Third-ranked Thunder football team falls at North Central 27-7

Naperville, Ill. – The third-ranked Thunder football team lost its first contest of the 2009 season on Saturday with a 27-7 defeat at #13-North Central. North Central's win marks the first time that the Cardinals have defeated Wheaton in back-to-back seasons since 1981-82, with Wheaton holding a 49-38-3 advantage in the all-time series.

Wheaton is now 6-1 overall and 3-1 in CCIW play. North Central is 6-1 overall and 4-0 in conference play to take sole possession of first place in the league's standings.

Wheaton recorded 206 yards of offense in the game, with 111 passing yards and 95 rushing yards. North Central tallied 484 yards of offense, including 291 yards in the second half.

Thunder quarterback Sean Norris completed 12 of his 27 passes for 111 yards, with one touchdown toss. The senior also ran for 56 yards on 15 carries. Sophomore Charlie Velling ran for 32 yards on seven carries.

Senior safety Brian Hollett and senior linebacker Ryan Hoyt each collected nine total tackles for the Thunder defense. Junior Tim Shaw made seven solo stops. Junior defensive lineman Ryan Dougan recorded six tackles, including two tackles for loss, with a quarterback sack.

North Central quarterback Aaron Fanthorpe completed 16 of his 28 passes for 218 yards, with four touchdowns. Fanthorpe ran 12 times for 88 yards. Steve Hlavac caught seven passes for 67 yards, with a touchdown reception. Josh McCleod led the North Central defense with nine total tackles.

Wheaton reached the scoreboard first with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Norris to Seth Skogen to give the guests a 7-0 lead with 11-seconds remaining in the first quarter. Skogen's reception culminated a balanced nine-play drive of 76 yards that used 38 passing yards and 23 rushing yards. North Central tied the game at 7-7 with a 14-yard touchdown pass, with 12:07 remaining in the first half. The scored was knotted at 7-7 at halftime.

North Central gained its first lead of the game; with 6:07 remaining in the third quarter when Fanthorpe threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Steve Hlavac as the hosts took a 14-7 lead. The Cardinals extended their lead to 21-7 with 3:28 remaining in the third quarter thanks to a 14-yard touchdown pass from Fanthorpe to Nick Hicks.

North Central's third touchdown of the second half came with 13:57 remaining in regulation when Fanthorpe threw an eight-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Fiedorowicz to extend the hosts' lead to 27-7, as the Cardinals missed the extra points. In the fourth quarter, Wheaton drove to inside the Cardinals' five yard line but the North Central defense stymied the Thunder offense on fourth down at the one-yard line with 5:44 remaining in regulation, as the score remained a 27-7 North Central advantage for the final outcome.

PHOTO GALLERY, COURTESY OF MIKE HUDSON PHOTOGRAPHYPrint Friendly Version

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