DJ Warkenthien - NCC Football at UW-Oshkosh
©Steve Woltmann

Football

Cardinals 7th and 20th, Warkenthien All-America

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

June 13, 2018 - The North Central College football team is represented once again in the NCAA Division III Top 25 rankings in two national preseason publications, as the Cardinals are ranked seventh in the Street & Smith's College Football Yearbook and 20th in the Lindy's Sports Annuals College Football Preview. Both publications are currently available on newsstands across the nation.

North Central senior linebacker DJ Warkenthien has also been singled out as one of Division III's top players to watch this season, as he is one of 24 players nationwide to appear on the Street & Smith's Preseason All-America Team.

The University of Mount Union (Ohio), the defending Division III national champion, is ranked first by Street & Smith's, followed by the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas), the University of Saint Thomas (Minnesota) and Linfield College (Oregon). Mount Unioin also tops the Lindy's rankings, with the top five rounded out by Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Mary Hardin-Baylor, the College at Brockport (New York) and Saint John's University (Minnesota).

Warkenthien has played in each of the Cardinals' 34 games the past three seasons, starting all 12 in 2017. He led North Central with 90 total tackles as a junior, including 5.5 quarterback sacks, and ranked second in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) and 34th nationally with 20 tackles for loss. A Second Team All-CCIW honoree at the close of last season, he enters the 2018 campaign fifth in the Cardinals' history in tackles for loss (40) and 10th in quarterback sacks (14.5).

North Central is one of two CCIW teams ranked in both polls, as Wheaton College is picked 13th by Street & Smith's and 16th by Lindy's. The Cardinals host Wheaton on Sept. 29 in the annual Battle for the Little Brass Bell.

The Cardinals finished the 2017 season with an overall record of 10-2, claiming the program's 13th CCIW championship and advancing to the second round of the Division III Football Championship for the second straight year. North Central opens the 2018 schedule on Sept. 8 at Lake Forest College.

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Players Mentioned

DJ Warkenthien

#6 DJ Warkenthien

LB
5' 9"
Senior

Players Mentioned

DJ Warkenthien

#6 DJ Warkenthien

5' 9"
Senior
LB