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

Complete Game Notes (PDF)

Oct. 24: North Central College Cardinals (4-2, 3-0 CCIW) vs. Wheaton College Thunder (6-0, 3-0 CCIW)

Kickoff: 2 p.m., Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium
Video: Naperville Community Television, Channel 17/nctv17.com
Radio: 89.1-FM WONC
Live Stats: www.sidearmstats.com/ncc/football/
Game Updates: www.twitter.com/NCC_Athletics
Series History: 49-41-3, Wheaton

Setting the Scene: Conference title and national playoff implications add fuel to an already-intense local rivalry this week, as the Cardinals host Wheaton in a battle of two of the three unbeaten teams in CCIW play.

Series History: This is the 94th football meeting between the two schools, marking North Central's most extensive rivalry against any single opponent. Wheaton owns a 49-41-3 edge in the all-time series.

This week's game is the 67th time North Central and Wheaton have played for the Little Brass Bell, the traveling trophy between the two teams. The Thunder also lead that all-time series, 46-20.

The Cardinals traveled to Wheaton on Oct. 23 of last season, as the Thunder won, 34-31, on a 29-yard field goal by kicker Sam Cote as time expired.

National Rankings: North Central is ranked No. 16 this week by D3football.com and No. 21 by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA). Wheaton is ranked fifth by the AFCA and eighth by D3football.com.

Scouting the Thunder: Wheaton stayed unbeaten in 2015 with a 62-14 home victory over Millikin on Saturday. The first quarter ended with the teams tied at 14-14, but Millikin was limited to just 66 yards the rest of the way and only eight yards in the second half as Wheaton scored on nine of its 10 offensive possessions in the game.

Under the direction of backup quarterback Andrew Bowers, starting his second game in three weeks in relief of injured signal-caller Johnny Peltz, the Thunder's offense rolled up 657 total yards, including 418 on the ground. Running back Sola Olateju ran for 193 yards and scored three touchdowns on just 13 carries, while Bowers completed 10 of 13 passes for 166 yards and three scores.

Wheaton leads the CCIW in scoring offense (46.8 points per game), scoring defense (11.0 ppg) and total offensive yards (543.3 ypg). In conference play, the Thunder are putting up 41.3 points per game, second only to North Central's average of 45.7.

Olateju has run for 560 yards and seven TDs this season to lead Wheaton's rushing attack, while receiver Andrew Lindquist has caught a team-high 22 passes for 380 yards and five scores. Peltz and Bowers have combined to throw for just over 1,500 yards with 14 TDs and seven interceptions.

Wheaton's defense has intercepted a conference-high 12 passes, with safety Wes Cannonier and cornerback Alex Mendez each tallying three.

This Week for the Cardinals: North Central used a series of big plays to secure its third straight win on Saturday, scoring all six of its touchdowns from at least 20 yards out in a 41-17 victory at Carthage.

The Cardinals' first three scores came from Austin Breunig on runs of 50, 33 and 21 yards. Dylan Warden took over from there and fired a season-long 72-yard TD pass to Cory Hartema, a 24-yard scoring strike to Nolan Brannick and a 38-yard touchdown toss to Alex Ulmer.

Breunig erupted for 185 yards on just 19 rushes, while Warden threw for 146 yards on just four completions. Tom Sora led the Cardinals' defense with 10 tackles and Richard Zirngibl snagged his second interception of the season.

The Cardinals are averaging 262.7 rushing yards per game, their best since gaining 281.9 yards per contest in 2011. North Central has scored at least three rushing touchdowns in each game this season.

North Central Career Rankings:  Warden ranks fifth in North Central history in career touchdown passes (28), while kicker Dom Zavaglia ranks third all-time in extra points (81) and fifth in field goals (15).

Warden also ranks eighth all-time in passing yards (1,903) and 10th in completions (119),  Ryan Kuhl is 11th in receiving touchdowns (10) and Matt Randolph sits 12th in rushing touchdowns (17) and 14th in total touchdowns (19).

Zavaglia and Randolph rank 13th (126) and 18th (114), respectively, in career scoring.

Breunig's 10 rushing touchdowns rank 16th on North Central's all-time single-season list, while Justin Hunniford is 17th in completed passes (81) and passing yards (1,013).
 
Around the CCIW: North Central, Illinois Wesleyan and Wheaton currently sit in a three-way tie atop the CCIW standings with perfect 3-0 records. Illinois Wesleyan plays at Elmhurst this week, while Carthage travels to Augustana and North Park heads to Millikin

In three weeks of conference play, the Cardinals have posted the CCIW's highest totals for points (45.7 per game), rushing yards (311.0) and total offensive yards (545.3). Breunig is the CCIW's top rusher (165.7 ypg) and scorer (six touchdowns) in conference games thus far.

CCIW Players of the Week:  Wheaton's Sola Olateju, Illinois Wesleyan's Sean Garvey and North Park's David Simmons were named the CCIW Football Players of the Week on Monday.
 
Olateju finished with a career-high 193 rushing yards on 13 carries and three touchdowns during the Thunder's win over Millikin. He scored all three of his touchdowns in the second quarter.
 
Garvey totaled a game and season-high 18 tackles (six solo, 12 assisted) in a 21-7 win at Augustana on Saturday. He also added 1.5 tackles for a loss of four yards.
 
Simmons blocked a 34-yard Elmhurst field goal attempt, which was returned 76 yards for the Vikings' go-ahead touchdown in a 24-14 win over the Bluejays on Saturday. It was North Park's first win against Elmhurst since the 2000 season.

'Red Zone' Returns in 2015: Once again, fans of North Central College football can get an insider's look at the Cardinals' football program, as 'The Red Zone' highlight show returns for its eighth season on Naperville Community Television, Channel 17.

The show airs each Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and midnight, Friday at 8:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m., and 11:30 p.m., Saturday at 8:00 a.m., 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., and Sunday at 3:00 p.m. It will feature interviews with coaches and players, highlights of the previous week's game, and a look ahead to the upcoming opponent.

Each show is viewable online at nctv17.com and is archived at youtube.com/northcentralsports as well as the newly-redesigned northcentralcardinals.com.