Oct 22, 2016
The North Central College football team announced its presence at Lindberg Stadium with authority on Saturday, overwhelming Augustana College with a 35-point first half and yielding to its backups for much of the second half in a 42-21 victory over the Vikings.
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Ranked fifth and sixth in two national polls this week, the Cardinals (7-0, 5-0 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) remained atop the CCIW standings in recording their 10th straight regular-season win and their 11th consecutive victory over Augustana.
North Central scored on five of its eight first-half possessions and outgained the Vikings, 261-94, in the first 30 minutes as it put the game out of reach in short order. The Cardinals drove 65 yards in eight plays on the first possession of the afternoon, opening the scoring when Broc Rutter found Ryan Kuhlfor a completion over the middle of the field and Kuhl outraced the defense for a 32-yard touchdown. After forcing their second punt of the quarter, the visitors got a 28-yard return from Pat Cravens to set the offense up with position near midfield. Rutter hit Dylan Warden for a 16-yard pass and Austin Breunig took care of the rest, gaining 35 yards on three rushing attempts including a 14-yard scoring run to double the lead to 14-0 with 3:54 to go in the opening quarter.
Breunig played a prominent role in the Cardinals' next scoring drive, running seven times in 11 plays before scoring on a one-yard plunge with 8:46 left in the first half. Augustana's first trip into North Central territory ended with a turnover on downs after Tyrone Suggs and Billy Douds derailed the Vikings' progress with a pair of quarterback sacks. Just three plays later, the Cardinals were in the end zone once again, as Will Konneck hauled in a screen pass from Rutter and darted down the sideline for a 64-yard touchdown. It is North Central's longest passing play of the season thus far and the first score of Konneck's collegiate career.
Linebacker Justin Stuursma gave the Cardinals one final scoring opportunity before halftime, returning an interception 19 yards to the Augustana 23-yard line. With 31 seconds on the clock, Rutter rolled to his left on a play-action pass and threw to a wide-open Nolan Brannick in the end zone.
Many of the Cardinals' starters sat out a significant portion of the second half, though North Central did tack on one final score late in the third period as backup quarterback Justin Hunniford hit Warden for an eight-yard TD pass.
In limited action, Rutter finished the day 11 of 15 passing for 183 yards, while Breunig finished with 92 rushing yards on 15 carries and Konneck gained 52 yards on nine attempts. Alex Ulmer made five catches for 43 yards while Kuhl gained 64 yards on four receptions. The Cardinals' defense, which totaled 10 tackles for loss and five quarterback sacks, saw Cravens finish with eight tackles and DJ Warkenthien make seven tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.
Augustana starting quarterback Luke Bleyer completed 22 of 37 passes for 203 yards. Danny Lattner caught a game-high nine passes for 95 yards and linebacker Jack Asquini led all tacklers with 12 total stops.
The Cardinals host Carroll University next Saturday during North Central's Homecoming weekend. Kickoff at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. The game will be North Central's first meeting against Carroll since 1995. The Pioneers (0-7, 0-5 CCIW) are coming off a 22-10 loss to Millikin University.