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Box Score

ALLENTOWN, Penn. (Dec. 14, 2019) – Scoring early and often against the final undefeated Division III team, the North Central College football team posted a historic 45-14 victory over the Muhlenberg College Mules on Saturday to clinch the program's first trip to the Stagg Bowl.

The Mules boasted the nation's third-ranked scoring defense heading into Saturday's game (9.6 points per game) but fell silent against North Central's trio of offensive threats in Broc Rutter, Andrew Kamienski and Ethan Greenfield that poured in 38 first-half points. Kamienski recorded four touchdown receptions—matching his career high—to establish a new Division III single season record for touchdown receptions (30).

"I'm so pleased with the way our guys played today, said head coach Jeff Thorne, who called this team's improbable journey to the Stagg Bowl the realization of 17 years of work beginning when his father John took over the program in 2002, before handing the torch off to him in 2015. "We feel very fortunate to be moving on and are extremely excited to be heading to Texas for our first Stagg Bowl, but we're not done yet: we still have one more to go," Thorne added.

The Cardinals day got off to a tough start when Rutter's first pass attempt of the day was picked off. But Julian Bell quickly regained the momentum for North Central by intercepting Muhlenberg's Michael Hnatowsky, returning the ball to 36-yards down to the Mules' 27-yard line. The Cardinals faced little resistance and Rutter eventually found Kamienski on a two-yard pass to give North Central a lead they would hold the entire game against a team that only trailed once during the entire 2019 season.

North Central forced a three-and-out on the next possession and it took just one play for Rutter to connect with Blake Williams for a 51-yard touchdown that left the Mules—a team that only trailed once during the entire 2019 season—rattled. The ensuing kickoff saw Storm Simmons force a fumble—recovered by John Washington—to line North Central up at the Mules' 23-yard line. Rutter again looked to Kamiesnki, this time completing an eight-yard pass to give North Central a 21-0 lead with 5:09 left in the first quarter

Greenfield led the Cardinals downfield on their next drive, breaking free for a 46-yard rush. Another Rutter-Kamienski connection extended the lead to 28-0. North Central stuck with the same formula that produced the same result, giving the Cardinals a 35-0 lead with 6:51 remaining in the first half.

The Mules got on the board with their next possession, keeping it on the ground as James Diggs rushed for one-yard touchdown. Magnus Meyer delivered in North Central's answer in the form of a 27-yard field goal as time expired, the culmination of a 15-play, 65-yard drive that ran off the remaining 4:11 of clock.Muhlenberg received the ball to begin the second half and drove inside North Central territory, but the Cardinals defense stood tall and forced a turnover on downs after stopping Diggs on two consecutive rushes. Taking over on their own 35-yard line, North Central turned to its ground game, which was spectacular on the day. Greenfield led the Cardinals down field with a 33-yard rush, before Terrence Hill got into the endzone with a 28-yard rush that once again sucked the life out of Scotty Wood Stadium.

Muhlenberg added one more touchdown in the form of a 74-yard touch down reception from Hnatkowsky to Ryan Curriss with 12:53 left in the fourth quarter, well after the outcome of the game became clear.

North Central held a 293-69 advantage in rushing yards and nearly a 10-minute advantage in time of possession. Rutter completed 16 of 23 passes for 193 yards, while Kamienski finished with 11 receptions for 112 yards. Greenfield led North Central's rushers with 21 carries for 199 yards, while Terrence Hill added 14 carries for 79 yards.  
Jake Beesley led the defense with seven tackles, while Zach Butler, Cameron Martin and Isiah Ziegler all had six tackles apiece. Talha Ayhan was responsible for the lone North Central sack.

"A lot of people talk about our offense but I thought our defense was the difference today," added Thorne. "They got stop after stop and put the ball back into the hands of these guys (Broc Rutter, Ethan Greenfield, Andrew Kamienski)."

Hnatkowsky finished 23 for 41 with 277 passing yards (one touchdown, two interceptions), 98 of those yards coming from Curtiss. Diggs finished with nine carries for 62 yards.

The Division III National Championship Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl will be contested on Friday, Dec. 20 in Shenandoah, Texas. Game time at Woodforest Bank Stadium is set for 7 p.m.

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