Nov 05, 2016
A series of game-breaking plays, including a record-setting effort on the defensive side of the ball, propelled the North Central College football team back into the postseason on Saturday, as the Cardinals clinched at least a share of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Championship and the CCIW's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship with a 34-21 victory over Carthage College at Art Keller Field.
The Cardinals (9-0, 7-0 CCIW) completed a perfect 5-0 sweep of its regular-season road games and return to the playoffs for the first time since a run to the national semifinals in 2013, recording their longest running and passing plays of the year and setting a single-game school record with 11 quarterback sacks. The previous record of eight had been set on four separate occasions, most recently against the University of Dubuque on Nov. 19, 2011.
For the second time this season, North Central had to dig itself out of an early 7-0 hole, as the Red Men (6-3, 4-3 CCIW) forced a punt on the game's opening possession and drove 48 yards in five plays for the game's opening score. After getting a 45-yard pass completion from Kyle Friberg to James Cobbs, Carthage got on the board first with Friberg's three-yard touchdown pass to tight end Javier Rhoades less than four minutes after play began. The Cardinals responded promptly on the next drive, scoring on Broc Rutter's 15-yard pass to Dylan Warden, which came after a 35-yard completion to Alex Ulmeron the previous play.
North Central took the lead for the first time on its next drive, as Will Konneck took a handoff at the Red Men's 38-yard line and ran through a pair of would-be tacklers on the way to the end zone, scoring his fourth rushing touchdown of the year and completing the Cardinals' longest running play of the season. The visitors extended their lead early in the second quarter after Jeremy Niklos snagged his fifth interception of the year at the Carthage 26. Just two plays later, Rutter connected with Ryan Kuhl on a post route for a 25-yard scoring pass to give the Cardinals a 21-7 lead with 8:21 to go in the second period.
After forcing a punt on the next drive, North Central needed just one play to get in the end zone again. Rutter delivered a pass to Austin Breunig coming out of the backfield, and Breunig raced to the end zone for an 83-yard score, the Cardinals' longest play from scrimmage this season and the fourth-longest pass play in school history. The guests carried a 28-7 advantage into halftime.
Carthage took the opening drive of the second half 75 yards to the end zone to close the gap to 28-14, but came up empty on its next two drives. Taking over after a Red Men punt at its own 30, North Central got a 59-yard completion from Rutter to Alex Ulmer on the first play of a new possession, and two plays later, Rutter hit Kuhl for a 19-yard TD pass to extend the lead to 34-14 with 1:00 on the third-quarter clock.
Rutter threw for 337 of the Cardinals' 442 yards of total offense, completing 16 of 28 passes. His four passing touchdowns bring him to 30 on the season, tying him with Kam Kniss '07 for the second-most all-time. Kuhl made seven catches for 79 yards, while Ulmer gained 147 yards on five receptions and Breunig led North Central's ground game with 71 yards on 14 carries.
Justin Stuursma was the Cardinals' top tackler with 11 total stops, while Josh Leonhard tied a North Central single-game record with four quarterback sacks and totaled 6.5 tackles for loss to finish just a half-tackle short of tying that record as well. Tommy Sora and Billy Douds each finished with two sacks, and Douds and Niklos each forced a fumble. Pat Cravens turned in a 30-yard interception return as well.
Friberg completed 18 of 30 passes for 237 yards for Carthage, as Cobbs caught six passes for 73 yards and Pete Laughlin made three tackles for loss.
North Central will look to claim outright possession of the CCIW title on Saturday, hosting Elmhurst College (5-4, 4-3 CCIW) on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium.