BOXSCORE
Wheaton, Ill. – The North Central Cardinals defeated the Thunder football team 44-21 on Saturday night in front of a capacity crowd at McCully Stadium. Wheaton entered tonight's game ranked fourth in this week's d3football.com Top-25 poll and North Central was ranked seventh in the same poll. North Central is now 7-0 on the year and 4-0 in league play, while Wheaton falls to 6-1 overall and 3-1 in CCIW action.
With tonight's win the Cardinals earn possession of the Little Brass Bell trophy that is contested each year when Wheaton and North Central play. This marks the first time the Cardinals have taken possession of the Little Brass Bell since 2005 and the first Cardinal victory at Wheaton since North Central won a 27-22 contest in 1982. Tonight's win was only the Cardinals' second win against Wheaton in the last 11 meetings.
North Central kicker Andrew Barciszewski booted field goals of 19 yards and 28 yards early in the game to give the Cardinals a 6-0 lead. Hank Johnston caught a 22-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Aaron Fanthorpe with 8:26 left in the second quarter and Fanthorpe scored on a seven-yard touchdown run with 4:37 left in the first half to give the guests a 20-0 lead. Barciszewski kicked a 20-yard field goal with 10-seconds left in the first half to give the Cardinals a 23-0 lead at halftime.
Wheaton reached the scoreboard when quarterback Sean Norris hit receiver Freddy Ellis on a 14-yard touchdown pass on the opening drive of the second half to cut North Central's lead to 23-7 with 11:37 left in the third quarter. North Central extended its lead to 37-7 with a pair of third-quarter touchdown runs by Dominic Sulo and Fanthorpe. Norris threw a five-yard touchdown pass to tight end Mike Berttucci (PICTURED RIGHT) with 1:35 left in the third quarter for a 37-14 North Central lead.
Ellis' second touchdown of the night came with 12:48 left to play in the game when he broke free for a 60-yard touchdown catch from Norris to cut the Cardinals' lead to 37-21. Fanthorpe threw a 25-yard touchdown toss to Jeff Grunwald to give the guests a 44-21 lead with 2:48 left in regulation to account for the final score.
Wheaton recorded 326 yards of total offense, passing for 244 yards, with 82 rushing yards. The Cardinals ran for 157 yards, passed for 294, with 451 yards of offense in the game.
Norris completed 18 of his 33 passing attempts, for 244 yards, with three touchdown throws. Alex Pokorny caught five passes for 68 yards and Ellis tallied 74 yards on his two catches that went into the end zone. Tailback Rocky Gingg carried the ball 16 times for 63 yards.
Seniors Jordan Schirman, Jon Ryan and Stephen Pagh (PICTURED LEFT) each tallied eight total tackles to lead the Thunder defense. Defensive backs Pete Ittersagen and Shane Woodward (PICTURED RIGHT) each made seven total tackles. Pagh recorded a team-high two tackles for lost yardage (-4 yards), while Schirman and Woodward each had two pass break-ups.
Fanthorpe led the Cardinals with 294 passing yards as he completed 18 of his 28 passing attempts, with two touchdowns. Fanthorpe also ran for 45 yards on 10 carries, with two touchdown runs. Dominic Sulo carried the ball 25 times for 100 yards, with one touchdown run. North Central linebacker Matt Wenger recorded nine total tackles, including two sacks (-7 yards) and he forced a fumble. Derek Sulo made seven total tackles for the guests.
