FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
Box Score
Sept. 13, 2008 - In one of the most highly-anticipated season openers in school history, the 15th-ranked North Central College football team began the 2008 campaign by knocking off No. 16 Ohio Northern University, 20-3, at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium on Saturday.
The contest was a tooth-and-nail battle most of the way, partly due to a driving rainstorm that lasted nearly the entire afternoon. The Cardinals got an early opportunity to score in the first period, as Nick Hicks (So., Pembroke Pines, Fla./American Heritage) forced a fumble in Ohio Northern territory to give the hosts possession on the Polar Bears' 28-yard line. A missed field goal, however, left the game scoreless.
A botched ONU punt left the Cardinals sitting pretty on their next possession, just 19 yards from the goal line, but a fourth-down conversion attempt was unsuccessful. North Central fashioned a 13-play, 60-yard drive early in the second period, venturing all the way to the Polar Bears' one-yard line, but was stopped on fourth down once again. North Central forced a punt on the ensuing drive, but a fumble on the return gave ONU new life. The visitors drove 72 yards in 13 plays over the final 4:39 of the first half, getting a 30-yard field goal from Jake Heaphy as time ran out to take the lead, 3-0, at halftime.
Ohio Northern also got the ball to start the second half, but the Cardinals got what turned out to be a momentous defensive spark from linebacker Valente Garza (So., Winfield, Ill./Coll. of DuPage), who ripped the ball out of the hands of running back R.J. Meadows and raced 28 yards to the end zone, giving North Central its first lead at 7-3 with 13:27 left in the third period.
Garza's score turned out to be the springboard the Cardinals needed, as the hosts outgained ONU, 185-62, the rest of the game and the Polar Bears never threatened to score from then on. After forcing a punt, North Central put together a 15-play, 54-yard jaunt that ended in a 29-yard field goal by Andrew Barciszewski (Fr., Troy, Ill./Triad) with 5:09 left in the period.
Barciszewski tacked on a 22-yard field goal early in the fourth period to put the Cardinals up by two possessions after North Central's Matt Wenger (Jr., Davis, Ill./Dakota) pounced on another Ohio Northern fumble. The home team's final score of the day came after the Polar Bears mishandled a punt and Joe Antonacci (Fr., Naperville, Ill./Drake Univ.) recovered the ball at the ONU 29. Three plays later, quarterback Aaron Fanthorpe (Jr., Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) scampered 14 yards for a touchdown.
Fanthorpe finished the day 15 of 24 passing for 152 yards, and also ran 14 times for 30 yards. Dominic Sulo (Jr., Oak Forest, Ill./Mt. Carmel) gained 56 rushing yards on 19 attempts, and Mike Mucha (Jr., Orland Park, Ill./Univ. of Illinois) ran 10 times for 27 yards. Mike MacIntosh (Sr., Decatur, Ill./Mt. Zion) caught three passes for 38 yards, while Steve Hlavac (So., Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) made three grabs for 17 yards.
North Central's defense, which allowed just 183 yards and forced five turnovers, was led by Wenger, who tallied eight tackles, and Derek Sulo (Jr., Oak Forest, Ill./Mt. Carmel), who finished with seven. Hicks also intercepted a pass, and Tim Janecek (Jr., Bridgeview, Ill./Argo) and Fred Blue (Jr., Merrillville, Ind./Rock Valley CC) each registered quarterback sacks.
Meadows led ONU's ground game with 56 yards on 14 carries, while quarterback Kyle Simmons was 10 of 20 passing for 105 yards. Jake Myers finished with 10 total tackles.
The Cardinals travel to Benedictine University (Ill.) on Saturday. The Eagles (0-1) were idle this week after a 35-14 loss to Elmhurst College (Ill.) on Sept. 6.
