Oct 04, 2014
Establishing supremacy in the passing game and posting a decisive win in the turnover battle, the North Central College football team opened College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) with a flourish Saturday, blowing past the Millikin University Big Blue, 47-13, at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium.
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THe 13th-ranked Cardinals (3-1, 1-0 CCIW) scored five times through the air and forced four turnovers while committing none. The victory was North Central's 10th straight against the Big Blue, which did not get into the end zone until the game's final minutes.
"I thought the whole team played really well, especially in the second half," said North Central head coach John Thorne. "We're excited and looking forward to what's coming next. The guys are really good about focusing on one week at a time, so it wasn't too hard to bounce back from a loss last week."
Tyler Dicken, making his first start at quarterback for North Central since a second-round playoff game at Wabash College in 2011, got the hosts on the board on their first offensive possession, leading a 13-play, 73-yard drive. On third down-and-goal from the Millikin six-yard line, Dicken rolled to his left and lofted a pass to the end zone which glanced off the tips of a pair of defenders' fingers before the Cardinals' Peter Sorenson snatched the ball out of the air for the touchdown.
Millikin (2-2, 0-1 CCIW) got on the board late in the opening period on a 36-yard field goal by Chayce Volpert, though the Cardinals responded on the next drive by getting a 20-yard run from Ryan Kent and an 18-yard scamper by Zack Pattat before Dicken found Demarco Tillman in the end zone for a six-yard score with 14:03 on the clock in the second quarter. The Big Blue's next drive came to an end when Nick Samuelson forced a fumble and Jordan Dean recovered at the Millikin 47.
The visitors looked to negate the miscue as North Central brought on its punting unit facing fourth down-and-10, but punter Dom Zavaglia instead lofted a pass to Kevin Schroeder, who made the catch for a 25-yard gain to keep the Cardinals' offense on the field. Three plays later, Dicken found Ryan Kuhlfor a 15-yard TD pass and a 20-3 advantage. Volpert later knocked in a 43-yard field goal which Zavaglia answered with a 37-yard kick, and the hosts went into halftime with a 23-6 advantage.
After North Central's first possession of the second half resulted in a punt, the Cardinals brought in Dylan Warden as a substitute at quarterback, and the sophomore got his team in the end zone four plays later by firing a deep pass to Sorenson, who took it to the house for an 80-yard touchdown reception. Warden started the next drive as well but left after taking a hit on a pass play. DIcken returned to the game and hit Sorenson for a 35-yard gain before lofting a two-yard scoring pass to tight end Kolton Kuczynski.
On the first play of Millikin's ensuing drive, the Cardinals' defense reached the end zone for the third time this season. Linebacker Justin Stuursma stepped in front of a pass from Big Blue quarterback Nick Pippin and ran it back for a 40-yard touchdown, extending the lead to 44-6 with 5:38 left in the third period.
"We did a great job of forcing turnovers tonight," Stuursma said. "We still need to work on some things, but we were flying to the ball and we were hitting hard."
Zavaglia tacked on a 31-yard field goal in the fourth quarter before Millikin got its lone touchdown on Pippin's three-yard TD pass to tight end Tucker Schwengel with 4:37 to play.
The Cardinals ended the night with a 473-324 advantage in total yards. Dicken completed 14 of 26 passes for 147 yards, while Warden connected on all four of his pass attempts for 88 yards. Sorenson made eight catches for a career-high 156 yards, while Kent led the ground game with 99 yards on 19 rushing attempts. Michael Monterrubio led North Central's defense with nine tackles, while P.J. Crotty also intercepted a pass and Stuursma recovered a fumble.
Pippin was 23 of 45 passing for 179 yards, throwing five times to Isaiah Townsend for 62 yards. Justin Brooks led Millikin's running game with 50 yards on eight carries, and Mykal Neal and Andy Roth each made nine tackles on defense.
North Central travels to face North Park University next Saturday. The Vikings are 0-4 overall and 0-1 in the CCIW following a 48-21 loss to Wheaton College. Kickoff at the Holmgren Athletic Complex in Chicago is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.