Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
Nov. 5, 2022) - Putting the wraps on its second straight perfect regular season, the North Central College football team followed a well-worn path to victory Saturday in a 63-3 drubbing of the Augustana College Vikings at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium.
The No. 1-ranked Cardinals (10-0, 9-0 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) locked up their 16th CCIW title and will open their 14th appearance in the NCAA Division III Football Championship next week.
North Central's running game topped the 500-yard mark for the second time this season as the hosts gained 507 yards on 51 rushing attempts. The Cardinals' defense went without allowing a touchdown for the sixth straight week and limited Augustana to 192 total yards (46 rushing), 146 passing).
The Vikings (5-5, 4-5 CCIW) managed to take a 3-0 lead after Sidney Maroon's 26-yard field goal and had possession in the red zone again before Angelo Cusumano intercepted Cole Bhardwaj's pass attempt in the end zone.
Augustana threatened to score again after forcing North Central to punt, but Jahmar Daniel forced a fumble which Cusumano recovered at the 10-yard line. Two plays later, Ethan Greenfield scored on a one-yard run to give the Cardinals a lead they would not relinquish.
Tyler Rich ended the next Augustana possession with a quarterback sack on third down. Greenfield doubled his touchdown haul just three plays later, rambling 78 yards to the house with 4:04 still left in the first period. North Central took possession at the Vikings' 35 following a short punt and Terrence Hill ran up the middle to the end zone on the next play.
Augustana advanced to the Cardinals' 28 before consecutive sacks by Dan Gilroy halted the visitors' progress. Greenfield struck again on the following possession, running 11 yards for a score. North Central's final two touchdowns of the half came on passes by Luke Lehnen, a leaping 30-yard grab in the end zone by DeAngelo Hardy and a 24-yard catch by Greenfield, who shooed away a would-be tackler at the goal line after Lehnen darted away from the Vikings' defense to extend the play.
Hill opened the second half with a 70-yard run, then scored from five yards out to cap the drive. Later in the period, Hill broke free for a 68-yard scoring run, closing the day with 216 yards (the ninth-highest single-game total in program history) on just seven carries.
The Vikings' final trip into North Central territory ended at the 31-yard line as Cusumano forced a fumble which was recovered by Zack Orr. Joe Sacco closed the scoring with a five-yard touchdown run with 9:20 to play.
Greenfield finished with 163 yards on 16 carries, becoming the 10th player in Division III history to rush for at least 6,000 career yards (6,052). Lehnen completed 10 of 14 passes for 151 yards, finding Nic Rummell three times for 70 yards.
Cusumano finished with a team-high eight tackles as North Central recorded 10 tackles for loss and seven quarterback sacks. BJ Adamchik made six stops, while Orr and Antwain Walker finished with five.
The selection show for the Division III Football Championship will air at 4:30 p.m. Central time on ncaa.com. First-round games will be played Saturday, Nov. 19 at noon local time.
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