Nov 19, 2016
A highly-anticipated second-round matchup awaits the North Central College football team after the Cardinals dispatched Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (Indiana), 41-7, in the first round of the NCAA Division III Football Championship at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium.
The Cardinals (11-0) advance to take on longtime College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) rival Wheaton College in the second round, marking the first postseason encounter between two CCIW teams since 1989. North Central won its annual regular-season encounter with the Thunder, 35-25, on Oct. 15.
"We're thrilled with the win," said North Central head coach Jeff Thorne. "In the playoffs, every team that you face is a high-quality team. I was very proud of the way we battled. With the way the wind was blowing, the ball was going all over the place and our receivers were having a hard time tracking it. Having to play in those conditions for the first time this season is a good thing for us.
"It's going to be fun (to play Wheaton). It's going to be an enormous challenge. Anytime you face a team of that caliber and you're being asked to beat them twice in the same season to move on, it's a huge challenge, but these guys are ready for it. It's just the next step. It goes back to what we said at the beginning of the year, it's just the next game. We're going to be ready for it."
North Central jumped in front early with 17 unanswered points in the first quarter and forcing the Fightin' Engineers (8-3) to punt away their first five possessions. The Cardinals opened the scoring just over three minutes into the game, as Broc Rutter directed a six-play, 52-yard drive which finished with his 11-yard touchdown pass to Alex Ulmer. Kicker Liam Crotty connected on a season-long 33-yard field goal with 7:18 left in the opening period, and after Nick Lynch blocked a Rose-Hulman punt, the hosts took over at the Engineers' 35-yard line and later scored on Rutter's 19-yard scoring pass to Ryan Kuhl near the end of the first quarter.
"I thought we were close to blocking three or four punts," Thorne said. "We rely on our special-teams units every week to make plays and give us good field position as well as limit our opponents' field position. I thought early in the game our kickoff coverage was great as well."
The Cardinals ended a Rose-Hulman drive early in the second period when Tommy Sora forced a fumble which was recovered by DJ Warkenthien, but the Engineers forced a fumble of their own two plays later to get the ball back. The ensuing drive led to Rose-Hulman's lone score, as running back Stanley Hogan broke free for a 37-yard touchdown run with 9:57 left in the first half.
Crotty extended North Central's lead to 20-7 midway through the third period, converting a 21-yard field goal. The Cardinals stopped a fourth-down conversion attempt near midfield as Brandon Kibby made a tackle short of the first-down marker, and Rutter launched a 54-yard touchdown pass to Ulmer on the next play to push the lead to 27-7. After another failed fourth-down conversion for the Engineers at the North Central 36, Rutter went to work again, this time targeting Kuhl. The junior wideout drew a pass interference penalty for a first down at the Cardinals' 44-yard line, then made a leaping 32-yard grab on the next play before coming down with a 24-yard touchdown catch on the next to give the hosts a 34-7 edge with 37 seconds to go in the third quarter.
"Their cornerback had been holding me the whole game, so we ran a comeback route and it finally got called (for a penalty)," Kuhl said. "I knew Broc was going to look to my side because after running so many comebacks, it should be open down the field. He threw it up for me and I just went up and grabbed it. They were still talking on their sideline, so I just had to do it again."
The final scoring drive of the afternoon was set up by Pat Cravens' 35-yard punt return to the Rose-Hulman 41. An eight-play drive which featured seven running plays ended with Austin Breunig's nine-yard scoring run with 9:31 to play.
The Cardinals outgained Rose-Hulman, 429-210, owning a nearly 13-minute advantage in time of possession. Rutter finished the day 21 of 33 passing for 299 yards, finding Kuhl seven times for 110 yards and Ulmer seven times for 107, while Breunig gained 80 yards on 20 rushing attempts.
The North Central defense, which forced 10 punts and stopped four fourth-down conversions, was led by Justin Stuursma's 10 tackles, while Sora contributed nine and Kevin Nalefski finished with seven.
Saturday's second-round game against Wheaton will kick off at noon. The site of the game will be announced officially by the NCAA on Sunday.