Wheaton 0, North Central College 35 · Wheaton Football History

Oct 4, 2025 · 6:00 PM · Naperville, Ill. · CCIW game · Attendance 6,500

Head coach Jesse Scott · Official box score ↗ · Recap ↗

Line Score

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Wheaton	0	0	0	0	0
North Central College	7	14	0	14	35

Wheaton Player Statistics

Passing

Player	Cmp	Att	Pct	Yds ▾	Int	Long	Rating
Mark Forcucci	15	26	57.7%	150	0	34	106.2
Seamus O'Connell	0	3	0.0%	0	0	0	0.0
Matt Crider	0	1	0.0%	0	1	0	-200.0

Rushing

Player	Att	Yds ▾	Avg	Long
Matt Crider	11	20	1.8	13
Malachi Jones	2	6	3.0	4
Riley Howard	1	6	6.0	6
Seamus O'Connell	1	-9	-9.0	0
Mark Forcucci	6	-25	-4.2	0

Receiving

Player	Rec	Yds ▾	Avg	Long
Whit Jewett	5	57	11.4	34
Seth Kortenhoeven	2	27	13.5	26
Matt Crider	2	19	9.5	14
Riley Howard	2	17	8.5	14
Caleb Titherington	1	15	15.0	15
Ben Juska	3	15	5.0	6
Rex Kroger	0	0	—	0
Thomas Greupner	0	0	—	0
Malachi Jones	0	0	—	0

Defense

Player	Solo	Ast	Tot ▾	TFL	Int
Zeke Harris	5	8	13	1.0	0
Caleb Coburn	3	9	12	1.5	0
Luca Torti	1	10	11	0.0	0
Peter Johanik	3	4	7	1.5	0
Nate Tofilon	4	3	7	0.0	0
Rex Kroger	0	6	6	0.5	0
Grady Gann	4	2	6	0.5	0
Colin Moore	3	3	6	0.5	0
Joseph Bracy	1	3	4	0.5	1
Maxton Leathers	1	2	3	0.0	0
Ethan Brunner	1	1	2	1.0	0
Eli Reeves	1	0	1	0.0	0
Justin Steinbeck	0	1	1	0.0	0
Jordan Johnson	0	1	1	0.0	0
Owen Downing	0	1	1	0.0	0

Interceptions

Player	No ▾	Yds	Avg	TD	Long
Joseph Bracy	1	3	3.0	0	3

Punting

Player	No ▾	Yds	Avg	Long	In20	TB	Blk
Josiah Smith	7	302	43.1	53	2	1	—

Kickoffs

Player	No ▾	Yds	Avg	TB	OB
Mateo Jesch	1	65	65.0	1	0

Punt Returns

Player	No	Yds ▾	Avg	TD	Long
Seth Kortenhoeven	1	3	3.0	0	3

Kick Returns

Player	No	Yds ▾	Avg	TD	Long
Eli Reeves	1	32	32.0	0	32
Ryan Kenyon	1	28	28.0	0	28

Scoring Summary

1st 01:48	NCC - Williams,Jordan 5 yd run (Ellison,Aidan kick), 12 plays, 80 yards, TOP 06:32
2nd 09:22	NCC - Allen,Sean 14 yd pass from Wilson,Garret (Ellison,Aidan kick) 9 plays, 63 yards, TOP 04:47
2nd 05:34	NCC - Rummell,Jack 38 yd pass from Wilson,Garret (Ellison,Aidan kick) 4 plays, 56 yards, TOP 01:57
4th 10:00	NCC - Allen,Sean 4 yd run (Ellison,Aidan kick), 9 plays, 77 yards, TOP 03:35
4th 04:22	NCC - Allen,Sean 15 yd run (Ellison,Aidan kick), 5 plays, 42 yards, TOP 02:38

Team Statistics

Statistic	Wheaton	North Central College
Total	10	23
Rushing	2	14
Passing	7	9
Penalty	1	0
Total (Net)	-2	279
Attempts	21	47
Avg. Per Rush	-0.1	5.9
Rushing TDs	0	3
Yds. Gained	40	296
Yds. Lost	42	17
Total (Net)	150	172
Comp.-Att.-Int.	15 - 30 - 1	15 - 16 - 1
Att.	5.0	10.8
Comp.	10.0	11.5
TDs	0	2
Yards	148	451
Plays	51	63
Play	2.9	7.2
Fumbles - Lost	0 - 0	0 - 0
Penalties - Yds.	5 - 35	4 - 30
Punts - Yds.	7 - 302	3 - 117
Punt	43.1	39
Inside 20	2	1
50+ Yds.	3	0
Touchbacks	1	0
Fair Catch	2	2
Total - Yds.	1 - 65	6 - 383
Kickoff	65.0	63.8
Touchbacks	1	4
Punt: Total - Yds. - TDs	1 - 3 - 0	2 - 15 - 0
Return	3.0	7.5
Kickoff: Total - Yds. - TDs	2 - 60 - 0	0 - 0 - 0
Return	30.0	0
INT: Total - Yds. - TDs	1 - 3 - 0	1 - 0 - 0
Fumble: Total - Yds. - TDs	0 - 0 - 0	0 - 0 - 0
Misc. Yards	0	0
Poss. Time	26:50	33:10
3rd. Down Conv.	5 of 13	7 of 11
4th. Down Conversions	0 of 1	1 of 1
Red-Zone: Scores - Chances	0 - 2	4 - 5
Sacks: Total - Yds.	0 - 0	6 - 34
PAT: Total - Made	0 - 0	5 - 5
2PT Conversion: Total - Made	0 - 0	0 - 0
Field Goals: Total - Made	0 - 0	0 - 0

Game Recap

Wheaton College Athletics

The Thunder football team falls to No. 1 North Central in the "Battle for the Little Brass Bell"

Naperville, Ill. – The Thunder football team traveled eight miles south of McCully Stadium on Saturday night for the first time since 2022 as the top-ranked North Central Cardinals hosted Wheaton in the "Battle for the Little Brass Bell". North Central (4-0, 3-0 CCIW) defeated Wheaton 35-0. The Thunder entered tonight's matchup ranked 14th in the current D3football.com Top-25, and 15th in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division III Top-25.

Tonight's result marked the first shutout in a "Battle for the Little Brass Bell" since Wheaton's 36-0 victory in Naperville on October 19, 1991. Tonight's contest is North Central's first shutout of the Wheaton football program since a 13-0 North Central win in Naperville during the 1964 season.

Wheaton is now 2-2 on the season and 2-1 in CCIW play. The Thunder remain on the road next Saturday as they play at Illinois Wesleyan University (2-2, 2-1 CCIW).

Linebacker Zeke Harris led the Thunder defense with 13 total tackles, including one tackle for loss (-3 yards). Caleb Coburn recorded 12 total tackles, including 1-1/2 tackles for loss (-3 yards). Luca Torti registered 11 total tackles, while Nate Tofilon and Peter Johanik (PICTURED LEFT) each registered seven total tackles, with Johanik recording 1-1/2 tackles for lost yardage (-6 yards).

Thunder quarterback Mark Forcucci completed 15 of his 26 passing attempts for 150 passing yards. Whit Jewett caught a team-high five passes for 57 yards. Matt Crider carried the ball 11 times for 20 yards.

Wheaton received the opening kickoff of the game. The defenses for each team stood up and held the opposing offense on the first two drives of the game. On Wheaton's second offensive drive of the game, the Thunder got into NCC territory for the first time, however the drive stalled at the Cardinals' 42-yards line. The Cardinals responded on the ensuing drive with a 12-play drive that went 80-yards and converted a PAT to take a 7-0 lead with 1:48 remaining in the first quarter.

Jordan Williams scored for the Cardinals on a five-yard touchdown run to give the hosts the lead. North Central led 7-0 at the end of the first quarter.

The Cardinals scored twice in the second quarter. NCC quarterback Garrett Wilson threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Sean Allen to give the hosts a 14-0 lead with 9:22 left in the second quarter. The Wheaton offense was forced to punt after a three-and-out on the drive that followed Allen's touchdown catch. The Cardinals responded with a 56-yard drive that spanned four plays to extend the hosts' lead to 21-0 with 5:34 remaining in the first half. The drive ended with a 38-yard touchdown pass from Wilson to Jack Rummel. NCC led 21-0 at the halftime intermission.

Neither team scored in the third quarter tonight. Allen extended North Central's lead to 28-0 with 10:00 left in the game when he scored on a four-yard touchdown run. He recorded his third touchdown of the night on a 15-yard touchdown run that extended the hosts' lead to 35-0 with 4:22 remaining in the game.Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

#25

Caleb Coburn

6' 0"

Junior

Mark Forcucci

6' 0"

Senior

#12

Zeke Harris

6' 2"

Sophomore

Whit Jewett

6' 0"

Senior

#54

Peter Johanik

6' 1"

Senior

#28

Nate Tofilon

5' 11"

Senior

Luca Torti

6' 1"

Senior

#32

Matt Crider

6' 1"

Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#25

Caleb Coburn

6' 0"

Junior

Mark Forcucci

6' 0"

Senior

#12

Zeke Harris

6' 2"

Sophomore

Whit Jewett

6' 0"

Senior

#54

Peter Johanik

6' 1"

Senior

#28

Nate Tofilon

5' 11"

Senior

Luca Torti

6' 1"

Senior

#32

Matt Crider

6' 1"

Sophomore

Footer

Accessibility

Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

Sidearm Sports, opens a new window

Ad Blocker Detected

Thanks for visiting !

The use of software that blocks ads hinders our ability to serve you the content you came here to enjoy.

We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while you are here.

Thank you for your support!

Learn More About Ad Blockers