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

Complete Game Notes (PDF)

Nov. 19: NCAA Division III Football Championship, First Round - Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Fightin' Engineers (8-2) at North Central College Cardinals (10-0)

Kickoff: 12 p.m., Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium
Video: Naperville Community Television, Channel 17/nctv17.com
Radio: 89.1-FM WONC
Live Stats: www.ncaa.com/game/football/d3/2016/11/19/rose-hulman-north-central-il
Game Updates: @NCC_Athletics
Series History: North Central leads, 2-0

Setting the Scene: Back in the postseason for the first time in three years, the Cardinals look to post a fourth straight home playoff victory against a first-time championship qualifier.

Series History: This is the third football meeting between the two institutions and the first in nearly 60 years. The Cardinals defeated Rose-Hulman by identical 27-13 scores in 1956 and 1957.

National Rankings: North Central is ranked No. 4 by the American Football Coaches Association and No. 5 by D3football.com this week.

Scouting the Engineers: Rose-Hulman is in the NCAA postseason for the first time. The Engineers tied with Franklin for first place in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, but owned the tiebreaker thanks to a 23-22 win over the Grizzlies on Oct. 22. Rose-Hulman closed the regular season Saturday with a 74-6 victory over Earlham.

The Engineers operate at a high tempo on offense, averaging nearly 90 offensive plays per game (including a season-high 115 against Franklin). Rose-Hulman has gained 424 yards per game, 247 of which has come through the air. Senior quarterback Austin Swenson has completed 60.4 percent of his passes for 2,328 yards and 24 touchdowns with seven interceptions.

Senior wideout Alec Fisher has caught a team-high 53 passes for 626 yards and eight touchdowns. Juniors Stanley Hogan (733 yards, five TDs) and Kevin Dufauchard (542 yards, seven TDs) have split the bulk of the Engineers' rushing attempts. 

Defensively, Rose-Hulman ranks eighth in the nation in tackles for loss (95), 11th in quarterback sacks (35) and 15th in interceptions (18). Defensive end Connor Kispert has a team-high 12 tackles for loss and safety Kevin Nowak has picked off five passes. The Engineers intercepted a season-high six passes on Oct. 1 against Anderson.

This Week for the Cardinals: North Central finished off the fourth perfect 10-0 regular season in its history on Saturday with a 59-17 victory over Elmhurst. The Cardinals rolled up a season-high 558 yards of total offense and recorded seven quarterback sacks to give them a school-record 49 for the season.

Broc Rutter threw touchdown passes on four of North Central's first five drives and totaled 351 yards, seven short of his season high. He established a new CCIW single-season record with 27 touchdown passes in conference play.
 
CCIW Players of the Week: North Central swept the final CCIW Player of the Week awards last week, as wide receiver Ryan Kuhl was recognized on offense, linebacker DJ Warkenthien was honored on defense and long snapper Kyle Preuss was selected on special teams.

Kuhl established career highs with nine receptions for 157 yards against Elmhurst, catching two touchdown passes to get into the end zone for the sixth straight game. He also recovered a fumble to prevent a turnover during a third-period scoring drive.

Warkenthien totaled six tackles and posted the fourth-highest single-game tackle for loss total (4.5) in school history. He contributed 2.5 of the Cardinals' seven quarterback sacks. Preuss gave North Central an extra possession by pouncing on a mishandled punt return, which led to a second-quarter touchdown.

North Central was the only CCIW team to win all three Player of the Week awards in the same week.

All-CCIW Selections: This year's All-CCIW Teams were announced on Tuesday and the Cardinals were well-represented, claiming 14 total selections and two of the conference's major individual awards.

Rutter was chosen the CCIW's Art Keller Offensive Player of the Year, while head coach Jeff Thorne was voted the Bob Reade Coach of the Year.

Joining Rutter on the All-CCIW First Team are Alex Ulmer (wide receiver), Joe Fehrle (offensive line), Billy Douds (defensive line), Tommy Sora (linebacker), Pat Cravens (defensive back) and Jeremy Niklos (defensive back).

Making the Second Team are Austin Breunig (running back), Kuhl (wide receiver), Dylan Warden (wide receiver), Alec Licar (offensive line), Justin Stuursma (linebacker), Emonte Logan (defensive line) and Josh Leonhard (defensive line).

CCIW Statistical Leaders: North Central finished the regular season as the CCIW leader in scoring offense (41.6 points per game), passing offense (282.2 yards per game), passing defense (204.4 ypg), turnover margin (+1.10 per game), punt return average (13.5 yards per return), passing efficiency (179.5), defensive passing efficiency (104.3), quarterback sacks (49), fewest quarterback sacks allowed (15), third-down conversions (45.3%), third-down defense (25.7%) and red-zone defense (60.7%).

Rutter leads the conference in passing yards (271.6 per game), passing touchdowns (34) and passing efficiency (184.2) while Ulmer is the CCIW leader in receiving yards (90.2 per game) and Cravens ranks first in punt return average (14.6). 

Niklos is the conference leader in passes defended (15), while Douds leads in forced fumbles (3) and Liam Crotty is first in points scored by kicking (70).
NCAA Statistical Leaders: Through nine games, North Central is ranked first nationally among 244 Division III programs in quarterback sacks (4.90 per game), fourth in passing efficiency (179.4), 11th in tackles for loss (9.0 per game) and third-down defense, 12th in kickoff return defense (14.95 yards per return), 15th in pass completion percentage (.661) and 19th in turnover margin.

Rutter ranks third nationally in passing efficiency, sixth in passing touchdowns and ninth in completion percentage (.668), while Cravens is seventh in punt return average (14.5) and Douds is 19th in quarterback sacks per game (1.05).

The Rest of the Bracket: The winner of this week's game plays the winner of the first-round matchup between Wheaton and Huntingdon (Alabama). The other first-round matchups in the Cardinals' section of the bracket feature Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas) playing Redlands (California) and Linfield (Oregon) taking on Hardin-Simmons (Texas).

North Central Career Rankings:  Breunig and Oshayne Brown currently rank 10th (1,811) and 12th (1,684), respectively, in the Cardinals' history in career rushing yards.

Breunig also ranks eighth in rushing touchdowns (22), 10th in total touchdowns (24) and ninth in all-purpose yards (2,374), while Brown ranks 13th in rushing touchdowns (17).

In his first season with the Cardinals, Rutter is now fourth in North Central history in touchdown passes while ranking fifth in passing yards (2,716) and sixth in completions (186).

Ulmer ranks fifth all-time in receptions (107), sixth in receiving yards (1,728) and ninth in receiving touchdowns (14),  while Ryan Kuhl sits fifth in receiving touchdowns (20) , ninth in receiving yards (1,273) and 10th in receptions (93) and Crotty is seventh in extra-point kicks made (52). 

Niklos currently ranks 10th all-time in pass breakups (22) while Justin Stuursma ranks 11th in tackles (181) and 12th in tackles for loss (27.5), Douds sits 12th in quarterback sacks (12.5) and Brandon Kibby ranks 14th all-time in interceptions (6).

'Red Zone' Returns in 2016: Once again, fans of North Central College football can get an insider's look at the Cardinals' football program, as 'The Red Zone' highlight show returns for its ninth season on Naperville Community Television, Channel 17.

The show airs each Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and midnight, Friday at 8:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m., and 11:30 p.m., Saturday at 8:00 a.m., 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., and Sunday at 3:00 p.m. It will feature interviews with coaches and players, highlights of the previous week's game, and a look ahead to the upcoming opponent.

Each show is viewable online at nctv17.com and is archived at youtube.com/northcentralsports as well as at northcentralcardinals.com.