Football

Week 3 Football Preview: Augustana

Little Brass Bell

Complete Game Notes (PDF)

Live Video/Audio/Stats

Setting the Scene:  Having opened conference play with a high-profile victory last week, the Cardinals look to celebrate the College's 100th Homecoming with a victory over an Augustana team seeking to rebound from an overtime loss.

Series History: This is the 91st football meeting between the two institutions. Augustana owns a 55-34-1 advantage in the all-time series though the Cardinals have won the last 14 encounters dating back to 2006.

North Central posted a 42-14 victory in Rock Island in the most recent meeting on Oct. 12, 2019. The Cardinals put their stamp on the game early, scoring 21 unanswered second-quarter points and taking a 35-7 lead into halftime.

Broc Rutter completed 25 of 37 passes for 291 yards and three touchdowns, while Ethan Greenfield ran 27 times for 138 yards and three scores and Andrew Kamienski made 11 catches for 135 yards and two TDs. Bryan Beauchamp finished with nine tackles and Dakota Cremeens contributed a fumble recovery and an interception.

National Rankings: North Central rose three spots to No. 1 in the D3football.com Top 25 Poll this week, marking the first time the Cardinals have risen to the top spot in a regular-season poll.

North Central was ranked No. 1 in the final poll of 2019 after defeating UW-Whitewater in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl.

Scouting the Vikings: Augustana opened CCIW play Saturday at home against Millikin, losing a 27-21 overtime decision to the Big Blue.

The Vikings owned a 21-13 advantage following Thomas Hall’s fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Bobby Inserra, but Millikin tied the score with 1:21 to play and won the game on a touchdown pass in the first overtime period after a missed Augustana field goal.

The Vikings have averaged 317 yards of offense per game (210.5 pass, 106.5 rush). Hall has thrown for 288 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions, while Craig Shelton has a team-high 10 catches for 102 yards. Tyler Rivelli leads Augustana’s rushing efforts with 153 yards and three scores.

The Vikings’ defense has forced a conference-best five turnovers the first two weeks and is the least-penalized team in the CCIW. Josh Timm is the team’s top tackler while Nick Harper has two of Augustana’s four interceptions.

This Week for the Cardinals: North Central defeated archrival Wheaton for the first time since 2016 Saturday, regaining possession of the Little Brass Bell. 
The Thunder scored on the first drive of the game but was shut out from then on. North Central tied the game with Luke Lehnen’s 44-yard touchdown pass to DeAngelo Hardy and Greenfield ran for two second-half touchdowns to put the contest away.

Lehnen completed 13 of 20 passes for 345 yards while also running for a team-high 66 yards on 21 carries.

Ben Wong, Dakota Cremeens and Braden Lindmark shared the team lead with seven tackles each and Jake Beesley finished with a career-high five pass breakups.

Through two games, the Cardinals rank third in the nation in scoring offense (7.0 points allowed per game) and fifth in passing efficiency rating (202.11).

Jake Beesley
CCIW Players of the Week: Beesley was named the CCIW Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts, marking the second time in his career he has been so honored. Carroll wide receiver Austin Eichstaedt and WashU punter Chris Vartanian were the CCIW's Players of the Week on offense and special teams, respectively. The Cardinals have received one of the CCIW's weekly awards following each of their first two games. Greenfield was named the Offensive Player of the Week following North Central's Sept. 11 win over Aurora.

Around the CCIW: Carroll defeated Illinois Wesleyan, 34-33, Carthage posted a 34-17 win over Elmhurst and WashU routed North Park, 41-7, in the first week of CCIW play.

Carroll and North Central are the only teams with victories in each of the first two weeks of the season.

This week's schedule sees Wheaton visit North Park, Illinois Wesleyan travel to Carthage, WashU head to Elmhurst and Carroll play at Millikin.

Preseason All-America Awards: North Central tied a program record with four selections to the D3football. com Preseason All-America Teams as all four are First Team honorees. 

Sharmore Clarke, Ethan Greenfield and Andrew Kamienski all made the Offensive First Team while Jake Beesley was named to the Defensive First Team. 

No other Division III team had more than two players receive First Team accolades.

 

DeAngelo Hardy
DeAngelo Hardy
Luke Lehnen
Luke Lehnen

All-America Honors: Beesley and Wong were both honored as First Team Academic All-America selections last spring by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Wong is a two-time recipient of the distinction, having been so honored following the 2019 season as well. The awards are the fifth and sixth to be earned by members of the Cardinal football program.

North Central Career Rankings:  Kamienski is the program's all-time leader in career receptions (275), receiving yards (4,093) and receiving touchdowns (47) while ranking third in all-purpose yards (4,420) and fourth in points scored (282), Beesley sits seventh in pass breakups (24) and eighth in passes defended (31) and Ben Wong ranks 12th all-time in tackles (188).

Greenfield ranks third all-time in rushing touchdowns (42), fifth in rushing yards (3,078) and points scored (276)and sixth in all-purpose yards (3,719). 
 

 

 

This Day in Cardinal Football History: 2004 vs. WashU – Scoring touchdowns on each of their first three possessions and enjoying a record-breaking effort in passing yardage, the Cardinals downed the WashU Bears, 38-28, at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium.
Quarterback Kam Kniss completed 27 of 39 passes for a school-record 429 yards. Kniss tossed three scoring passes to Tyke Spencer, who established a single-game program record of 14 receptions and a still-standing all-time mark of 288 receiving yards.

The Cardinals kept WashU at bay in the fourth quarter as Ben Hare blocked a field-goal attempt and Timm Bellazzini and Adam Pennington both intercepted passes. A 24-yard field goal by Mike Augustine with 2:03 to play put the contest out of reach.

NCAA Football Playoffs - North Central College at Concordia Wisconsin
Kam Kniss '06, NCC Hall of Fame Class of 2017
North Central College Football at Elmhurst
Tyke Spencer '07, NCC Hall of Fame Class of 2018

'Red Zone' Returns in 2021: 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 13th 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.