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

Complete Game Notes (PDF)

Oct. 3: North Central College Cardinals (1-2, 0-0 CCIW) at Millikin University Big Blue (1-2, 0-0 CCIW)

Kickoff: 6 p.m., Frank M. Lindsay Field
Video: portal.stretchinternet.com/millikin/
Radio: 89.1-FM WONC
Live Stats: www.sidearmstats.com/millikin/football/
Game Updates: www.twitter.com/NCC_Athletics
Series History: 36-30-1, Millikin

Setting the Scene: The first week of conference play offers a new beginning for the Cardinals, who will look to put two close losses to highly-ranked opponents behind them with an 11th straight win over Millikin.

Series History: This is the 68th football meeting between the two schools. Millikin owns a 36-30-1 edge in the all-time series, though the Cardinals have won each of the last 10 encounters.

The most recent contest occurred at North Central on Oct. 4 of last season. The Cardinals scored 37 points in the second and third periods en route to a 47-13 victory, marking their fourth straight year scoring at least 40 points against Millikin.

North Central threw for five of its six touchdowns, four of which were thrown by quarterback Tyler Dicken. Peter Sorenson, who hauled in a total of eight passes for 156 yards, made two TD grabs, while Demarco Tillman, Ryan Kuhl and Kolton Kuczynski scored as well. The Cardinals also got a 40-yard interception return touchdown by Justin Stuursma and a pair of field goals from Dom Zavaglia.

North Central's last eight wins over the Big Blue have come by at least 20 points. Millikin's longest win streak in the rivalry has been a 12-game run from 1984 to 1995.

National Rankings: North Central is ranked No. 21 this week by D3football.com and No. 24 by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA).

Scouting the Big Blue: Millikin lost for the second straight week on Saturday, dropping a 24-20 decision at Aurora.
Trailing, 17-10, in the third quarter, the Big Blue scored 10 unanswered points to pull in front before surrendering the game-winning touchdown with 2:48 to play.

Millikin has averaged 342 yards of total offense per game, 251 of which has come through the air. Freshman Nicco Stepina has emerged as the Big Blue's starting quarterback and has thrown for 595 yards and six TDs with one interception thus far. He completed 26 of 41 passes for 257 yards and two scores against Aurora.

Rion Tutt is Millikin's leading receiver with 12 catches for 278 yards and two scores, while Andre Colvin leads the running game with 126 rushing yards.

The Big Blue are operating with an exceptionally-young roster which features six freshman starters.

This Week for the Cardinals: North Central was involved in a dogfight with No. 5-ranked Wesley on Saturday, losing a 50-49 contest which was not decided until the Wolverines converted a two-point conversion attempt with 7.5 seconds left.

The Cardinals got a breakout performance from freshman quarterback Justin Hunniford, who completed 26 of 40 passes for 321 yards in his first collegiate start, throwing two touchdown passes and running for another.

Running back Austin Breunig, also making his first start, gained a career-high 97 yards and scored two TDs on 21 carries, while Alex Ulmer totaled a career-best 144 receiving yards on seven catches.

Justin Stuursma and Richard Zirngibl each finished with 11 tackles, with Zirngibl's total serving as another career high. Stuursma has owned or shared the team lead in tackles in each of the Cardinals' three games.

North Central Career Rankings:  Dylan Warden ranks fifth in North Central history in career touchdown passes (25), while kicker Dom Zavaglia ranks fifth all-time in field goals (13) and extra points (64).

Warden also ranks 11th all-time in passing yards (1,655) and 12th in completions (109),  Kuhl is 13th in receiving touchdowns (9) and Randolph sits 14th in rushing touchdowns (15) and 17th in total touchdowns (17).
 
Around the CCIW: All eight CCIW teams open conference play this week. Illinois Wesleyan travels to Carthage, while Wheaton heads to North Park and Elmhurst visits Augustana.

CCIW Players of the Week:  Elmhurst's Josh Williams and Sean Wetherell, along with the Cardinals' Dom Zavaglia, were named the CCIW Football Players of the Week on Monday.
 
Williams helped lead the Bluejays to a 31-12 victory at Simpson on Saturday. He rushed for 122 yards on 28 carries and two touchdowns in the win. Williams has rushed for over 100 yards in all three games and is averaging 183.0 yards rushing per game, the fourth-highest total in NCAA Division III.
 
Wetherell totaled seven tackles (four solo), one interception and one pass breakup in the Bluejays' win at Simpson. He scored the first points of the game on a 19-yard interception return for a touchdown and was also the team's co-leader in tackles.

Zavaglia posted his best single-game punting average and his longest single punt during the Cardinals' 50-49 loss to Wesley on Saturday. He punted seven times for 322 yards (46.0 average) with a long of 54 yards as the Cardinals allowed only 21 punt return yards on four attempts. Zavaglia was also 7-for-7 on PATs.

'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.