Football | 10/1/2014 1:55:00 PM

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

Oct. 4: Millikin University Big Blue (2-1, 0-0 CCIW) at North Central College Cardinals (2-1, 0-0 CCIW)

Kickoff: 6 p.m., Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium.
Live 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: 36-29-1, Millikin.

Setting the Scene: The Cardinals officially begin their quest for a record ninth straight CCIW title this week, looking to extend their winning streak over Millikin to a full decade.

Series History: This is the 67th football meeting between the two schools. Millikin owns a 36-29-1 edge in the all-time series though the Cardinals have won the last nine contests.

The teams met in Naperville Oct. 12 of last season and the Cardinals bolted to a 41-0 halftime lead en route to a 55-7 victory.

North Central scored on each of its first five possessions, two of which started in the Big Blue's half of the field following interceptions by Shane Dierking and Jordan Dean. Quarterback Spencer Stanek got the offense going early with three first-quarter touchdown passes, including two to A.J. Thomas.

The Cardinals finished with a 550-212 edge in total yards. Stanek completed 15 of 16 passes for 221 yards, while Zack Pattat gained a team-high 149 yards on 12 rushing attempts.

North Central has been particularly dominant in its last five meetings with Millikin, averaging 50.8 points per game.

National Rankings: North Central is ranked No. 13 in the most recent D3football.com National Top 25 poll. and 16th in the lastest Top 25 Poll conducted by the American Football Coaches Association.

Scouting the Big Blue: Millikin improved to 2-1 on Saturday by opening its home schedule with a 30-9 victory over Aurora.

The Big Blue got two special-teams touchdowns and a defensive touchdown in the victory, while one of their offensive scoring drives started after a blocked punt.

Jowonis Edwards returned a kickoff 97 yards for Millikin's first touchdown. Travis Goveia recovered a blocked punt for a score later in the contest, and Nikia Averitte returned a fumble 15 yards for the game's final TD.

The Big Blue are averaging 408 yards of offense per game, 237 of which has come through the air. Quarterback Nick Pippin has completed 57.9 percent of his passes for 660 yards and six touchdowns. He is the only starting quarterback in the CCIW who has yet to throw an interception this season.

Taylor Sanders has caught a team-high 20 passes for 290 yards and three TDs, making him the only Millikin player to score more than once so far this season. Justin Brooks leads the running game with 175 yards on 23 carries.

Goveia leads Millikin with 24 tackles and a CCIW-best 11 tackles for loss. The Big Blue have averaged 10 tackles for loss per game in 2014.

Last Week for the Cardinals: North Central suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday, committing four turnovers in a 34-27 setback at UW-Stevens Point.

The Cardinals outgained the Pointers, 394-376, but threw four interceptions and failed on three fourth-down conversion attempts in the second half.

Ryan Kent gained 107 yards on just 12 carries for North Central, while Peter Sorenson caught four passes for 114 yards. Richard Zirngibl paced the Cardinals' defense with a career-high 10 tackles.

North Central Career Rankings: Sorenson currently ranks second all-time at North Central in touchdown receptions (25), fourth in receptions (120), fifth in receiving yards (1,806) and is tied with Kent for sixth in total touchdowns (25).

Kent, meanwhile, ranks sixth in all-purpose yards (2,705) and rushing yards (2,173) and seventh in rushing touchdowns (24). Tyler Dicken sits 10th in career touchdown passes (12).

John Skokna has moved into seventh place all-time in punt return yards (262) and eighth in punt return attempts (27).

CCIW Rankings: North Central leads the CCIW in rushing offense (226.7 yards per game), rushing defense (73.7 ypg), total offense (438.0 ypg) and total defense (293.7 ypg) heading into this week's game.

Dylan Warden is the CCIW's leader in passing efficiency (155.3), while Sorenson is the conference leader in receiving yards (97.7 per game).
 
Around the CCIW: All eight CCIW teams enter conference play this week. Augustana travels to Elmhurst this week, while North Park plays at Wheaton and Carthage is on the road to face Illinois Wesleyan.

CCIW Players of the Week: Carthage's Jamahl Wright, along with Millikin's Travis Goveia and Jowonis Edwards were named the CCIW Football Players of the Week on Monday.

Wright caught 10 passes for 123 yards during the Red Men's 21-14 win over Lakeland on Saturday. His longest catch went for 41 yards in the fourth quarter that set up a scoring drive that brought Carthage to within a point at 14-13.

Goveia tallied seven tackles (four solo) during the Big Blue's 30-9 win over Aurora on Saturday. He finished with three tackles for loss and one sack in addition to the blocked punt he recovered for a touchdown.

Edwards returned three kickoffs for 152 yards (50.7 average) during the Big Blue's win. His 97-yard return was Millikin's first touchdown on the new artificial turf at Frank M. Lindsay Field. It was also the first night game played at Millikin since 1928. Edwards also had seven tackles and three pass breakups on defense.