North Central pulls rank on Wheaton

In the storied history of the North Central-Wheaton College rivalry, neither program was ranked in the top 10 for their annual game.

With such high expectations, no one could have expected a blowout. Cardinals quarterback Aaron Fanthorpe passed for 294 yards and Dominic Sulo rushed for 100 yards as the No. 7 Cardinals stunned host No. 4 Wheaton College 44-21 Saturday evening at McCully Stadium in Wheaton. The Cardinals reclaimed the Little Brass Bell for the first time since 2005.

"It wasn't easy and they're a great team," North Central coach John Thorne said, with trophy in hand. "We had a lot of big plays at the right time."

The Cardinals built a 23-0 halftime lead after forcing 3 turnovers and limiting the Thunder offense to only 73 yards. The Cardinals offense shredded the Thunder defense for 265 total yards, 189 of them through the air.

"They just beat us," Wheaton coach Mike Swider said. "You just can't spot them points. We did it last year, and we did this year. You can't spot a team like that points, and we dug ourselves in a hole."

The Thunder opened up the second half with a 9-play, 59-yard drive capped by a 14-yard touchdown strike from Sean Norris to Freddy Ellis.

But North Central answered immediately. On a house blitz at the Thunder 36-yard line, Fanthorpe dashed 22 yards, setting the Cardinals up in the red zone for the fifth time in the game.

Dominic Sulo punched in a 1-yard run three plays later, increasing the North Central lead 30-7 with 8:34 left in the third.

"They always like to blitz and we watched their tendencies all week," Fanthorpe said. "We made plays and it got us to where we are now."

The Cardinals recovered a fumble just 40 seconds later when Norris was stripped of the ball at midfield. Fanthorpe went to work quickly, finding for a 29-yard strike. North Central was back in the end zone three plays later when Fanthorpe ran in untouched.

"Aaron made so many good decisions tonight with the ball," Thorne said.

The Thunder made the Cardinals uncomfortable in the fourth quarter, scoring once and threatening a second time before a Norris incomplete pass turned the ball over on downs. North Central sealed the game with a scrambling Fanthorpe finding tight end Jeff Grunwald in the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown pass.

"How about those two big tight ends?" Thorne said with a grin. "What a game they had, and that last catch was awesome."