The Thunder football team travels to North Central on Saturday for a NCAA Playoff Second Round matchup

Wheaton, Ill. – The Wheaton College football team (10-1) will travel to North Central College (11-0) for a second round game of the 2016 NCAA Division III Playoffs on Saturday November 26. Saturday's meeting between the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) rivals will mark only the second time that CCIW opponents have met in the Division III Playoffs. The other occurrence of CCIW rivals facing off happened in the First Round of the 1989 NCAA Division III Playoffs when Millikin defeated Augustana, 21-12.

Wheaton is in its third consecutive appearance in the postseason, and its 10th overall appearance in the Division III Playoffs. The Thunder has compiled a 13-9 all-time record in the postseason, including a perfect 10-0 record in the first round. North Central is making its ninth appearance in the postseason and its first since 2013. The Cardinals have an 11-8 all-time record in the tournament.

Wheaton advanced to this weekend's matchup with a 45-10 victory against Huntingdon last Saturday at home in the first round of the playoffs. Wheaton tallied 419 yards of total offense in the game as the Thunder ran for 215 yards and passed for 204 yards. Thunder quarterback Andrew Bowers completed 10 of his 18 passing attempts for 204 yards with two touchdown passes. Bowers ran for 47 yards on six carries. Stone Watson led the Thunder ground game with 111 rushing yards on nine carries and a touchdown run Sola Olateju carried the ball 17 times for 55 yards with one touchdown run. Zach Lindquist caught four passes for 67 yards with a touchdown catch. Trey Hanley caught three passes for 103 yards with one touchdown catch. Luke Sahly led the Wheaton defense with 10 total tackles and he forced a fumble. Kyle Fox made nine total tackles, including nine solos. Eric Stevenson made eight total tackles and he returned an interception 54 yards for a touchdown.

North Central defeated Rose-Hulman, 41-7, last Saturday in a first round matchup. The Cardinals tallied 429 yards of offense in the meeting to just 210 for the Engineers. North Central quarterback Broc Rutter completed 21 of his 33 passing attempts for 299 yards. Ryan Kuhl collected seven receptions for 110 yards and Alex Ulmer had seven catches for 107 yards. Austin Breunig gained 80 yards on 20 rushing attempts, with one touchdown run. Justin Stuursma led the Cardinals defense with 10 total tackles.

Saturday's kickoff at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium in Naperville is scheduled for noon. Tickets are $8 for adults and $4 for students.

Originally published by Wheaton College Athletics: /news/2016/11/23/thunder-football-ncc-2ndround.aspx