Terrence Hill, left, and Gagliardi Trophy semifinalist Ethan Greenfield, second from right, have been fixtures in the North Central backfield since 2018. Photos by Larry Radloff, d3photography.com

By Joe Sager
D3sports.com

A backfield brotherhood is coming to an end at North Central.

Ethan Greenfield and Terrence Hill hope to extend it for one more week, though.

The two Cardinals running backs want to get their team back to the national championship game when they welcome Mary Hardin-Baylor on Saturday in a semifinal showdown.

“We talk about all the time how much of a blessing it is and the amount of people who wish they were in our shoes,” Greenfield said. “I am grateful to have another week to wake up every day and go spend four or five hours with the people I love the most. These extra weeks are really a blessing and that’s what I keep fighting for.”

Greenfield and Hill have been fixtures in North Central’s backfield since their freshman years in 2018.

“He and I came in together. We studied the playbook together and got really close really early,” Greenfield said. “He is one of my best friends and I really got to know him and his life story. He is very close with my family, too. I grew up with four sisters, so he is a definitely a brother to me.”

“It’s been awesome,” Hill added. “Going from living in the dorms as freshmen and being 18 to, now, we’re both 23 years old and grown a considerable amount. If he is going through something, I am there for him and he is there for me. It’s a five-year relationship, but it feels like so much longer.”

While their friendship grew over the past five years, so have the players. Greenfield is listed at 5-9, 219, while Hill is at 5-9, 205. They got a good look at their transformation when the coaching staff fired up the time machine and broke out the game video of their debut in 2018 against Lake Forest – a team the Cardinals played in the first round of the playoffs this year.

 “They look so little, it’s funny,” North Central coach Brad Spencer said with a laugh. “You can tell they’ve taken advantage of the weight room.”

The players enjoyed that blast from the past.

“Both of us are 30 or 40 pounds heavier now,” Greenfield said. “It was very fun to relive that. That came at a good time for us to maybe take a step back and appreciate it. It was a cool moment we got to have.”

The pair cemented its spot in the backfield rotation that season. In 2019 and 2021, Greenfield led Division III in rushing, including a 2,169-yard season in 2019 as the Cardinals won the national championship.

“It’s really a luxury having two backs like them. Terrence could go anywhere else in the country and be an All-American, but he chose to be here,” Spencer said. “They are both great students. Both have multiple people trying to offer them jobs in January when they graduate. They live like how what we want our Cardinal football players to be.”

Once again, Greenfield, a Gagliardi Trophy semifinalist, leads the nation in rushing with 1,751 yards. Hill has rushed for 655 yards. Gagliardi Trophy finalists will be announced on Wednesday, Dec. 7, in a live stream starting at 4 p.m. ET.

“When we came in as freshmen, we had an older running back that really established that, if one of us succeeds, all of us succeed,” Hill said. “We’re just trying to be the best we can be. That’s the culture that was instilled in us. We’ve just been carrying it on.”

That’s been evident as the Cardinals’ Joe Sacco (628 yards), Jordan Chisum (331) and Darius Byrd (267) help in the backfield, too, throughout the season.

“If you look down our entire roster, the running back room is pretty deep. All those guys can do something as well,” Hill said. “We like to say we’re the best running back room in the nation. We’re just pushing and we compete with each other, but it’s healthy competition.”

“Our running back room is very talented and unselfish,” Spencer agreed. “It’s typical for us to have three or four backs get touches throughout a game. Everyone accepts their role and piece of the pie. That says a lot for Ethan, too, a returning All-American and Gagliardi semifinalist. We’ll take him off the field and do different things.

“They are both a little bit different, so it gives defenses two different looks. They are both big, powerful strong backs. They are both good out of the backfield as running backs. They both can block out of the backfield,” he continued. “Terrence has always been a really nice complement. He brings a little more speed and slicing to our run game. Ethan is a little bit more of a bull in a china shop. However, they are not so different that you scheme different things. No matter who is in, we are still calling the same plays.

“They are just smart football players. In 2019 and 2021, we prepared for and played in 15 games. So, really it’s like them being in their sixth year. They’ve played a whole extra season, compared to others.”

Though Greenfield receives a majority of the carries (224 to 84), he knows Hill will come in and perform at a high level, too.

“We have a very unique relationship. We work together on each other’s crafts,” Greenfield said. “Every play, we diagnose little things that could have been done. It’s nice having an extra pair of eyes. When I come off field, he’s the first person saying things to me and vice versa. I know, for a fact, he has made me much better these last five years.

“We love that we’re able to keep each other fresh. If I need to come out, he comes in and I think that’s demoralizing to a defense. It’s something a lot of teams don’t have,” he continued. “We are both here for a reason and stayed here for five years.”

There was no doubt both players would return for their final year of eligibility.

“I knew, even last year, I was most likely going to come back,” Hill said. “First, I love the team and the guys around me and I love the sport. Just being able to be here is great. It’s truly a brotherhood.”

“I’d be pretty upset if he didn’t come back,” Greenfield added. “In 2019, he was hurt for most of the regular season. It sucked not having him around all the time. Come the second round of the playoffs, he could have taken a medical redshirt, but he decided to play in the playoffs and that was huge. I would have been pretty sad if he didn’t come back this year.”

The two just hope to extend their seasons and return to the Stagg Bowl again. North Central won the championship in 2019, but the Cardinals fell to Mary Hardin-Baylor, 57-24, in last year’s title game.

“We’re excited for the challenge. They are a great team,” Greenfield said. “They have a lot of the same guys they had last year and so do we. We’re excited to get another opportunity. Everyone is really excited to get going.”