Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
Box Score
WHEATON, Ill. (Oct. 5, 2019) - The nation's only NCAA Division III football game to feature two nationally-ranked teams on Saturday lived up to its advance billing at McCully Stadium, as a wild back-and-forth affair came down to the final period.
Despite leading throughout much of the early portion of the contest, the fifth-ranked North Central College Cardinals wound up on the short end of a 35-21 final score against archrival and ninth-ranked Wheaton College to absorb their first loss of the season.
The Cardinals (3-1, 2-1 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) opened the game on offense and marched 89 yards in 11 plays for the game's first touchdown. Facing third down-and-12 at his own 41-yard line, quarterback Broc Rutter connected with Blake Williams on a crossing route to the left side. Williams galloped 54 yards to set up first-and-goal at the five-yard line, and Ethan Greenfield crossed the goal line from one yard out with 10:14 on the first-quarter clock.
Wheaton leveled the score with a 13-play, 80-yard drive that culminated in Luke Anthony's three-yard scoring pass to tailback TJ Williams with 12:13 left in the second period. The final score of the opening half came just two plays after the Cardinals forced a punt and took possession at their own 45. Rutter uncorked a deep pass down the middle of the field to Blake Williams, who made a leaping grab over a defender who was flagged for pass interference on the play to complete a 48-yard touchdown completion. North Central carried a 14-7 advantage into halftime, owning a 259-159 advantage in total offensive yards.
The score was tied once again at 14-14 when Anthony connected with Phillip Nichols for a 47-yard score midway through the third quarter. North Central drove 75 yards in eight plays to take the lead once again on a nine-yard TD pass from Rutter to Andrew Kamienski, but the Thunder punched back with another scoring catch by Nichols, this time from five yards away, to send the contest into the final period tied, 21-21.
Wheaton took possession early in the fourth quarter following a punt on its own 42-yard line. On the next play, Anthony threw deep to Nichols, whose 58-yard touchdown catch was his third of the day and put the hosts in front for the first time, 28-21.
The Cardinals' next drive ended on a failed fourth-down conversion near midfield, and Wheaton capitalized by driving to the end zone once again. Anthony froze the North Central defense with a play-action fake and delivered a 21-yard touchdown pass to Adam Terrini to extend the lead to 35-21 with 6:40 to play. The Cardinals' final two offensive possessions ended with turnovers on downs.
Rutter finished the game 27 of 45 passing for 309 yards, despite a Wheaton pass rush which collected seven quarterback sacks. Williams hauled in six passes for a season-best 158 yards, while Kamienski made 14 grabs for 112 yards. Greenfield gained 111 rushing yards on a career-high 29 carries and Ben Wong paced the North Central defense with eight total tackles.
Anthony threw for 351 yards, completing 21 of 30 passes, and also gained a team-high 55 yards on seven carries for the Thunder (4-0, 3-0 CCIW). Nichols gained 207 yards on 10 receptions and Ryan Schwartz and Daniel Herber shared team-high honors with 11 tackles apiece.
The Cardinals host Augustana College on Saturday. Kickoff at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium is set for 1:00 p.m.
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