Football downs North Central 38-10 to retain the "Little Brass Bell" (Boxscore)

Wheaton,

Ill

On Friday Wheaton College unveiled "Thunder" as the school's

new mascot for its sports teams. On Saturday the Thunder football team unveiled

two new offensive threats in a 38-10 win over North Central in the school's

annual Homecoming game.

Sophomore quarterback Josh Anderson

(Claremont, Calif./Claremont) played in just the second game of his young

career as he replaced starting quarterback Neil Anderson (Clear Lake, Texas/Clear Lake) who was injured midway

through the first half. Josh Anderson threw for 201 yards on 14 completions

with 24 attempts, two interceptions, three touchdown passes and a touchdown

run. Two of his touchdown passes found sophomore receiver Jonathan Wills (Mahomet, Ill./Mahomet-Seymour)

who caught just two passes, both for touchdowns, with 71 receiving yards.

The two catches were the first of the season for Wills, who entered today's

game with only one reception in his Wheaton career.

Not to be out-done was a Wheaton veteran who has led the team's offense

all season and helped its cause again today. Senior wide receiver Jeremy Amos (Austin, Texas/Westlake),

a Thunder team captain, had 10 receptions for 115 yards with one touchdown

catch that was thrown by Josh Anderson. On the season Amos has 39 catches

for 604 yards with four touchdowns and an average of 151 receiving yards

per game. Amos entered this afternoon's game ranked fourth among all NCAA

Division III receivers in receiving yards per game and ranked fifth in receptions

per game. Amos paced a Wheaton offense

that recorded 403 yards of total offense in recording 5.2 yards per play.

The balanced Wheaton offense ran the ball 42 times for 123 yards, while

the Thunder recorded 280 passing yards.

The

Wheaton defense was solid as it held the Cardinal offense to just 130 yards

of total offense on the day. North Central recorded 121 passing yards and

just nine rushing yards on 32 attempts. Senior linebacker Brett Wyss (Monument, Colo./Lewis-Palmer)

led the Thunder defense with 10 total tackles (two solo). Sophomore Mike

Swalley (Alexandria, Minn./Alexandria) recorded nine total tackles (five

solo) with two tackles for lost yardage (minus-five yards). Senior captain

Greg McMillin (Nampa, Idaho/Nampa) made nine total tackles (three

solo) with three tackles for lost yardage (minus-five yards). Senior defensive

end Darryn Wiebe (Belvidere,

Ill./Belvidere) made four total tackles, that were all for lost yardage

(minus-nine yards). Sophomore Bryant

Wolfsberger (San Juan Capistrano, Calif./Santa Margarita) grabbed Wheaton's

only interception on the day.

North Central quarterback Jeremy

Walsh (Naperville, Ill./North) was 15-30 passing with one interception

and 119 passing yards. The Cardinal defense was led by linebacker Tim Hammers (LaSalle, Ill./LaSalle Peru)

with 11 total tackles (seven solo), with one tackle for lost yardage (minus-four

yards) and a fumble recovery. Senior linebacker Ryan Peterson (Palatine, Ill./Palatine)

tallied nine total tackles with one tackle for lost yardage (minus-five

yards).

After the two teams struggled through a scoreless first quarter North Central

gave the guests a 3-0 lead with 12:20 to play in the second quarter thanks

to a 43-yard field goal by Ryan Jordan

(Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North). With 8:57 left in the first half North Central's

Justin Ring (Jacksonville, Ill./Jacksonville) intercepted a Josh Anderson

pass and returned it 26 yards for a Cardinal touchdown. The Thunder cut

the North Central lead to 10-7 with 3:52 left in the second quarter thanks

to a one-yard touchdown run by junior fullback

Matt Harris (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South). Harris' touchdown capped

a seven-play drive of 73-yards for Wheaton that saw running back J.E.

McKissic (Arlington, Texas/Martin) run for 46 yards on two carries.

After halftime Wheaton took the lead for good with a six-yard touchdown

run by Josh Anderson. Anderson's touchdown scamper capped a 10-play drive

of 73-yards that gave Wheaton the 14-10 lead with 11:23 remaining. With

8:22 left in the game Amos caught a five-yard touchdown pass from Josh Anderson

to give the hosts a 21-10 lead. The Amos touchdown catch was setup by a

25-yard kickoff return by Mike Whalen

(Wimberley, Texas/Wimberley) that gave the Thunder the ball on the North

Central 20-yard line. All-American Chris Baughman (Fort Morgan, Colo./Fort

Morgan) gave Wheaton a 24-10 advantage with a 36-yard field goal with 3:25

left in the third quarter. With 00:57 left in the third quarter Wills caught

a 32-yard touchdown pass from Josh Anderson. Wills' touchdown reception

was the only play of a scoring drive that was setup by a Justin Knapp (Ames, Iowa) fumble recovery. On Wheaton's next drive

Josh Anderson found Wills in the end zone again for a 39-yard touchdown

toss. The Will reception gave Wheaton a 38-10 lead and capped an eight-play

drive of 45 yards.

Today's contest was also

a battle for the "Little Brass Bell" that is always on the line

when Wheaton and North Central meet. This afternoon's contest was the 82nd

meeting between the two teams as Wheaton now owns a 44-35-3 advantage in

the all-time series.

Wheaton

(3-1/1-0) travels to Millikin next Saturday for a battle with the Big Blue.

The game can be heard on WETN-radio 88.1 FM and on the Internet

at http://www.wheaton.edu/wetn.

North Central will host Carthage College next Saturday night at 7 PM.