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

Sept. 16, 2017 - Timely playmaking across all three phases of the game helped the North Central College football team overcome a hearty opponent Saturday evening, as the Cardinals turned up the heat in the second half and emerged with a 26-13 victory over College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) rival Illinois Wesleyan University at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium.

The fifth-ranked Cardinals (2-0, 1-0 CCIW) went into halftime tied with the 16th-ranked Titans, 13-13, before taking the lead for good midway through the third period and allowing the visitors to travel just 20 yards total on their final five possessions.

"Our defense was fantastic in the second half," said North Central head coach Jeff Thorne. "They really did a great job. (IWU) is a really good football team, and there's no question they're one of the top teams in the conference this year, so we're very happy to come out with a win."

North Central opened the scoring on its second drive of the contest, traveling 65 yards in nine plays and reaching the end zone on Broc Rutter's 13-yard pass to Andrew Kamienski. The Cardinals' Nick Bernabei recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, giving the hosts possession just seven yards from the goal line, but the IWU defense stood tall and North Central called on kicker Liam Crotty, who connected on a 22-yard field goal to increase the lead to 10-0.

The Titans (2-1, 0-1 CCIW) got on the board on the next possession, converting a pair of third downs before extending the drive with a 24-yard completion from quarterback Brandon Bauer to tight end Andrew Apel on fourth down-and-23 at the North Central 30-yard line. Bauer ran for a six-yard touchdown on the next play, though the Cardinals' Billy Douds blocked the extra-point attempt to leave the score at 10-6 near the end of the first period.

Crotty capped off a 12-play, 66-yard drive with a 26-yard field goal early in the second quarter to push the Cardinals' lead to 13-6, but IWU responded once again as a 46-yard screen pass from Bauer to Matese Scott got the Titans to the North Central one-yard line. Two plays later, Bauer completed a four-yard TD pass to Apel, tying the score at 13-13 with 7:46 left in the first half. IWU's drive for a go-ahead score just before halftime was thwarted by Tyler Oakley, who intercepted a pass deep in Cardinal territory with 1:22 on the clock.

The Titans had the ball first to start the second half, but once again, the North Central defense put an early end to a promising drive as Tommy Sora picked off a pass and returned it 31 yards to midfield. Rutter's 24-yard pass to Kamienski on third-and-nine got the Cardinals in striking distance, and Kamienski hauled in his second TD pass of the night two plays later, this time from 18 yards out, to put the hosts back in front at 20-13.

Crotty was called upon twice more in the fourth quarter to help put the game on ice, and the senior converted field goals of 33 and 39 yards on consecutive drives. With four successful field-goal attempts, Crotty tied the North Central single-game record set by Nick Dace against Augustana College in 2013 and tied by Dom Zavaglia against Carthage College in 2014.

"Our special-teams play was a complete turnaround from two weeks ago," Thorne said. "Two weeks ago, that phase of the game nearly cost us a game, but tonight, they completely reversed that. I'm thrilled for them, they grew up a lot in two weeks and I'm really, really proud of them."

The victory is the eighth straight for the Cardinals against IWU. The teams have both been nationally-ranked in five of the past seven encounters. North Central outgained the Titans, 346-244, and the Cardinals' 120 rushing yards were more than double the amount IWU had allowed in its first two games combined. Rutter completed 24 of 37 passes for 226 yards, finding Kamienski seven times for a team-best 84 receiving yards. Austin Breunig ran 19 times for a team-high 69 yards while also catching five passes for 36 yards. Sora paced the Cardinals' defense with nine total tackles, while Josh Leonhard made three tackles for loss.

Bauer completed 12 of 27 passes for 178 yards for the Titans, hitting Apel five times for 68 yards. Morgan Alexander led IWU's ground game with 64 yards on 19 carries, and linebacker Jordan Hassan recorded a game-high 15 tackles.

The Cardinals travel to face Millikin University (2-0, 0-0 CCIW) on Saturday. Kickoff at Frank M. Lindsay Field is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.