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Results
Nov. 8, 2014 - On an emotionally-charged day at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium, the North Central College football team closed the home portion of its regular-season schedule in fine fashion Saturday, racing to a large early lead for a second straight game and holding on for a 43-14 victory over Augustana College.
The Cardinals (7-2, 5-1 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) paid tribute to the efforts of its senior class, which posted its 39th victory over the past four seasons, and sent John Thorne off with a win in his final regular-season home game as North Central's head coach.
"Every year, there's some sadness and there's also the elation of the seniors playing well," Thorne said. "Several of them made some very nice plays. Next week is a little more final than today, because they know they have another week together. It'll hit them pretty hard, and it'll probably hit me a little harder this year because my role is going to change.
"I try not to think about what's going on with me. I want it to be about the players and their families and the assistant coaches, so I'm happy for them."
After scoring the game's first 21 points in last week's win over Illinois Wesleyan University, the Cardinals piled up the game's first 26 points against Augustana despite a turnover on the game's first drive. The Vikings recovered a fumble at the North Central 25-yard line but were unable to move the ball and attempted a 39-yard field goal, which sailed wide to the left.
The hosts followed by running the ball on eight of the next nine plays before opening the scoring on Dylan Warden's 15-yard touchdown pass to Peter Sorenson. After forcing an Augustana punt, the Cardinals took over at the 50-yard line and saw Warden hit Sorenson on a pass and Alex Ulmer on two more. Matt Randolph then took a handoff at the Viking 27 and took care of the rest for his fourth rushing touchdown of the season. The extra-point attempt was unsuccessful, leaving North Central with a 13-0 advantage with 3:16 left in the opening period.
The Cardinals' next scoring possession opened at their own 42 after Justin Stuursma came up with a quarterback sack on fourth down. Oshayne Brown's 38-yard run got North Central in striking distance, and Sorenson fought off a pair of defenders to secure a 12-yard TD pass from Warden two plays later to boost the lead to 20-0. A short Augustana punt gave the Cardinals possession at the Viking 45, and Warden found Ryan Kuhl for a 31-yard score four plays later.
Augustana quarterback Sam Frasco broke free for a 19-yard run and completed a 38-yard pass to wideout Kyle Frake on the Vikings' next drive, which turned out to be their lone first-half scoring possession. Receiver Danny Lattner took a reverse and ran five yards to the end zone, leaving the score at 26-7 with 6:32 before halftime.
The Vikings (4-5, 3-3 CCIW) threatened to stall North Central's final first-half drive, forcing a third down-and-16 situation at the Augustana 25. Brown, however, took the handoff and picked his way through the defense for a 17-yard gain, and Warden hit Sorenson for a third first-half score, this time from two yards out, to provide a 33-7 halftime advantage.
"We had a lot of success in the passing game today, which was set up by our running game," Sorenson said. "We were able to assert our will at the line of scrimmage and that opened up the downfield passing game. Our offensive line does a great job creating lanes for Dylan to throw through, which was great to see."
North Central's first second-half possession came to an end on a failed fourth-down conversion at the Vikings' 29-yard line, but the Cardinals had the ball back just three plays later after a fifth Augustana punt. Warden took to the air for his career-best fifth passing touchdown on the second play, finding Kuhl for a 53-yard catch and run to expand the lead to 40-7. Warden came within one scoring pass of the North Central single-game record of six, held by Aaron Fanthorpe '10 (Oct. 3, 2009 vs. Millikin).
"I thought Dylan had a great game throwing the football," Thorne said. "The receivers made some terrific runs after the catch as well. All phases of the game had some great things happen today."
The Cardinals scored for the final time on Dom Zavaglia's 36-yard field goal with 10:49 on the clock in the fourth quarter. Augustana tacked on a four-yard TD run by Lattner with 2:56 to play, which capped off a 15-play, 55-yard drive.
North Central finished with a 407-235 advantage in total yards. Warden completed 14 of 18 passes for 196 yards, as Kuhl made six catches for a career-best 129 yards and Brown gained 127 yards on 20 rushing attempts. Freshman linebacker Tom Sora made a career-high 12 tackles, while Stuursma finished with seven.
Frasco completed 9 of 15 passes for 79 yards and led the Vikings in rushing with 74 yards on 17 carries. Frake caught six passes for 74 yards and Erik Johnson paced the Augustana defense with 12 tackles.
North Central closes the regular season on Saturday, traveling to face Elmhurst College. The Bluejays are 5-4 overall and 4-2 in the CCIW following a 21-14 loss at Millikin University. Kickoff at Langhorst Field is scheduled for 1 p.m. Links to live video, audio and in-game statistics are available by clicking HERE.
