Wheaton grinds out a 42-17 win at North Central (Boxscore)

Naperville,

Ill. (9/29) - The Thunder football team controlled the clock

and possessed a solid running game to grind out a 42-17 win tonight at North

Central College in Naperville. Wheaton retains posession of the "Little

Brass Bell" trophy that is on the line when the two teams meet in the

gridiron. The win improves Wheaton's record in the all-time series to 45-35-3,

with the Orange and Blue winning 13 of the last 14 meetings.

The Wheaton

offensive line was impressive as six players rushed for over 20 yards and

four touchdowns. Wheaton reeled off 28 unanswered points and out-scored the

Cardinals 22-0 in the second half. Wheaton improves to 2-2 on the season and

opens conference play with a 1-0 CCIW record. North Central falls to 1-3 overall

and 0-1 in conference play. Wheaton will host Millikin next Saturday in its

homecoming game, while North Central will be at Carthage.

Wheaton racked

up 28 first downs, including 19 rushing first downs, while the Cardinals tallied

just eight first downs for the game. The guests came up big when it counted

going 11 for 17 on third down conversion, while the Thunder defense held North

Central to four of 14 on third down conversion chances. The Wheaton ground

game helped the Thunder hold onto the ball for 35:07, while the Cardinals

had it for 24:53.

Josh

Anderson (Claremont, Calif./Claremont) put Wheaton on the scoreboard early

into the first quarter with a 13-yard touchdown run. Anderson's touchdown

capped a nine-play, 63-yard drive that was setup largely by the effort of

the Thunder offensive line and Anderson who rushed for 33 yards and passed

for 26 on the drive. North Central tied the game at 7-7 to begin the first

half as quarterback Josh Walsh scored on a 10-yard touchdown run. Walsh's

trip into the end zone capped a solid 80-yard, 13-play drive for the Cardinals

that ended with 14:55 to play in the second quarter. With 11:27 to play in

the second quarter junior fullback Corey Noonan (Phoenix, Ariz./Desert

Vista) caught a seven-yard touchdown pass in the corner of the end zone from

quarterback Neil Anderson (Clear Lake, Texas/Clear Lake). Noonan's

(PICTURED LEFT) catch capped an eight-play drive of 59 yards. Walsh threw

an 11-yard touchdown pass to Tony Gibson with 8:04 to play in the first

half to tie the game at 14-14. North Central took a 17-14 lead when Bobby

Miller made a 24-yard field goal that capped a seven-play drive of 19

yards that was setup by a Thunder fumble on the first play of the drive after

Gibson's touchdown. Noonan caught a six-yard pass from Josh Anderson with

00:29 to play in the first half to give Wheaton a 21-17 lead. Noonan's second

touchdown of the night capped a 14-play drive of 67 yards that lasted 5:05.

In the second

half Wheaton was impressive on both sides of the ball. Wheaton rushed the

ball 37 times for 152 yards with three touchdowns and 13 first downs in the

second half. The second stanza saw the Thunder defense hold the Cardinals

to 22 yards of total offense on 23 plays and no first downs and three turnovers.

Noonan gave the guests a 28-17 lead with a 15-yard touchdown run with 9:06

to play in the third quarter. Bryant Wolfsberger (San Juan Capistrano,

Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) scored on a five-yard touchdown run with

1:59 to play in the third quarter to give the Thunder a 35-17 advantage. Wolfsberger's

fourth touchdown of the season capped a 13-play drive of 58 yards. Junior

Mike Whalen (Wimberley, Texas/Wimberley) reached the end zone with

9:40 to play in the game on a three-yard touchdown run that gave Wheaton the

final 42-17 advantage. Whalen capped a five-play drive of 26 yards that was

setup by a Bob Bollweg (Wheaton, Ill./North) interception that was

returned 19 yards to the Cardinal 26-yard line.

Noonan had

a career day as the junior fullback had 13 carries for 65 yards with one touchdown

and two catches for 13 yards and two touchdowns. Wolfsberger carried the ball

12 times for 58 yards and the touchdown run. Whalen carried the ball 12 times

for 40 yards and one touchdown. Josh Anderson was 8-14 passing for 90 yards

and one touchdown toss, while rushing for 28 yards on 10 carries with one

touchdown. Neil Anderson was 2-2 passing for 24 yards with one touchdown toss,

while rushing for 22 yards on seven carries. Junior wide receiver Jonathan

Wills (Mahomet, Ill./Mahomet-Seymour) led the Thunder receiving corps

with four catches for 55 yards.

Sophomore

linebacker Jeff Mumm (Grapevine, Texas/Colleyville), senior Eliot

Thomasma (Stevensville, Mich./Lakeshore) and junior linebacker Kevin

Sellers (Ames, Iowa/Ames) each tallied a team-high seven total tackles

for the Thunder. Senior team captain Jamie Busch (Batavia, Ill./Batavia)

made four total tackles with two tackles for lost yardage (-9 yards), with

one quarterback sack for five yards. Bollweg had two interceptions to give

him a team-high four picks on the season.

Pictured

left: Linebacker Justin Knapp (left, #45) and defensive back Shawn Wildt (right,

#34) were among Wheaton's tackle leaders against Hope.