GAME STATS Naperville, Ill. – The #24-Wheaton football team defeated seventh-ranked North Central, 35-21 on Saturday afternoon at North Central's Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium. Wheaton won the Little Brass Bell trophy that is on the line annually when the Thunder and Cardinals face each other on the gridiron. Today's victory was Wheaton's first win against the Cardinals since a 28-24 Thunder victory in Naperville in 2007. Wheaton snapped the Cardinals' 21-game CCIW winning streak with today's effort.
Today's win puts the Thunder in a three-way tie for first-place in the CCIW with North Central and Elmhurst all holding identical 5-1 records. Wheaton could win at least a share of the CCIW Championship if the Thunder can close out the regular season with a victory against North Park next Saturday at home, giving the Thunder an opportunity of at least a share of its first CCIW Football Championship since 2006.
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Head coach
Mike Swider noted, "I thought we played great in all facets of the game, offense, defense and special teams. It was a great team win."
The Thunder racked up 480 yards of total offense, passing for 380 yards, with 100 rushing yards. North Central had 442 yards of offense, passing for 334 and rushing for 108 yards.
Quarterback
Jordan Roberts completed 32 of his 46 passing attempts for 380 yards with two touchdown passes. Roberts ran for a team-high 46 yards, with two touchdown runs. Sophomore receiver
Mark Hiben caught 12 passes for 127 yards and
Morgan Cook caught 11 passes for 181 yards, with one touchdown catch. Swider mentioned, "We had great efficiency on third down and really did a great job of moving the ball.
Jordan Roberts was outstanding today and
Morgan Cook and
Mark Hiben played huge." The Thunder offensive line played a key role in opening up opportunities for the Thunder on the ground and through the air today.
Senior linebacker
Pat Dansdill (PICTURED LEFT) led an outstanding effort by the Thunder defense with 14 total tackles, including one tackle for lost yardage (-9 yards) and a key interception return for a touchdown. CJ Nightingale and
Brett Anderson (PICTURED RIGHT) each recorded seven total tackles. Anderson added a tackle for loss (-6 yards), with a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Wheaton forced four fumbles on the day. Swider noted, "Until the last two drives when we knew we could soften our coverage a little bit, up until that point we were almost flawless defensively. I was really excited about how physical we were. We tackled with some authority and really shut down their running game. "
The Thunder never trailed in the game as Wheaton reached the scoreboard first when Roberts threw a two-yard touchdown pass to fullback
Stephen Seitz with 4:10 left in the first quarter. The touchdown concluded a methodical 17-play drive of 87 yards.
The Cardinals tied the game at 7-7 on a one-yard touchdown run with 11:25 remaining in the second quarter. Roberts led a quick strike by Wheaton when he connected with
Morgan Cook (PICTURED LEFT) on a 61-yard touchdown toss as Wheaton held a 14-7 lead at halftime.
Roberts reached the end zone on a pair of touchdown runs (six yards and five yards) in the third quarter to increase Wheaton's lead to 28-7 at the end of the quarter.
The Cardinals' first touchdown of the second half was a 47-yard touchdown pass with 13:53 remaining in the fourth quarter to cut Wheaton's lead to 28-14.
Pat Dansdill secured the win for the Thunder with a 72-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown to increase Wheaton's lead to 35-14 with 4:49 left in the game. North Central scored on a 10-yard touchdown pass with 2:05 remaining in the game to trim the Thunder lead to 35-21.
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