Ascending to the starting quarterback role for the North Central College football team required persistence and self-confidence from Aaron Fanthorpe ‘10, who used the same qualities to lead the Cardinals to its first repeat College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) championship in 60 years.
Following the 2006 campaign where he played sparingly while developing within the program’s strength and conditioning curriculum, Fanthorpe was approached by the coaching staff to gauge his opinion on a potential shift to the defensive side of the ball.
“I played defense growing up, and didn’t mind taking a hit, and I knew what the safety position did from studying it as quarterback,” Fanthorpe said. “Coach Jeff (Thorne) asked me if I wanted to try playing safety, and I told him, ‘No, I want to play quarterback.’”
Fanthorpe earned the starting spot for good in the fifth game of the season, throwing for 267 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 60 yards in a 28-24 loss to Wheaton College, and went on to lead the CCIW in total offense (238.7 yards per game) and passing efficiency (140.6) before being named the CCIW’s Art Keller Offensive Player of the Year. The Cardinals went 9-3 overall, including a second straight CCIW title and a thrilling 44-42 first-round postseason victory at Franklin College (Indiana). Fanthorpe threw the game-winning touchdown to Steve Hlavac ‘10 on the game’s final play.
“I had no thoughts about (winning Player of the Year), so I was surprised,” Fanthorpe said. “Our goal was to win our second conference title. There were a lot of good offensive players in the CCIW while we were there, and there were other players on our team who could have won it. Our performances as a team were pretty incredible year after year.”
Fanthorpe repeated as the CCIW’s top offensive player in 2008 as North Central achieved its first perfect 10-0 regular season and hosted two games in the NCAA Division III Football Championship.
“We had the target on our back being two-time conference champs, and the coaching staff did a great job preparing us for each game,” Fanthorpe recalled. “We sustained some injuries that year, and I don’t think anyone anticipated that we’d go 10-0. We just went week by week and saw what worked best.”
Fanthorpe became just the second three-time Offensive Player of the Year honoree in CCIW history in 2009, setting single-game school records for completion percentage (.875) and touchdown passes (6) and setting single-season program standards for passing efficiency (190.6) and completion percentage (.683). The Cardinals led the nation in scoring offense, putting up 49.0 points per game.
The preparation required to claim victory in 28 of 34 games as a starting quarterback (including 19 of 21 CCIW games) remains a part of Fanthorpe’s routine today.
“The whole process of game planning and watching film, I still apply that to my daily life,” Fanthorpe said. “It teaches you how to get ready for a game, but it also teaches you to get ready for life in a way. You have to adjust to things that are thrown at you and keep going.”
