Football

Football Week 7 Preview: Carthage

Dan Gilroy

Complete Game Notes (PDF)

Live Video/Audio/Stats

Setting the Scene:  The Cardinals chase a third straight win as they host a Carthage squad which is riding high following a dramatic victory of its own.

Series History: This is the 65th football meeting between the institutions. The Cardinals own a 34-27-3 lead in the all-time series and have won each of the last 14 encounters dating back to 2005. 

The teams met in Kenosha on Oct. 20 of last season, as the Cardinals ground out a 26-14 win amid high winds and a brief bout of snowfall. Heading into the fourth quarter with a 19-14 advantage, Broc Rutter completed a 47-yard pass to Matt Metz on fourth down to set the stage for a game-clinching touchdown run by Zane Lodico. 

Rutter finished the day 26 of 40 passing for 353 yards, hitting Andrew Kamienski nine times for 119 yards. DJ Warkenthien made four tackles for loss and Storm Simmons ended the final Carthage drive with an interception. 
 

National Rankings: North Central is ranked No. 7 in the most recent NCAA Division III National Top 25 Poll released by D3football.com and No. 8 in the latest poll from the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA).

Scouting the Red Men: Carthage scored its third win of the season in a shootout at Millikin last week, prevailing, 53-50, on a last-second 46-yard field goal by kicker David Collins. 

Leading, 28-7, after one quarter of play, the Red Men saw Millikin rally to tie the score on three occasions, the last of which came at 50-50 with 4:15 to play. 
 

Carthage has averaged 360 yards of offense per game this season, 240 of which has come via the passing game. Quarterback Colton Klein, who threw for a season-high 431 yards vs. Millikin, is completing 66.3 percent of his passes and has thrown for 11 TDs and just two interceptions.  

Jovone Stricker is the team’s top receiver (47 catches, 545 yards, 4  TDs), while Dana Fontenot is the Red Men’s top ground gainer with 474 yards and four scores. 

Carthage’s defense has yielded 23.8 points and 343.7 yards per game. Senior defensive tackle Jacob Simar leads the Red Men with four quarterback sacks and senior nickel back Josh Weyand has made a team-best nine tackles for loss.

This Week for the Cardinals: North Central defeated Carroll for the fourth straight year last Saturday, rambling to a 62-3 victory at Schneider Stadium. 

The Cardinals gained 602 yards of total offense, their 600-plus yard effort this season, and allowed Carroll to run only eight of their 54 plays in North Central’s half of the field. 

Andrew Kamienski made eight catches for 167 yards and three touchdowns in just one half of work, leaving him a single yard shy of North Central’s all-time record for career receiving yards (2,574).  

Ethan Greenfield ran for 137 yards and two scores on just nine carries, including a 91-yard touchdown run which ranks as the third-longest in school history. Rafael Rios came on in the second half to run for 131 yards and three TDs on 15 attempts.

National Statistical Rankings: Thus far this season, the Cardinals rank third among Division III programs in red-zone defense (45.5%), fourth in total offense (546.0 yards per game), fifth in passing offense (342.0 ypg) and third-down conversion percentage (55.1), seventh in rushing defense (61.0 ypg) and scoring offense (48.5 points per game) and 10th in fewest turnovers (5). 

Kamienski ranks second individually in receptions per game (10.2), fourth in receiving yards (139.2 per game) and eighth in touchdown receptions (11), while Rutter sits fourth in passing yards (326.8 per game) and seventh in passing touchdowns (21) and completion percentage (70.8).

 

Ethan Greenfield
Talha Ayhan

CCIW Career Records: With 256 passing yards last week, Rutter is now the CCIW's all-time leader in career passing yards in conference play (8,613). The previous record of 8,439 was set by Keith Bishop, who played from 1981-85. Bishop started his career at Illinois Wesleyan before transferring to Wheaton. 

Rutter is also the CCIW record holder for career touchdown passes in conference play (87). 

North Central Career Rankings:  Rutter is the Cardinals' all-time leader in pass completions (850), passing attempts (1,270), passing yards (11,635) touchdown passes (110).  

Kamienski is the program's all-time leader in career receptions (190) and ranks third all-time in receiving touchdowns (26), sixth in all-purpose yards (2,900), eighth in punt return yards (296) and 10th in points scored (156) while Talha Ayhan ranks 11th in quarterback sacks (13.5). 

In just his second season of collegiate play, Greenfield ranks 16th all-time in rushing yards (1,342) and 18th in rushing touchdowns (16).

Around the CCIW: Wheaton holds a one-game lead over North Central and Illinois Wesleyan in the CCIW standings this week. Wheaton hosts Augustana this week and Illinois Wesleyan hosts WashU. 

Other CCIW games this week feature Carroll at North Park and Elmhurst at Millikin.

This Day in Cardinal Football History: 1929 vs. Lake Forest – North Central celebrated Homecoming with a 12-6 victory over the Red Devils, dominating the battle for possession by recording 22 first downs and owning a 295-87 advantage in total yards. The Cardinals went on to finish with a 7-1-1 record and claimed the Little 19 Conference title. 


 

'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.