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

Complete Game Notes (PDF)

Nov. 26: NCAA Division III Football Championship, Second Round - Wheaton College Thunder (10-1) at North Central College Cardinals (11-0)

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/d3/2016/11/26/wheaton-il-north-central-il
Game Updates: @NCC_Athletics
Series History: Wheaton leads, 50-42-3

Setting the Scene: A rare postseason matchup between CCIW teams is on the horizon this week, as the Cardinals seek to extend their season with a second victory over their oldest rival.

Series History: This is the 96th football meeting between the two institutions and the second this season. North Central handed the Thunder their lone loss this season on Oct. 15 by a score of 35-25 at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium.

The win gave the Cardinals possession of the Little Brass Bell, the traveling trophy between the two teams. The Bell is not on the line this week.

National Rankings: North Central was ranked No. 4 by the American Football Coaches Association and No. 5 by D3football.com in the final regular-season national polls, while Wheaton was ranked 12th by the AFCA and 13th by D3football.com.

Scouting the Thunder: Wheaton earned one of six at-large bids to this year's championship and advanced last week with a 45-10 first-round victory over Huntingdon (Alabama).

The Thunder scored in all three phases of the game, recovering a blocked punt in the end zone and getting a 54-yard interception return for a touchdown by linebacker Eric Stevenson. Running back Stone Watson gained 111 yards on just nine carries while quarterback Andrew Bowers completed 10 of 18 passes for 204 yards and two scores.

Since playing the Cardinals on Oct. 15, Wheaton has averaged 41.0 points per game and has rushed for at least 200 yards in three of four games. The Thunder's defense has intercepted five passes during that time.
Wheaton is making its 10th appearance in the postseason. The Thunder advanced to the second round last season, losing by a 31-17 count to Wisconsin-Whitewater.

This Week for the Cardinals: North Central won its eighth straight first-round playoff game last week, defeating Rose-Hulman, 41-7. The Cardinals have now won seven of the 10 home playoff games in their history, including the last four dating back to the 2011 campaign.

North Central scored 17 unanswered first-quarter points, forcing punts on the first five Rose-Hulman possessions, to take control of the contest early. Broc Rutter threw two touchdown passes each to Ryan Kuhl and Alex Ulmer, while Austin Breunig ran for a score and Liam Crotty connected on a pair of field goals. 
The Cardinals owned a 429-210 advantage in total yards and possessed the ball nearly 13 minutes longer than the Fightin' Engineers. In six home games this season, North Central has won by an average score of 46-14.

We Meet Again: This week's game is only the second matchup between two CCIW teams in the history of the Division III Football Championship. The only other such encounter occurred in 1989, when Millikin defeated Augustana in the first round, 21-12.
 
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).

NCAA Statistical Leaders: North Central is ranked first nationally among 244 Division III programs in quarterback sacks (4.55 per game), fourth in passing efficiency (177.8), eighth in third-down defense (.250), 10th in kickoff return defense (14.57 yards per return), 13th in tackles for loss (8.8 per game), 15th in scoring offense (41.5 points per game), 16th in red-zone defense (.607) and pass completion percentage (.655), 18th in rushing defense (83.5 ypg) and 19th in scoring defense (15.3 ppg) and total defense (278.6 ypg).

Rutter ranks second nationally in passing efficiency (183.7) and touchdown passes (38) and 11th in completion percentage (.665), while Cravens is ranked 10th in punt return average (14.3 ypr) and Kuhl sits 22nd in touchdown receptions (12).

The Rest of the Bracket: The winner of this week's game plays the winner of the second-round matchup between Linfield (Oregon) and Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas) in the national quarterfinals next Saturday. 

Other playoff games this week:
Western New England (Mass.) at Alfred (N.Y.)
Mount Union (Ohio) at Johns Hopkins (Md.)
Coe (Iowa) at St. Thomas (Minn.)
St. John's (Minn.) at Wisconsin-Oshkosh
Wesley (Del.) at John Carroll (Ohio)
Wittenberg (Ohio) at Wisconsin-Whitewater

North Central Career Rankings:  Breunig and Oshayne Brown currently rank ninth (1,891) and 12th (1,698), respectively, in the Cardinals' history in career rushing yards.

Breunig also ranks seventh in total touhdowns (25), eighth in rushing touchdowns (23) and ninth in all-purpose yards (2,475), 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 (3,015) and sixth in completions (210).

Ulmer ranks fifth all-time in receptions (114), sixth in receiving yards (1,835) and eighth in receiving touchdowns (16),  while Kuhl sits third in receiving touchdowns (22), eighth in receptions (100) and ninth in receiving yards (1,383) and Crotty is sixth in extra-point kicks made (57). 

Niklos currently ranks eighth all-time in pass breakups (24) while Stuursma ranks 11th in tackles (191) and tackles for loss (28.5), 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.