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

Oct. 19, 2024 - Treating a large and vocal Homecoming crowd to its most thoroughly dominant effort of the 2024 season thus far, the North Central College football team made quick work of the North Park University Vikings Saturday. The Cardinals won in a 69-0 rout, shutting North Park out for the third straight season and winning for the 27th straight time against the Vikings.

The North Central defense yielded only 84 total yards in the game, the third-fewest allowed in the program's history, while Cardinal quarterback Luke Lehnen made college football history as the first player in any division to throw a touchdown pass in 50 consecutive games.

Sean Ryniec opened Saturday's scoring with a 40-yard field goal midway through the first quarter. Charles Coleman capped a nine-play, 64-yard drive with the game's first touchdown on a nine-yard run with 2:29 left in the opening period as the hosts forced North Park to punt on each of its three first-quarter possessions. On the first play of the second quarter, Lehnen connected with Thomas Skokna on a 27-yard strike for the first of three touchdown passes on the evening. The Cardinals extended the lead to 24-0 just 91 seconds later, as Will Vernon intercepted a pass from Viking quarterback Matt Eck and returned it 48 yards to the end zone. North Central has returned an interception for a touchdown in three of its last four games.

A 27-yard punt return by Jacob Paradee set the hosts up with a short field at the North Park 29-yard line to start its next drive. Lehnen completed a 17-yard pass to Jack Rummell before handing off to Sean Allen, who darted through the middle of the Viking defense for an 11-yard scoring run. North Central's Rahmareon Roby broke up a pass on fourth down near midfield on the visitors' next possession, and Lehnen completed three passes in a five-play, 49-yard drive including a five-yard touchdown pass to tight end Bobby Behmer with 4:01 left in the first half. A botched North Park punt attempt gave the Cardinals prime field position again at the Vikings' 16-yard line late in the period, and Allen scored again, this time from three yards out, to send the hosts into the break with a 45-0 advantage.

The Cardinal defense stood tall on fourth down again on North Park's opening drive of the second half, as Myron Lewis brought down Viking running back Quadrell Hill for a one-yard loss on fourth down-and-one. Three plays later, Lehnen delivered his third and final touchdown pass of the night on a shovel pass to Coleman, who scored from 39 yards out with 8:58 to play in the third quarter. Donovan McNeal opened North Central's next possession with a 64-yard run, the team's longest play from scrimmage thus far this season, before Ryniec came on to kick a 22-yard field goal. Ryniec finished the game with 15 points scored by kicking, matching the third-highest single-game total in the Cardinals' history.

Jordan Williams brought a 14-play, 56-yard drive to a close with a one-yard touchdown run with 10 minutes to play in the contest before backup quarterback Calvin Lavery scampered 15 yards for the game's final score with 2:18 on the clock. After punting on its first drive of the game, North Central scored on its next 10 possessions and finished the night with 471 total yards, 284 of which came from its running game. Lehnen completed 11 of 17 passes for 182 yards, hitting Paradee three times for 54 yards, while McNeal paced the rushing attack for the second straight week with 77 yards on just four carries.

BJ Adamchik led the Cardinals with six tackles, including three of North Central's season-high 12 tackles for loss. Jahmar Daniel made five stops, while Jacob Vincent totaled four. North Park came into Saturday's game ranked fifth among all NCAA Division III teams in passing offense (321.4 yards per game) but was limited to 78 yards through the air on 18 completions.

The Cardinals travel to face Augustana College Saturday at Lindberg Stadium in Rock Island, with kickoff set for 1:00 p.m. The Vikings are 3-3 overall (2-1 CCIW) following a 30-20 loss to Carroll University. Click HERE for the full 2024 schedule and live coverage options.

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