#5-ranked Thunder continues to roll in a 37-23 win at North Central (Boxscore)

Naperville, Ill. (11/1) - The Thunder football team won

a 37-23 battle at North Central (6-2/3-2 CCIW) this afternoon to remain undefeated

on the season. Today's victory was the 17th consecutive regular season victory

for the Thunder to improve its 2003 season record to 8-0 overall and 5-0 in

the CCIW. Wheaton remains tied atop the CCIW standings with Augustana at 5-0

after the Vikings defeated Elmhurst 28-21 this afternoon. Wheaton will host

North Park next Saturday afternoon at 1 PM in the final home game of the regular

season.

Today's

game was the annual battle for the "Little Brass Bell" trophy that is on the

line when the two teams meet on the gridiron. Today's victory was Wheaton's

15th out of the last 16 in the series. Wheaton owns a 46-35-3 advantage in the

all-time series, including 41 out of the 55 games since the Little Brass Bell

(LEFT) was introduced.

Wheaton

totaled 512 yards of offense on 78 plays, averaging 6.6 yards per play, as the

Thunder passed for 290 yards and ran for 222 yards. Senior quarterback Chad

Bradley completed 17 of his 24 passes for 290 yards with two touchdowns

and a touchdown run. Receiver Colin Sinclair caught five passes for 131

yards with one touchdown catch. Junior Brad Musso (RIGHT) caught four

passes for 94 yards with one touchdown and senior Andrew King had four

grabs for 59 yards. Senior tailback Dan Price carried the ball 21 times

for 113 yards with one touchdown. Junior Garrett Granberg ran the ball

14 times for 53 yards and fullback Drew Thornfeldt had eight carries

for 41 yards with a touchdown.

Senior

linebacker Jeff Mumm had eight total tackles (five solo) to lead the

Thunder defense. Linebacker Tom McAndrews had seven tackles with a 20-yard

interception return. Junior defensive end Tim Cryer (PICTURED LEFT) had

six tackles, including three quarterback sacks (-13 yards). Defensive tackle

Marco Gutierrez added six tackles with a tackle for lost yardage (-5

yards). Senior defensive tackle Ben Reedy had four tackles, with 2-1/2

for lost yardage (-18 yards) and a quarterback sack of 10 yards.

North Central had 401 yards of offense with 206 passing yards and 195 yards

on the ground. Cardinal's quarterback Kam Kniss completed 16 of his 32

passing attempts for 206 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Seven

of Kniss' completions were to Eric Stuedemann for 91 yards with a touchdown.

Brad Spencer caught four passes for 61 yards with a touchdown. Sophomore

running back Steve Holden carried the ball 17 times for 148 yards with

an 80-yard touchdown run. Jeff Wink and Lenny Radtke led the North

Central defense with 11 tackles apiece.

On the first drive of the game the Cardinals got deep into Wheaton territory,

taking the ball to the Thunder 15-yard line. On the 11th play of the drive Wheaton's

Tom McAndrews made a key play, intercepting Kniss' pass at the 10-yard line

and returning it to the Wheaton 30-yard line. Wheaton took a 7-0 lead with 1:50

to play in the first quarter when Thornfeldt scored on a 13-yard touchdown run.

Thornfeldt's touchdown capped an impressive six-play drive of 70 yards that

saw the guests rush the ball for the entire drive. Holden tied the game at 7-7

with 5:39 to play in the second quarter when he scored on an 80-yard touchdown

run. Wheaton held a 10-7 lead at halftime thanks to a 26-yard field goal by

Andrew Day as time expired in the first half.

The

second half saw a flurry of scoring as Wheaton scored 20 unanswered points,

all in the third quarter, followed by 16 consecutive points for the Cardinals.

Wheaton's opening drive of the second half was an impressive 13-play drive of

70 yards that lasted 5:19, culminating in a one-yard touchdown run by Bradley

with 9:41 to play in the third quarter. Bradley's touchdown was set up one play

earlier on a sensational diving, 12-yard catch by Sinclair (LEFT) as he landed

on the one-yard line. On the first play of Wheaton's next drive Sinclair came

up big again as he leapt into the air, grabbed a Bradley pass, and ran it 75-yards

into the end zone to give the Thunder a 23-7 lead with 7:47 to play in the third

quarter. Wheaton scored on its third consecutive drive when Bradley and Musso

connected on a 33-yard touchdown pass to give the guests a 30-7 lead with 3:15

to play in the third quarter. Kniss completed a nine-yard touchdown pass to

Stuedemann with 14-seconds left in the third quarter to cut the Thunder lead

to 30-13.

On the ensuing kickoff the Cardinals recovered an onside kick and 10 plays

later Mike Augustine kicked a 23-yard field goal with 11:21 to play in the game

for a 30-16 Wheaton lead. With 5:39 to play in the game Kniss connected with

Spencer on a 20-yard touchdown pass to cut the Wheaton advantage to 30-23. North

Central attempted another onside kick, but the ball went just four yards and

went out of bounds to give the Thunder the ball at the North Central 39-yard

line. Wheaton used its grinding rushing attack for the next nine plays of the

drive, ending in a 10-yard touchdown run by Price with 1:52 to play in the game

to secure a 37-23 Wheaton victory.