THE LITTLE BRASS BELL GAME Game #3 - Wheaton College 49, North Central College 13 Game Stats

Naperville,

Ill. (10/2) - The Wheaton College (Ill.) football

team improved its record to 3-0 with a 49-13 road win at North Central College

this evening. With the win Wheaton retains possession of the Little Brass Bell

Trophy that is on the line every year when the two teams meet. This is the 81st

meeting between the two teams and Wheaton now owns a 41-35 all-time advantage

and has won 14 out of the last 16 "Bell" battles. Wheaton, ranked 22nd in this

week's AFCA Division III Coaches Poll, is 3-0 overall and 1-0 in the CCIW. North

Central falls to 0-3 and 0-1 in the CCIW.

The Crusader defense entered

the game ranked sixth in NCAA Division III in total defense by holding opponents

to an average of 167.5 yards per game. Tonight the Wheaton defense held the

Cardinals to just 87 yards of offense. Tonight also marked the second consecutive

game that Wheaton held its opponent to under-100 yards of total offense. The

Crusaders also tied a school-record for fumble recoveries in a game with six

this evening. The first six-fumble recovery game was in a 32-22 win at home

over North Central on October 30, 1976.

Wheaton took command of

the game early with 24 points in the first quarter thanks to four consecutive

Cardinal fumbles inside their own territory on the first four drives of the

game. Junior placekicker Chris Baughman (Fort Morgan, Colo./Fort Morgan)

connected on his first field goal of the season, a 26-yarder, to give Wheaton

a 3-0 advantage. The ball was obtained on a Cardinal fumble at their own 20-yard

line. Wheaton again took advantage of a North Central fumble on the Cardinal

30-yard line that resulted in nine-yard touchdown pass from Mitch Slater

(McHenry, Ill./McHenry) to senior Ben Peays (Austin, Texas/Westlake)

at the 8:42 mark of the first quarter capping a six-play, 30-yard drive. At

7:08 of the first quarter James McKissic (Arlington, Texas/Martin) scored

his first touchdown of the season on a 15-yard run to cap a four-play drive

of 22-yards. Senior linebacker Mitch Clement (Garden City, Kan./Garden

City) recovered a fumble and returned it 35-yards for a touchdown with 4:19

left in the first quarter. With 4:57 remaining in the first half Brian Pastermack

(Merritt Island, Fla./Merritt Island) scored on a 20-yard touchdown run to cap

a four-play 35 yard drive to give Wheaton a 31-0 advantage that it would take

to halftime. North Central got on the board with 13:41 remaining in the third

quarter when Tim Hammers blocked a Wheaton punt and returned it 20-yards

for a touchdown. Wheaton countered with 12:15 left in the third quarter when

Ben Peays caught a 60-yard pass from Slater to cap a three-play drive of 61-yards.

At 5:00 left in the third quarter Baughman kicked a 23-yard field goal to give

Wheaton a 23-yard field goal and cap a nine-play drive of 56-yards. Baughman

gave Wheaton a 43-7 advantage with 13:34 left in the game on a 34-yard field

goal that capped a 10-play drive of 46-yards. North Central scored with 8:14

left in the game when Tony Gibson caught a 15-yard pass from Bill

Vanderploeg to cut the Wheaton lead to 43-13 and cap a 16-yard drive on

four plays. Wheaton closed the game's scoring at 6:44 left in the game when

freshman runningback Mike Whalen (Wimberly, Texas/Wimberly) made a 67-yard

touchdown run to put the final tally of 49-13 on the scoreboard.

Offensively for Wheaton

Slater was 9-19 passing for 197 yards and two touchdown passes and two interceptions.

Wide receiver Ben Peays had four catches for 103 yards with two touchdown catches.

Peays moved into seventh place on the Wheaton all-time receiving yards list.

He now has 119 catches for 1757 yards in his four-year career. Whalen's 67-yard

touchdown run tied him for team-high rushing honors with 68 yards on the ground

with. Pastermack, who entered the game as the CCIW's leading scorer, also ran

for 68 yards on 14 carries with one touchdown. McKissic ran for 41 yards on

10 carries with one touchdown run. Baughman was 3-3 on field goal attempts with

a 23-yarder, a 26-yarder and a 34-yard field goal.

The Wheaton defense was

paced by freshman defensive lineman Dane Lundgren (Arden Hills, Minn./Mounds

View) with eight total tackles (six solo) with two tackles for lost yardage

(-14 yards) and a 12-yard sack. Junior Greg McMillin (Nampa, Idaho/Nampa

Senior) had six total tackles (three solo) with a tackle for loss (-2 yards)

and a fumble recovery, while senior defensive back John Peays (Austin,

Texas/Westlake) had six total tackles (three solo) with a fumble recovery. Clement,

the senior linebacker, had five total tackles (three solo) with his 35-yard

fumble recovery for a touchdown. Freshman linebacker JD Leman (Champaign,

Ill./Central) also had five total tackles, while freshman Jeff Darnauer

(Goodland, Kan./Goodland) had four total tackles with three tackles for loss

(-15 yards) and one quarterback sack (-10 yards).

North Central was led by

runningback Michael Mims with 25 rushing yards on 10 carries. The Cardinals'

starting quarterback Jeremy Walsh was 3-8 passing for 32 yards and added

six rushing yards on 21 carries. The North Central defense, entering the game

21st in Division III in total defense, was led by Mario Manfredi with

seven total tackles (four solo), including a sack (-19 yards), while Tim

Johnston added seven total tackles (six solo) with one for lost yardage

(-2 yards).

Wheaton (3-0/1-0) will host

Carthage College (2-1/1-0) next Saturday at 1:00 PM in the Crusaders' homecoming

festivities. North Central (0-3/0-1) will host Elmhurst College (1-2/0-1) next

Saturday in their homecoming game at 2:00 PM.