Setting the Scene: The highly-anticipated Battle for the Little Brass Bell once again features two unbeaten teams, as the Cardinals seek a third straight win over Wheaton for the first time in more than a decade.
Series History: This is the 104th football meeting between the two institutions, making it the Cardinals' most extensive rivalry. Wheaton owns a 55-45-3 edge in the all-time series including six of the last 10 meetings.
In 73 previous contests with the Little Brass Bell at stake, Wheaton owns a 49-23-1 series advantage.
North Central defeated the Thunder for the second straight year in last season's meeting, prevaiing by a score of 33-20. The Cardinals took an early lead after getting a 19-yard touchdown run from Ethan Greenfield and a 30-yard scoring pass from Luke Lehnen to DeAngelo Hardy in a 76-second span of the first quarter.
Wheaton closed the gap to a single score twice in the second half but the hosts put the contest away with two more Greenfield touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
Greenfield finished with 189 rushing yards on 24 carries while Hardy made eight catches for 157 yards. Sam Taviani and BJ Adamchik were the Cardnials' leading tacklers with 10 stops each.
National Rankings: North Central was ranked No. 1 by D3football.com in this week's NCAA Division III Top 25 Poll, receiving 24 of 25 first-place votes.
The Cardinals are the unanimous No. 1-ranked team in the American Football Coaches Association's (AFCA) first Top 25 Poll of the campaign, receiving all 49 first-place votes.
Wheaton is ranked No. 8 by the AFCA and No. 10 by D3football.com this week.
North Central has been ranked No. 1 in 23 of D3football.com's last 26 regular-season polls.
Scouting the Thunder: Wheaton improved to 3-0 last week with a narrow 41-34 victory over Augustana. The contest was tied, 27-27, with 11:53 to play before the Thunder scored on Ben Thorson's touchdown passes to Ben Bonga and Giovanni Weeks on consecutive possessions.
Thorson threw for 395 of Wheaton's 537 total yards, completing 31 of 45 passes as Seth Kortenhoeven (10 catches for 162 yards) and Bonga (12 catches for 143) were the most popular targets.
The Thunder lead the CCIW in total offense for the season (518.3 yards per game), 311 of which has come from the passing game. Weeks, meanwhile, is the conference's leading rusher at more than 130 yards per game.
Wheaton's defense ranks fifth in the CCIW in points allowed (23.7 per game) and yards allowed (358 per game). Linebacker Lawson Haigler is the team's top tackler (19), while lineman Peter Johanik has made four tackles for loss and cornerback Max Wilson has intercepted two passes.
This Week for the Cardinals: North Central put its stamp on Saturday's 59-6 victory at Elmhurst with a first half which saw the Cardinals score seven straight touchdowns while forcing six straight punts.
Three of North Central's seven rushing touchdowns were scored by Joe Sacco, who rushed for a team-high 80 yards on just seven carries before the Cardinals' starters left the game at halftime.
Sean Allen, Darius Byrd, Jordan Chisum and Luke Lehnen also ran for scores, and Lehnen also fired a two-yard touchdown pass to DeAngelo Hardy.
Lehnen, who completed 11 of 14 passes for 201 yards, now ranks eighth in North Central's history with 25 career rushing touchdowns.
The Cardinals' defense yielded only 148 yards of offense and has not allowed more than 170 to any opponent thus far this season. BJ Adamchik and James Hart were North Central's leading tacklers with six stops each and Ethan Groark snagged the team's fourth interception of the campaign.
North Central has scored touchdowns on 18 of 19 first-half possessions thus far this season and is outscoring opponents, 132-0, in the first two periods of play.
CCIW Student-Athlete of the Week: North Central kicker Sean Ryniec was named the CCIW Special Teams Student-Athlete of the Week after connecting on eight extra-point attempts and a 28-yard field goal Saturday. Ryniec averaged 58.3 yards on nine kickoffs as Elmhurst did not record any kickoff return yards.
Carroll quarterback Josh Raby and North Park linebacker Jaydin Miller were voted the CCIW's top performers on offense and defense, respectively.
North Central Career Rankings: Hardy ranks second in North Central history in receptions (180), receiving yards (3,044) and touchdown receptions (42), fourth in total touchdowns (47), sixth in points scored (282) and seventh in all-purpose yards (3,798).
Lehnen ranks third in the Cardinals' history in passing touchdowns (80) while ranking fourth in passing yards (6,413) and fifth in completions (410). Lehnen currently sits first in passing efficiency (195.2) and completion percentage (.678).
Lehnen is also poised to join North Central's all-time leaders in rushing. He currently sits third in yards per rushing attempt (6.72) and ranks 11th in school history in rushing touchdowns (24).
Julian Bell is tied for ninth all-time in pass breakups (23).
National Career Rankings: Lehnen is the current active leader among all players in college football in career passing efficiency. Among Division III players, Lehnen ranks third in touchdown passes and ninth in passing yards.
Hardy ranks fourth nationwide among all divisions in career touchdown receptions and sixth in receiving yards while sitting 18th in receptions and 25th in all-purpose yards.
This Week in Cardinal Football History: 1933 at Western Teachers (MI) - North Central handed Western Teachers (now known as Western Michigan University) its first loss in two years and avenged a 27-0 loss from the season before.
Johnnie Deiber scored the game's lone touchdown on a 70-yard run around right end late in the first quarter.
Around the CCIW: North Central, Carroll, WashU and Wheaton are the CCIW co-leaders with 2-0 records in conference play.
WashU hosts North Park this week, while Carroll travels to face Augustana. Illinois Wesleyan visits Millikin and Elmhurst plays at Carthage.