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

Complete Game Notes (PDF)

Oct. 17: North Central College Cardinals (3-2, 2-0 CCIW) vs. Carthage College Red Men (2-3, 1-1 CCIW)

Kickoff: 7 p.m., Art Keller Field
Video: www.carthage.edu/library/webcast
Radio: 89.1-FM WONC
Live Stats: www.sidearmstats.com/carthage/football/
Game Updates: www.twitter.com/NCC_Athletics
Series History: 31-25-3, North Central

Setting the Scene: Coming off a record offensive outburst which paved the way for a second straight win, the Cardinals hit the road to face a Carthage squad also looking to maintain positive momentum following a victory.

Series History: This is the 60th football meeting between the two schools. After winning the last nine encounters, North Central owns a 31-25-3 edge in the all-time series.

The Cardinals hosted Carthage for their Homecoming game on Oct. 18 of last season, scoring 28 of the game's first 31 points and winning, 53-23.

North Central salted the game away with a school record-tying four made field goals by Dom Zavaglia and an 86-yard interception return for a touchdown by Brandon Kibby, the third longest return in school history.

Dylan Warden ran for 115 yards and a touchdown while throwing for 163 yards and three TDs. Carthage outgained the Cardinals, 391-383, but turned the ball over five times, including four interceptions. P.J. Crotty picked off two passes for North Central.

National Rankings: North Central is ranked No. 17 this week by D3football.com and No. 22 by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA).

Scouting the Red Men: After suffering a 21-17 last-second loss to Illinois Wesleyan in its conference opener, Carthage rebounded last week to secure a 31-17 victory at Elmhurst.

Carthage made its living in the running game against the Bluejays, gaining 336 of its 466 yards and scoring all four of its touchdowns on the ground. Lafayette McGary was the Red Men's top rusher with 162 yards on 10 carries, including a 64-yard fourth-quarter TD which put the game away.

Saturday's game marked Carthage's best rushing effort this season by more than 100 yards. The Red Men average 202 yards on the ground and 183 through the air for the year.

London Townsend (313 yards), McGary (312) and Tristan Peterson (242) are Carthage's top ground gainers, while receiver James Cobbs has scored four rushing TDs in addition to his team-high 18 catches for 344 yards and two scores.

Carthage also allowed its fewest points in a single game Saturday. 247 of the 368 yards per game the Red Men have surrendered have come in the passing game. Linebacker K.J. Simpson leads Carthage with 38 tackles and seven tackles for loss.

This Week for the Cardinals: North Central took the momentum gained from a 35-point fourth quarter at Millikin and rolled up another prolific offensive performance against North Park last week, gaining a school-record 693 total yards in a 47-20 victory over the Vikings.

The Cardinals were just one yard short of the CCIW single-game record of 694, set by Millikin against Wheaton in 1983.

North Central's season-best 398-yard effort on the ground was paced by running back Austin Breunig, who ran for 221 yards and two touchdowns on just 19 carries, while Dylan Warden, Matt Randolph and Justin Hunniford also ran for touchdowns.

Hunniford also completed 13 of 19 passes for 193 yards and tosses a 23-yard TD pass to Ryan Kuhl, while Warden was 6 of 10 passing for 102 yards. Kuhl hauled in six passes for 89 yards and Alex Ulmer gained 80 yards on five catches.

The Cardinals' defense stiffened after halftime, allowing just 110 of North Park's 336 yards and only one drive of more than 26 yards in the final two quarters. Tom Sora made a team-best five tackles and Jeremy Niklos broke up three passes.

North Central Career Rankings:  Warden ranks fifth in North Central history in career touchdown passes (25), while kicker Dom Zavaglia ranks fourth all-time in extra points (76) and fifth in field goals (15).

Warden also ranks 10th all-time in passing yards (1,757) and 11th in completions (115),  Kuhl is 11th in receiving touchdowns (10) and Randolph sits 12th in rushing touchdowns (17) and 14th in total touchdowns (19).

Zavaglia and Randolph rank 14th (121) and 18th (114), respectively, in career scoring.

With half of the regular season complete, Hunniford is 18th on the Cardinals' all-time single-season lists for completed passes (77) and passing yards (975).
 
Around the CCIW: North Central, Illinois Wesleyan and Wheaton currently sit in a three-way tie atop the CCIW standings with perfect 2-0 records. Illinois Wesleyan travels to Augustana this week, while Elmhurst plays at North Park and Millikin heads to Wheaton.

In two weeks of conference play, the Cardinals have posted the CCIW's highest totals for points (96), rushing yards (691) and total offensive yards (1,173), as well as the fewest rushing yards (189) and quarterback sacks allowed (1).

Breunig is the CCIW's top rusher in conference games thus far (312), while Warden has a league-high four touchdowns scored and Andrew Sledd averages a CCIW-best 29.8-yards per kick return.

CCIW Players of the Week:  Breunig was named one of the CCIW's Players of the Week on Monday, along with Wheaton linebacker Caleb Ashby and Carthage punter Fred McCann.

Ashby totaled eight tackles (six solo), two tackles for loss, one interception and one pass breakup during the Thunder's 31-14 win over Augustana on Saturday.
 
McCann punted three times for 126 yards (42.0-yard average) during Carthage's win at Elmhurst. He had a long of 53 yards and helped the coverage team allow only one punt return for six yards by the Bluejays.

'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.