Football

Football Week 6 Preview: Carroll

NCC Football

Complete Game Notes (PDF)

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Setting the Scene:  After a successful bounce-back performance, the Cardinals take the show on the road once again, making their lone trip north of the Wisconsin state line in search of a fourth straight victory over Carroll.

Series History: This is the 56th football meeting between the institutions. The Pioneers own a 34-19-2 advantage in the all-time series, but North Central has won all three meetings since Carroll rejoined the CCIW in 2016. 

The Cardinals won in a 59-0 shutout in last year's game, played Oct. 13 in Naperville. North Central rolled up 630 yards of total offense, the ninth-highest single-game total in its history, and owned more than a 12-minute advantage in time of possession. 

Broc Rutter completed 21 of 30 passes for 268 yards and four touchdowns, two of which went to Andrew Kamienski. Dominick Muoghalu ran for 135 yards and a score on 13 carries. Matt Sutherland made a team-high seven tackles and Zach Greenberg recorded the game's lone interception.
 

National Rankings: North Central is ranked No. 8 in the most recent NCAA Division III National Top 25 Poll released by D3football.com and 10th in the latest poll from the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA).

Scouting the Pioneers: Carroll saw its Homecoming festivities dampened on Saturday with a 30-7 loss to Millikin, dropping the Pioneers to an 0-4 mark in conference play. 
The Big Blue scored the first 24 points of the game before Michael Johnson's 31-yard touchdown pass to J.R. Muth got Carroll on the board. 

The Pioneers have averaged 288 yards of offense per game, 221 of which has come through the air. Johnson has completed 57.6 percent of his passes for 1,002 yards and nine TDs with just one interception. Sophomore Alex Kujawa has caught a team-high 31 passes for 498 yards and six scores, while junior tailback Isaac Allen has run for 218 yards and two TDs. 

Carroll's defense has yielded 34.8 points and 425.8 yards per contest. The Pioneers' opponents have put up 256 yards per game on the ground, scoring 15 touchdowns.  

Junior linebacker Justin Kontny owns team-high totals of 59 tackles and eight tackles for loss.

This Week for the Cardinals: North Central rolled up 35 first-half points Saturday en route to a 42-14 victory over Augustana, defeating the Vikings for the 14th consecutive season. 
Kamienski caught 11 passes for 135 yards and a career-high three touchdowns, surpassing the 100-yard mark for the fifth straight game. He became the Cardinals' all-time leader in career receptions (182), surpassing the previous record of 179 set by Steve Hlavac '11. 

Ethan Greenfield ran for 138 yards and also turned in three TDs and Rutter completed 25 of 37 passes for 291 yards. 

The Cardinals' defense forced three turnovers, as Dakota Cremeens intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble and Isiah Ziegler pounced on a fumble deep in Augustana territory which led to a touchdown on the next play. Bryan Beauchamp paced North Central with nine tackles. 

CCIW Player of the Week: Kamienski was named the CCIW's Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts against the Vikings, marking his second such award this season. North Central has claimed the honor three of the past four weeks.

 

Andrew Kamienski
Ricky Strba

National Statistical Rankings: Thus far this season, the Cardinals rank third among Division III programs in passing offense (351.4 yards per game), fourth in pass completion percentage (.711) and red-zone defense (40.0%), fifth in total offense (534.8 ypg) and 10th in red-zone offense (92.3%).  

Kamienski ranks second individually in receptions per game (10.6) and ninth in receiving yards per game (133.6), while Rutter sits third completion percentage (.717), fourth in passing yards (341.0 per game), eighth in completions per game (25.80) and 10th in passing touchdowns (17).  

CCIW Career Records: Rutter has 8,357 passing yards in conference play in his career, leaving him just 82 yards short of the CCIW career record of 8,439 set by Keith Bishop, who played from 1981-85. Bishop started his career at Illinois Wesleyan before transferring to Wheaton. 

Rutter recently surpassed the CCIW record for career touchdown passes in conference play and currently has 83.

North Central Career Rankings:  Rutter is the Cardinals' all-time leader in pass completions (836), passing yards (11,379) touchdown passes (106). He ranks second all-time in passing attempts (1,248) and needs just 13 to surpass Kam Kniss' '06 record of 1,260. 

Kamienski also ranks third in receiving yards (2,406) and receiving touchdowns (23), seventh in all-purpose yards (2,733) and eighth in punt return yards (296) while Talha Ayhan ranks 11th in quarterback sacks (13.5). 

In just his second season of collegiate play, Greenfield ranks 20th all-time in rushing yards (1,205) and rushing touchdowns (14). 

Around the CCIW: Wheaton remains atop the league standings this week at 4-0, with North Central, Illinois Wesleyan and WashU a game behind. 

WashU travels to Wheaton this week, while Illinois Wesleyan visits Elmhurst, North Park travels to Augustana and Carthage plays at Millikin. 

This Day in Cardinal Football History: 1957 vs. Carroll – The Cardinals shook off a four-year losing streak to the Pioneers by forcing five turnovers, the last of which came deep in North Central territory with 20 seconds to play, to record a 6-0 victory.  

Don Long’s 29-yard touchdown pass to Rich Brink in the third quarter was the lone score in the contest. 

 

NCC Football 1957
North Central head coach Jesse Vail is thrown into Heatherton Pond (left) by the victorious Cardinals, who soon joined him with a dip of their own (right).

'Red Zone' Returns in 2019: 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 12th season on Naperville Community Television, Channel 17. 

The show airs each Thursday at 8 p.m., Friday at 12:30 a.m., 10:00 a.m., 3:30, 7:00 and 9:30 p.m., Saturday at 12:30 and 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 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.