Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton (3-1, 2-1 CCIW) and North Central (4-0, 3-0 CCIW) football teams faced each other on Saturday afternoon at Wheaton's McCully Stadium in the annual "Battle for the Little Brass Bell". The No. 1 ranked Cardinals defeated eighth-ranked Wheaton 54-35 today.
North Central's offense had 613 total yards today, with 447 rushing yards and 166 passing yards. Wheaton had 425 yards of total offense with 235 passing yards and 190 rushing yards.
Thunder quarterback
Ben Thorson (Wheaton Academy) completed 22 of his 38 passing attempts for 235 yards with three touchdown passes.
Caleb Titherington and
Ben Bonga each caught five passes. Titherington had 60 receiving yards and Bonga had 58.
Running back
Giovanni Weeks carried the ball 25 times for 150 yards, with one touchdown run, and he had five receptions for 35 yards. Weeks set Wheaton's career rushing record in the game as ended the contest with 3,252 rushing yards in his Thunder career.
Peter Johanik (left) and Caleb McClung combined with three sacks for Wheaton
Linebacker Virgil Cannon made a team-high eight total tackles, with a forced fumble to lead the Wheaton defense.
Caleb McClung made six total tackles, including three tackles for lost yardage.
Peter Johanik recorded two quarterback sacks (-15 yards) in the game as part of his four total tackles.
Johnny Eller made five total tackles, and recovered a fumble.
North Central running back Joe Sacco carried the ball six times for 138 yards, with two touchdown runs. NCC quarterback Luke Lehnen had 13 carries for 170 yards and two touchdown runs. Lehnen completed five of his eight passes for166 yards, with one touchdown run. Linebacker Danny Nuccio had a game-high eight tackles for the NCC defense, including a quarterback sack of five yards.
North Central scored first on a 73-yard touchdown run by Sacco to give the Cardinals an early 7-0 lead. Wheaton responded on the ensuing drive with a 10-play drive that culminated with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Thorson to Bonga. The Cardinals added two more rushing touchdowns in the first quarter to lead the Thunder 21-7 at the conclusion of the opening quarter.
The Cardinals scored twice in the second quarter to lead Wheaton 35-7 at halftime. Lehnen connected with Charles Coleman on a 65-yard touchdown pass and the guests added a one-yard touchdown run.
Wheaton scored early in the third quarter on a six-yard touchdown run by Weeks. Weeks' touchdown cut the NCC lead to 35-14. Lehnen scored on a 13-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter to put the Cardinals up 42-14. Wheaton responded with an 11-play drive that concluded on a 30-yard touchdown pass from Thorson to Titherington. Titherington's touchdown cut the NCC lead to 42-21 with 4:49 remaining in the third quarter. The guests scored on a five-yard touchdown run late in the third to hold a 48-21 lead at the end of the third.
The Cardinals added one touchdown in the fourth quarter. Wheaton scored twice in the fourth quarter.
Henry Brown scored on a six-yard touchdown run and
Seth Kortenhoeven caught a seven-yard touchdown pass from Thorson to account for the 54-35 final score.
