No. 21 Wheaton earns a 52-30 victory at No. 5 North Central to retain the Little Brass Bell

Naperville, Ill. – The Wheaton football team retained possession of the Little Brass Bell Trophy on Saturday evening with an impressive 52-30 victory at North Central College, the 100th meeting in the all-time series between the two DuPage County rivals. Wheaton, ranked 21st in this week's D3football.com Top-25 poll improves to 3-1 overall and 2-1 in CCIW play. North Central, fifth in the D3football.com Top-25, is now 3-1 on the season with a 2-1 record in CCIW play.

Wheaton racked up 583 yards of total offense, rushing for 236 yards and passing for 347 yards. The efficient Wheaton offense averaged 9.6 yards per play on its 61 plays in the game. The North Central offense tallied 488 yards of offense with 62 rushing yards and 426 passing yards.

Thunder quarterback Curtis McWilliams was 22-of-27 passing, as he threw for 347 yards, with two touchdown tosses. He also ran for 30 yards with a rushing touchdown. Jacob Cretin had 16 carries for 144 yards with one touchdown run. Jaelin Goldsmith ran for 71 yards with a touchdown run. Phillip Nichols (PICTURED LEFT) caught nine passes for 121 yards. Carter Roberts had two receptions for 107 yards with one touchdown catch.

Ryan Schwartz and Tyler Sigler (PICTURED RIGHT) each had nine total tackles for the Thunder defense. Schwartz forced a fumble and Sigler had a fumble recovery. Eric Stevenson registered seven total tackles with a tackle for loss (-4 yards). Patrick O'Connell tallied six total tackles with two sacks (-10 yards).

North Central's Broc Rutter was 33-of-43 on passing attempts, with 426 passing yards and one touchdown toss.Andrew Kamienski caught a team-high nine passes for the Cardinals with 105 receiving yards. Derrek Warkenthein led the Cardinals' defense with eight total tackles, including 2-1/2 tackles for loss.

Goldsmith (PICTURED LEFT) gave the Thunder an early 7-0 lead with 12:29 remaining in the first quarter as his 75-yard touchdown run came on Wheaton's third play of the game. The Cardinals cut the Thunder lead to 7-3 on the ensuing drive as North Central's Derik Judka kicked a 38-yard field with 8:44 remaining in the opening quarter.

Wheaton put together a seven-play drive of 70 yards that culminated with a one-yard touchdown run by Tae'Shawn Gibbs. Gibbs' touchdown increased Wheaton's lead to 14-3 with 4:59 remaining in the first quarter. Judka kicked his second field goal of the game, a 22-yarder, with 44-seconds remaining in the first quarter to trim the Wheaton lead to 14-6.

Thunder kicker Griffin Bowes capped a nine-play drive of 60 yards with a 22-yard field goal that extended Wheaton's lead to 17-6 with 11:20 remaining in the first half. On North Central's next drive, Judka converted his third field goal of the game with a 40-yard kick that sailed through the uprights to trim the Wheaton lead to 17-9 with 9:11 remaining in the first half.

Wheaton quickly responded on the ensuing drive as McWilliams (PICTURED RIGHT) connected with Carter Roberts who reached the end zone on an 80-yard touchdown catch that increased Wheaton's lead to 24-9 with 8:53 remaining in the second quarter. North Central quarterback Broc Rutter scored on five-yard touchdown run to cap a 10-play drive of 75 yards with 3:32 remaining in the second quarter. Rutter's touchdown trimmed Wheaton's lead to 24-16 with 3:32 remaining in the first half.

Wheaton quickly responded with an eighth play drive of 81 yards that was capped off by a three-yard touchdown run for McWilliams. McWilliams touchdown extended the guests lead to 30-16 with 30-seconds remaining in the first half. The touchdown run was setup two plays earlier on McWilliams' 37-yard pass to Nichols that advanced Wheaton to the Cardinals' six yard line. Rutter threw a 64-yard touchdown pass to Michael Sfikas that cut the Wheaton advantage to 31-23 with four-seconds remaining in the first half.

Wheaton quickly put points on the scoreboard on the opening drive of the second half as Jacob Cretin (PICTURED LEFT) scored on a 77-yard touchdown run to increase the Thunder lead to 38-23 with 14:36 left in the third quarter. The Wheaton defense played a key role on North Central's ensuing drive as O'Connell tallied a pair of sacks as NCC was forced to punt.

The Wheaton offense registered a key conversion on fourth-and-two ad the North Central 27-yard line early in the fourth quarter. McWilliams' seven-yard pass to Nichols allowed Wheaton to maintain possession of the football as the reception kept the drive alive at the NCC 20-yard line. Later in the drive, Luke Van Dyke reached the end zone on a three-yard touchdown run to increase Wheaton's lead to 45-23 with 8:09 remaining in the fourth quarter. Van Dyke's touchdown was the culmination of a 13-play drive of 62 yards that consumed 6:42 off the clock.

North Central's Dominick Muoghalu reached the end zone on a one-yard touchdown run with 6:13 remaining in the game to cut the Wheaton lead to 45-30. Wheaton's final score of the night was a 16-yard touchdown pass from McWilliams to Tyler Pace with 3:28 remaining in the fourth quarter to account for the 52-30 final score.

NoteWorthy: The 52 points scored by the Thunder tonight is the most by either team in the rivalry since Wheaton earned a 56-12 win in 1993 and the second-highest point total ever for Wheaton against North Central - behind only the 56 points in 1993...Wheaton's 52 points is the most allowed by North Central since the Cardinals gave up 59 points against UW-Whitewater in the 2007 NCAA Division III Playoffs, a span of 117 games...Wheaton now has a three-game winning streak against the Cardinals, the longest win streak in the series since North Central put together four-consecutive wins from 2008-11...the current three-game win streak for the Thunder is the program's longest streak in the series since Wheaton won seven-consecutive games from 1998-2004...Wheaton now has a 54-43-3 advantage in the all-time series.