FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302

Nov. 1: Illinois Wesleyan University Titans (3-4, 1-3 CCIW) at North Central College Cardinals (5-2, 3-1 CCIW)

Kickoff: 1 p.m., Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium
Video: Naperville Community Television, Channel 17/nctv17.com
Radio: 89.1-FM WONC
Live Stats: www.sidearmstats.com/ncentral/football
Game Updates: www.twitter.com/NCC_Athletics
Series History: 36-24-3, Illinois Wesleyan

Setting the Scene: After a heartbreaking last-second loss at Wheaton, the Cardinals look to keep their playoff hopes alive as they host an Illinois Wesleyan team seeking to end a run of four losses in its last five games.

Series History: This is the 64th football meeting between the two schools. IWU owns a 36-24-3 lead in the all-time series, though the Cardinals have won the past four meetings and 10 of the last 11. The teams met in Bloomington last season, and North Central broke open a close game with three touchdowns in the final 6:22 to win, 46-17.

Leading, 25-17, the Cardinals got a four-yard touchdown pass from Spencer Stanek to Peter Sorenson. North Central ended the next two Titan drives with interceptions by Trey Hartema and Shane Dierking, turning the extra possessions into an eight-yard TD pass from Stanek to Ryan Szudarski and a one-yard scoring run from Ryan Kent.

Stanek completed 32 of 45 passes for 337 yards, coming within one completion of the North Central single-game record.

National Rankings: North Central is ranked No. 23 in the most recent D3football.com National Top 25 poll as well as the latest Top 25 Poll conducted by the American Football Coaches Association.

Scouting the Titans: Illinois Wesleyan suffered its fourth loss in five games on Saturday as an 11-point fourth-quarter lead slipped away in a 29-28 loss to Elmhurst.

The Titans pulled ahead, 28-17, after quarterback Mac Zabriskie threw a nine-yard TD pass to Artie Checchin before running in for a one-yard score with 11:22 to play. Elmhurst scored on a 42-yard pass with 7:30 to play to narrow the gap to 28-23, then completed a 47-yard pass in their final drive before scoring the game-winning TD with 1:32 on the clock.

Zabriskie made his first start against Elmhurst, making him the fourth starting quarterback for the Titans in seven games this season. He completed 7 of 13 passes for 107 yards and accounted for all four IWU touchdowns, running for two and passing for two.

Checchin and fellow receiver Andrew Javorka have scored 11 of the Titans' 18 offensive touchdowns this season as IWU has gained 231 of its 360 offensive yards per game through the air.

The Titans' defense, which has yielded 344 yards per game and forced 18 turnovers, has received a boost from defensive ends Kyle Venhuizen and John Worley, who have combined for 20.5 tackles for loss and 12 of the team's 17 quarterback sacks. Venhuizen's seven sacks lead the CCIW, as does punter Matt Kussman's 45.4-yard average per attempt.

Last Week for the Cardinals: North Central suffered its first conference loss since 2012 on a last-second field goal on Saturday, as Wheaton converted a 29-yard kick as time expired to defeat the Cardinals, 34-31, and regain possession of the Little Brass Bell.

Trailing, 31-16, in the fourth quarter, North Central scored on a three-yard run by Oshayne Brown and a 59-yard pass from Dylan Warden to Alex Ulmer to tie the game at 31-31 with 4:53 to play. Wheaton, which totaled 464 yards of total offfense, was able to move into position for the game-winner while running out the rest of the game clock.

Brown ran for a career-high 142 yards and two TDs on 21 carries, while Ulmer caught four passes for a career-best 102 yards. Defensive tackle Peter Mann and linebacker Justin Stuursma led North Central's defense with career-high totals of 13 and 10 tackles, respectively.

The setback was the Cardinals' first in CCIW play since a 35-21 defeat, also against Wheaton, in 2012.

North Central Career Rankings: Wide receiver Peter Sorenson holds the Cardinals' career record for receiving touchdowns (29) and currently ranks third all-time in receiving yards (2,132), fourth in receptions (138) and sixth in total touchdowns (29).

Kent, meanwhile, ranks fourth in rushing yards (2,324), fifth in all-purpose yards (2,864) and seventh in rushing touchdowns (24). Tyler Dicken and Dylan Warden rank ninth (16) and 10th (14) in touchdown passes, respectively, while Dicken is also ninth in completed passes (118) and passing yards (1,754).

John Skokna has moved into seventh place all-time in punt return yards (277) and punt return attempts (30), and Jordan Dean ranks eighth in kickoff return yards (633).

In his first season at North Central, kicker Dom Zavaglia already ranks seventh in the Cardinals' history in field goals made (10) and 10th in extra points made (33).

CCIW Rankings: North Central leads the CCIW in scoring offense (42.1 points per game), kickoff return average (24.8 yards per return), turnover margin (+1.14 per game), rushing offense (224.6 yards per game), rushing defense (114.4 ypg), total offense (430.4 ypg), passing efficiency (156.7), red-zone offense (93.9%) and field goals made (10) heading into this week's game.

Dylan Warden is the CCIW's leader in passing efficiency (168.8), while Sorenson is the conference leader in receiving yards (88.4 per game) and Dom Zavaglia leads in field goals (10) and points scored by kicking (63).
 
Around the CCIW: Elmhurst hosts Wheaton today in a battle for sole possession of first place in the CCIW standings. Augustana hosts North Park and Millikin hosts Carthage.

CCIW Players of the Week:  Wheaton's Johnny Peltz, Augustana's Ben Fornek and Wheaton's Sam Cote were named the CCIW Football Players of the Week on Monday.

Peltz completed 78.6 percent of his passes by going 22-of-28 for 236 yards and two touchdowns including a 13-yard toss in the first quarter and a nine-yard pass in the third quarter. Peltz also rushed for 83 yards on 22 carries.

Fornek tallied 13 solo tackles during a 31-26 win at Carthage on Saturday. He added a tackle-for-loss and a pass breakup as the Vikings evened their conference record at 2-2.

Cote kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired to give Wheaton the win over North Central on Saturday. Cote was 2-for-2 on field goals including a 37-yard kick in the first quarter. He was also 4-for-4 on PATs.