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

Sep. 27: North Central College Cardinals (2-0) at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointers (2-0)

Kickoff: 2 p.m., Community Stadium.
Live Video: portal.stretchinternet.com/uwsp/
Radio: 89.1-FM WONC
Live Stats: athletics.uwsp.edu/schedule.aspx
Game Updates: www.twitter.com/NCC_Athletics
Series History: 1-0, North Central.

Setting the Scene: A second straight strong performance has doubled up the positive momentum for the Cardinals, who look to close non-conference play with a second straight win over the Pointers.

Series History: This is the second football meeting between the two schools.

North Central and UW-Stevens Point met at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium on Sept. 28 of last season, as the Cardinals scored the first 20 points of the game and held on to post head coach John Thorne's 100th career victory by a score of 27-7.

Quarterback Spencer Stanek passed for all four of the Cardinals' touchdowns, throwing two to A.J. Thomas and one each to Chad O'Kane and Demarco Tillman. Stanek's 75-yard strike to Tillman came on the game's first play from scrimmage.

North Central's defense kept the Pointers out of the end zone until 7:56 remained in the game, when quarterback Mitch Beau found Logan Taylor for a nine-yard touchdown pass. The Cardinals stopped two fourth-down conversion attempts and intercepted three passes, including two by Michael Monterrubio, to keep Stevens Point's offense in check.

National Rankings: North Central is ranked No. 5 in the most recent D3football.com National Top 25 poll.

The Cardinals were ranked ninth in the Sporting News Preseason Top 25 and the USA Today Preseason Top 10 while sitting 10th in the Preseason Top 25 released by Lindy's Sports Annuals.

Scouting the Pointers: Stevens Point stayed unbeaten last week with a 37-21 victory at Coe College (Iowa), scoring 20 unanswered second-half points to negate a 21-17 halftime deficit.

The Pointers took the lead for good early in the third quarter when quarterback Kyle Larson hit wide receiver Matt Sosinsky for an 80-yard touchdown. UWSP put the game away with touchdown runs of 29 and 58 yards by freshman backup running back Christian Almonte.

Almonte led the Pointers in rushing with 113 yards on just five carries.  Larson completed 16 of 28 passes for 240 yards despite being sacked four times, and Sosinsky wound up gaining 127 yards on five receptions. The UWSP defense, which recorded nine tackles for loss and five quarterback sacks, got a team-high 12 tackles apiece from safety Zach Vallafskey and linebacker John Kontowicz.

The Pointers also erased a halftime deficit in their season opener against Albion College (Michigan), outscoring the Britons, 28-14, over the final two quarters after trailing, 17-14, at the half.

Last Week for the Cardinals: In a rematch of last season's second-round playoff contest, North Central defeated then-No. 7-ranked UW-Platteville, 28-7, to open the home portion of its schedule in front of a near-capacity crowd at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium.

The Cardinals ran up a 21-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of play. Dylan Warden opened the scoring with an eight-yard touchdown pass to Kolton Kuczynski before Kevin Schroeder forced a fumble with a quarterback sack, allowing Nick Samuelson to scoop up the ball and score on a 23-yard return. Ryan Kent tacked on a seven-yard scoring run with 5:52 still to play in the opening period.

The Pioneers regrouped and played North Central to a 7-7 standstill the rest of the way. Kent went on to seal the win with a 62-yard TD run in the fourth quarter, capping a day which saw him roll up 177 rushing yards on 22 carries. His total was the second-highest of his career, topped only by his 257-yard outing against Platteville in last year's playoff win.

Michael Monterrubio, in his first action of the season after missing the opener due to injury, led all defenders with 14 tackles for the Cardinals, while Justin Stuursma recorded nine and Schroeder finished with eight. Peter Mann also recorded a fumble and Trey Hartema and Jordan Dean each intercepted passes. North Central owns a 6-1 advantage in turnovers forced in this season's first two games.

CCIW Preseason Poll: North Central has been selected as the favorite to win the CCIW Championship in football for the ninth consecutive season, as the Cardinals received the No. 1 spot in the CCIW's annual preseason poll of the conference's eight head coaches.
North Central received seven first-place votes and totaled the maximum 49 points in the voting, while Wheaton received 43 points and the remaining first-place vote. Illinois Wesleyan showed up third with 36 points, followed by Augustana (27), North Park (26), Elmhurst (21), Millikin (12) and Carthage (10).

The Cardinals have gone 52-4 in CCIW play and 75-15 overall in the past eight seasons, going undefeated in conference games four times.
Preseason All-Americans:  Sorenson and Kent have been named as selections to the 26th annual USA College Football Preseason All-America Teams.
Sorenson is one of 18 wide receivers selected to the First Team, while Kent, a running back, was named to the Honorable Mention list.

A total of 674 players were selected for Preseason All-America honors among the 244 NCAA Division III football-playing institutions.

Warden was also projected as the Division III Newcomer of the Year by Lindy's Sports.

North Central Career Rankings: Sorenson currently ranks second all-time at North Central in touchdown receptions (24), fourth in receptions (116), fifth in receiving yards (1,692) and is tied with Kent for eighth in total touchdowns (24).

Kent, meanwhile, ranks sixth in all-purpose yards (2,585) and rushing yards (2,066) and seventh in rushing touchdowns (23). Tyler Dicken sits 10th in career touchdown passes (12).

John Skokna has moved into eighth place all-time in punt return yards (200) and 10th in punt return attempts (23).

CCIW Rankings: North Central leads the CCIW in scoring defense (12.0 ppg), passing defense (165.0 yards per game), turnover margin (+2.5 per game), rushing offense (258.5 ypg), rushing defense (87.5 ypg), total defense (252.5 ypg), passing efficiency (157.6), defensive passing efficiency (91.3), red-zone offense (100%) and red-zone defense (42.9%).

Dylan Warden leads the CCIW in individual passing efficiency (163.8).

Around the CCIW: This week's game is one of just three games in the CCIW. Millikin is hosting Aurora and Carthage is hosting Lakeland, while the remaining five CCIW teams are idle.

Conference play begins next week, as North Central hosts Millikin, Elmhurst hosts Augustana, Wheaton hosts North Park and Illinois Wesleyan hosts Carthage.

CCIW Players of the Week: Ryan Kent, along with Augustana's Tim Maroder and Illinois Wesleyan's Michael Kelley, were named the CCIW Football Players of the Week on Monday.

Maroder set a new school record with four interceptions during the Vikings' 34-17 win over Loras on Saturday. His four interceptions broke the old mark held by eight other players and he also added five solo tackles in the win. Maroder's first interception came in the first half, while his other three all came in the fourth quarter as Augustana forced nine Duhawk turnovers.

Kelley accounted for all of Illinois Wesleyan's points during a 13-3 loss to Simpson on Saturday as he connected on a 41-yard field goal midway through the fourth quarter.