Football

Football Week 4 Preview: Wheaton

NCC Football vs. North Park

Complete Game Notes (PDF)

Live Video/Audio/Stats

Setting the Scene:  The top offensive and defensive units at the NCAA Division III level collide at McCully Stadium in a fight for sole possession of first place in the CCIW standings. 

Series History: This is the 101st football meeting between the institutions. The Thunder own a 54-43-3 advantage in the all-time series and have won five of the last six meetings. 

Wheaton visited Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium on Sept. 29 of last season and departed with a 52-30 victory. The Thunder led by a 31-23 count at halftime before outscoring North Central, 21-7, the rest of the way to secure the win. 

Broc Rutter completed 33 of 43 passes for a career-high 426 yards for the Cardinals, including a 64-yard touchdown toss to Michael Sfikas, and ran for a five-yard score as well. Andrew Kamienski caught nine passes for 105 yards and DJ Warkenthien paced the North Central defense with eight tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss. 

Wheaton quarterback Curtis McWilliams completed 22 of 27 passes for 347 yards and two scores, finding Phillip Nichols nine times for 121 yards. Jacob Cretin ran for 144 yards on 16 rushing attempts. 
 

National Rankings: North Central is ranked No. 5 nationally in the most recent NCAA Division III National Top 25 Polls released by D3football.com and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA). Wheaton is ranked ninth in both polls.

Scouting the Thunder: Wheaton traveled to Millikin on Saturday and encountered little resistance en route to a 62-0 victory. 

The Thunder totaled 618 yards of offense, putting points on the board on 10 of 14 drives and seeing six different players score touchdowns. 

Through three games, Wheaton has averaged 478 yards of offense. Quarterbacks Luke Anthony and Spencer Peterson have combined to throw eight touchdowns with no interceptions, with Nichols and Adam Terrini each hauling in three scoring passes. T.J. Williams is the Thunder's top ground gainer with 396 yards and two TDs. 

Wheaton's defense has allowed an average of 131 yards and just 10 total points thus far. Ryan Schwartz is the Thunder's top tackler with 34 total stops and Spencer Rowland and Corey Kennedy have each intercepted two passes. 

The Thunder currently rank first among all NCAA Division III programs in total defense (122.7 yards allowed per game), scoring defense (3.3 points allowed per game) and defensive passing efficiency (48.5).

This Week for the Cardinals: North Central is also coming off a shutout victory after opening its home schedule with a 77-0 rout of North Park.  

The Cardinals scored touchdowns on their first nine possessions and shut North Park out for the third straight season, gaining 685 total yards (their second-most all-time) and allowing the Vikings to gain only 117 (the fourth-lowest output by a North Central opponent). 

Rutter established a new single-game record for passing accuracy by completing 94.1 percent of his throws (16 of 17) for 334 yards and four scores in one half of play. The Cardinals' 11 offensive touchdowns were scored by nine different players. 
 

Rutter Recognized by CCIW: Rutter was named the CCIW Offensive Player of the Week on Monday, marking the first time this season and the sixth time in his career he has been so honored. 

Broc Rutter
Tyler Rich

National Statistical Rankings: Thus far this season, the Cardinals rank first among Division III programs in scoring offense (55.3 points per game), total offense (611.0 yards per game), passing efficiency (212.9), pass completion percentage (77.9) and third-down conversion percentage (63.9).  

North Central also ranks second nationally in passing offense (382.0 ypg), third in red-zone defense (25.0%) and fourth in scoring defense (8.7 points allowed per game), rushing defense (30.7 ypg), and tackles for loss (11.0 per game). 

Rutter ranks first individually in completion percentage (78.6%) and third in passing yards (367.0 per game) and passing efficiency (211.3), while Andrew Kamienski sits fifth in receptions per game (9.3) and Ethan Greenfield ranks sixth in rushing yards per carry (8.0).

North Central Career Rankings:  Rutter is the Cardinals' all-time leader in pass completions (784), passing yards (10,775) touchdown passes (101). He ranks second all-time in passing attempts (1,166). 

Kamienski sits third in receptions (157), fourth in receiving yards (2,159) and sixth in receiving touchdowns (19), eighth in punt return yards (273) and ninth in all-purpose yards (2,459), while Talha Ayhan ranks 11th in quarterback sacks (13.5). 
 

Around the CCIW: North Central and Wheaton are the only teams in the CCIW still to have unbeaten records after two weeks of conference play. 

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

This Day in Cardinal Football History: 1974 vs. Elmhurst – Despite allowing the game’s first touchdown, the Cardinals regrouped and stormed past the Bluejays, 34-7, to halt a five-year losing streak to their in-county rivals. 
 

NCC Football 1974
North Central quarterback Dennis Sullivan '75 takes the snap against the Bluejays.

'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.

NCC Football vs. North Park