Its usually-potent offense stalling for the first time this season, the North Central College football team found victory to be just beyond its reach in its Homecoming game against archrival Wheaton College on Saturday, as the Cardinals lost by a 17-9 count in the annual Battle for the Little Brass Bell at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium.
After scoring at least 40 points in its past four games, 16th-ranked North Central (4-3, 3-1 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) was kept out of the end zone until late in the contest by an eighth-ranked Wheaton squad which remains unbeaten on the season at 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the CCIW.
The game's first four possession ended in punts before the Cardinals landed a scoring opportunity deep in Wheaton territory. Defensive end Eric Wilson sacked Thunder quarterback Andrew Bowers and forced a fumble, which was recovered by Emonte Logan at the Wheaton 18-yard line. The Cardinals, however, missed a 29-yard field goal and the contest remained scoreless.
North Central forced another punt on the next drive and broke the ice with a 33-yard field goal by Dom Zavaglia with 9:01 left in the first half, though the Thunder responded with a 38-yard field goal by Daniel Gray with 3:44 on the clock.
Taking over at its own 32 following a failed North Central fourth-down conversion with 26 seconds left in the half, the Thunder made a last-ditch effort to tack on a final score. Bowers passed to tailback Sola Olateju for 15 yards and ran for 10 yards, putting the Thunder at the North Central 43 with time left for one final play. He fired a pass near the goal line as time ran out, and Zach Lindquist came down with the ball and fought his way into the end zone to send the visitors into halftime with a 10-3 advantage.
The Thunder extended their advantage to 17-3 on their first drive of the second half, calling nine straight running plays before Bowers' 16-yard TD pass to Trey Hanley. North Central threatened to respond with a score of its own, but Dylan Warden's third-down pass was intercepted by Wheaton's Tyler Sigler at the Thunder four-yard line.
The Cardinals' first fourth-quarter drive ended with an interception as well, as Nick Blazek picked off a pass in Wheaton's end zone. Just three plays later, however, the hosts had the ball back as Brandon Kibby intercepted Bowers' pass at the Wheaton 25 with 7:37 to play. Eight plays later, Austin Breunigdelivered a two-yard touchdown run, though the Cardinals' extra-point attempt was unsuccessful. The Thunder were able to run the final 5:20 off the clock, denying North Central a chance to level the score.
Warden completed 10 of 18 passes for 143 yards, finding Alex Ulmer seven times for 81 yards. Breunig gained 50 yards on 18 carries and caught four passes for 54 yards. The Cardinals' defense sacked Bowers six times, as Wilson recorded three to come up one short of North Central's single-game record and Justin Stuursma added two. Tom Sora and Richard Zirngibl were the team's top tacklers with nine stops each.
Bowers went 13 for 18 passing for 231 yards. Olateju ran for 127 yards on 20 carries and caught five passes for 54 yards. Adam Dansdill led the Thunder with 12 tackles.
The Cardinals travel to face 19th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University (7-0, 4-0 CCIW) on Saturday. Kickoff at Tucci Stadium is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
North Central Clipped by Wheaton in Bell Battle
/seasons/2015/boxscores/20151024_2b0k.xml
2015
Wheaton (Ill.)
17
North Central (Ill.)
9
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 6 Wheaton (Ill.) (7-0) | 0 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 17 |
| No. 15 North Central (Ill.) (4-3) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 9 |
Oct 24, 2015