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Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
(article posted by Jeremy Rushing, Student Sports Information Assistant)

Nov. 12, 2013 - Football has always been called a "game of inches", but at North Central, it's a game of seconds.  This season, offensive coordinator Jeff Thorne and the coaching staff added a new dimension to the offensive gameplan: speed.

In the Cardinals season-opening 41-24 victory over the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse Sept. 14, the offense ran a total of 90 plays, snapping the ball once every 24 seconds.  That in itself is impressive enough, but when added to the school-record 674 yards of total offense the team racked up, the belief creeps in there might be something to this whole speed thing.

"I was hopeful that the offense would click right away," Thorne says.  "But I never in my wildest dreams thought we would roll up the kind of numbers we did right off the bat."

The Cardinal offense has run more plays in a shorter amount of time than any other team in school history, and it's paying dividends.  Along with a 9-0 record and an eighth straight CCIW Championship, North Central leads the conference in total offense (511.2 yards per game), scoring offense (43.3 points per game), passing offense (272.9 ypg), passing efficiency (185.0), first downs (237), red-zone offense (89.4 %) and third-down efficiency (51.8%) this season. 

The success of the offense has a lot to do with the play of senior quarterback Spencer Stanek, who leads the CCIW in passing yards (2,394), total offensive yards (2,720), passing efficiency (192.9), passing touchdowns (28) and completion percentage (74.9%).  Nationally, Stanek ranks second in completion percentage and passing efficiency and fifth in passing touchdowns.

"Spencer's having a fantastic season," says head coach John Thorne.  "He and Coach Jeff [Thorne] are really on the same page right now."

After missing the entire 2011 season, Stanek came back last year to lead the CCIW in passing yards and total offense.  After finishing the season with a five-interception performance in a second-round playoff loss to Linfield College (Ore.), Stanek knew he still had a little maturing to do before stepping onto the field for his final season.

"He worked his tail off and was here every day all summer," proclaims Jeff Thorne.

Quarterbacks are the centerpiece of any offense.  But the numbers Stanek has put up this season more than justify the spotlight under which he has played.  For all of the yards and touchdowns he has piled up, Stanek has thrown just one interception in 247 passing attempts in 2013.

Stanek's success has a lot to do with what is behind him this season.  Last season, with two true freshmen behind him on the depth chart, Stanek was very limited in what he could do because he had to stay healthy. 

With proven junior Tyler Dicken, who started eight games in 2011, and promising freshman Dylan Warden sitting behind Stanek this year, there's a lot more freedom for Stanek to move around and make plays with his feet.

"While you're not seeing Tyler or Dylan on the field, their value to our team is enormous because it allows Spencer to show off his speed and quickness," explains Jeff Thorne.  "Our ability to use him in the run game has helped us a ton."    
Stanek also has plenty of weapons to throw to this year.  The two tight ends, A.J. Thomas and Ryan Szudarski, have established themselves as lethal red zone threats.  Added to a plethora of receivers that include the CCIW's leader in receptions (55), receiving yards (767) and touchdown receptions (11), Peter Sorenson, along with seniors Chad O'Kane and Ryne Rezac and sophomore Demarco Tillman, the Cardinals' passing game has functioned like a well-oiled machine.

"We have veteran personnel," says Stanek.  "It helps out a lot when they know the formations and the routes and don't really have to think about it." 

Since taking over as offensive coordinator 12 years ago, Jeff Thorne has never been a "my way or the  highway" coach, and he learned his adaptable coaching style from his father during his days at Wheaton-Warrenville South High School, where the elder Thorne won four state championships in 22 years as the Tigers' head coach.

"When my dad coached in high school he didn't have any control over what athletes he got, so he always had to adapt to the athletes he had in that particular year," explains Jeff Thorne.  "Something he ingrained in me a long time ago is never to ask an athlete to do something he can't do."

Such an approach has allowed him to construct championship-caliber offenses out of personnel with varying attributes from year to year. The passing game has certainly thrived under Jeff Thorne's tutelage, posting the top 10 single-season passing yardage and passing touchdown totals in the program's history, setting the current school record for passing yards (3,218) in 2005 and establishing a record with 31 touchdown passes in 2006 and 2009.

In 2010 and 2011, however, he shifted the focus to the running game in an effort to play to those teams' strengths. The 2010 team established a North Central record with 5,457 yards of total offense and the 2011 squad set records for rushing yards (3,383) and rushing touchdowns (40) while leading the nation in yards per rushing attempt (6.8). The top 10 single-season yardage and point totals in North Central's history have come in Jeff Thorne's tenure at the controls, and the Cardinals are in position to possibly surpass the existing records in both categories this season.

While Jeff Thorne is quick to credit his father as the one who's responsible for keeping this program at such a high level for such a long time, John, the winningest coach in North Central history, points the finger directly back and places his son responsible for the success this team, and specifically this offense, has seen over the past decade.

"Any changes that have been made in the program over the past 12 years, 99% of those have come through Jeff," says John Thorne.  "He's the one that has an awful lot of magic."

The Cardinals close out the 2013 regular season on Saturday, hosting Augustana College as they look to close out North Central's third unbeaten regular season since 2008. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m., with Senior Day festivities to take place prior to game time. Links to live video, audio and in-game statistics can be accessed by clicking HERE.