Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302

Oct. 29, 2016 - Treating a Homecoming crowd to a flurry of first-half fireworks, the North Central College football team raced to a huge early lead and cruised to a 62-7 victory over Carroll University at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium on Saturday.

The Cardinals (8-0, 6-0 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) were able to put the game out of reach early and give their starters a rest in the second half for the second straight week, owning a 56-0 halftime advantage and scoring on eight of nine possessions before the break. North Central rushed for a season-high 250 yards and allowed the Pioneers to gain just 141 total yards, the lowest by a Cardinal opponent this season.

Broc Rutter got the offense going by throwing for touchdown passes on the hosts' first three drives, an eight-yarder to Nolan Brannick, a 21-yarder to Alex Ulmer and a 39-yarder to Justin Shaw. Will Konneck added a two-yard touchdown run before the first period ended, sending North Central into the second quarter up, 29-0. 

Rutter delivered his fourth scoring pass with 9:01 left in the second quarter, connecting with Ryan Kuhl from five yards out. The Cardinals' Matt Sutherland recovered a botched kickoff return on the next play to establish possession just 24 yards from the goal line, and Konneck ran to the end zone two plays later for his second TD of the afternoon. Konneck ran for a third touchdown, this time from three yards away, with 4:00 left in the first half. 

Cardinal cornerback Brandon Kibby intercepted a pass at the Carroll 14-yard line on the Pioneers' next drive, setting the stage for North Central to tack on one final second-quarter score on Oshayne Brown's two-yard run with 1:25 on the clock.

The Pioneers (0-8, 0-6 CCIW) put together their lone scoring drive early in the third period, as a nine-play, 65-yard possession concluded with Kyle Burlingame's two-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Ehrke. Brown ran for the game's final score, an 11-yarder, with 7:26 remaining in the game.

Rutter finished the game 17 of 20 passing for 180 yards, matching the fifth-best single-game passing accuracy in the Cardinals' history. Ulmer caught a game-high six passes for 87 yards, while Konneck paced the rushing effort with 82 yards on 11 carries. A balanced defensive effort, which included nine tackles for loss and three quarterback sacks, was led by Diondrey Hood, Jason Ochoa, Nick Bernabei, Zach Greenberg and Nick Lynch with five tackles each. 

The Cardinals play their final road game of the regular season on Saturday, traveling to face Carthage College (6-2, 4-2 CCIW) in a 1:00 p.m. kickoff at Art Keller Field. The Red Men are coming off a 50-28 victory over Millikin University.