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| North Central had more points at halftime than Susquehanna had yards. Photo by Doug Sasse, d3photography.com |
By Patrick Coleman
D3sports.com
NAPERVILLE, Illinois — Joe Sacco on the wheel route. Sean Allen throwing out spin moves. Jacob Paradee, Myles Walton and Thomas Skokna running free in the secondary. Luke Lehnen throwing four touchdown passes and running for another score as the Cardinals rolled up 440 yards of total offense. Brady Garrigan with a sack, an interception and a forced fumble. Jahmar Daniel breaking up two passes. Jacob Vincent and Martin Egbo with a sack apiece.
Semifinal smotheringsThe North Central-Susquehanna game was the most dominant performance in a Division III football national semifinal in two decades. |
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| Margin | Score | Year |
| 66 | North Central 66, Susquehanna 0 | 2024 |
| 66 | Mount Union 66, Bridgewater 0 | 2003 |
| 61 | St. John's 61, Buena Vista 0 | 1976 |
| 52 | UW-Whitewater 58, Wesley 6 | 2005 |
| 52 | Linfield 52, Rowan 0 | 2004 |
And all that was just in the first half, as No. 1-ranked North Central roared out to a 49-0 lead before finishing with a 66-0 win against No. 6 Susquehanna in the Division III football national semifinals at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium. It tied for the largest margin of victory in the history of the Division III football semifinals.
The Cardinals booked their fifth consecutive trip to the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, the Division III football national championship game. Susquehanna was playing in the semifinals for the first time since 1991. North Central will face Mount Union, in a rematch of Stagg Bowl XLIX, after the Purple Raiders defeated Johns Hopkins, 45-37.
When the dust settled, seven players had scored touchdowns. Susquehanna didn’t get into North Central territory until the third quarter. River Hawks quarterback Josh Ehrlich, who was knocked out of the game with an injury shortly before halftime, finished just 3-for-11 passing for 13 yards. Rahshan La Mons, the freshman running back who is a likely D3football.com All-America selection, had 14 carries for 72 yards.
In short, it was a dominant day for the Cardinals. North Central had five running backs get carries, and all gave credible performances — even Chuck Coleman, who had two carries before being shaken up and removed. Lehnen finished the day 16-for-17 passing for 257 yards and the four TDs before giving way to Calvin Lavery in the third quarter.
The Cardinals finished with 638 yards of total offense, with the fourth running back into the game, Jordan Williams, leading the way with 16 carries for 106 yards and a touchdown. North Central allowed just 135 yards of total offense.