks during the game as Jeremy Chupp completed 10 of his 15 passing attempts for 111 yards, with one interception and a rushing touchdown. Zach Ullrich was 2-for-6 passing, with 49 yards through the air and one touchdown toss. He also ran for 26 yards on five carries. Dreyer was Wheaton 's leading receiver with four catches for 39 yards with one touchdown grab.
Junior linebacker Mike McKinney recorded 11 total tackles and senior Jonathan Toal added 10 tackles. Sophomore Pete Ittersagen made eight tackles with one tackle for lost yardage of three yards. Defensive back Mark Steinbrueck added eight tackles. Junior defensive end Andy Studebaker, ranked second in Division III in sacks, made four solo tackles, with three quarterback sacks for -28 yards, five quarterback hurries and one pass broken-up.
Kniss led the North Central offense with 279 passing yards on 29-for-40 passing with one touchdown. He also carried the ball 19 times for 34 yards. Perry Welch caught nine passes for 100 yards and Eric Stuedemann recorded nine receptions for 53 yards. Dominic Sulo carried the ball 17 times for 110 yards with one touchdown. Matt Wenger led the North Central defense with eight tackles, including one tackle for lost yardage of -3 yards. Nick Hammers and Chris Bazant each tallied six tackles. Timothy Bellazzini and Derek Sulo each made one interception.
