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Setting the Scene:  The Cardinals renew their most extensive rivalry against any single opponent, carrying an unbeaten record into their second road game against a nationally-ranked foe this season.

Series History: This is the 105th football meeting between the two institutions and the 75th with the game’s traveling trophy, the Little Brass Bell, at stake. Wheaton owns a 55-46-3 edge in the all-time series, though the Cardinals have won the last three encounters.

North Central won last year’s game, also at Wheaton, by a score of 54-35 after scoring four times on plays of 40 or more yards in the first 18 minutes. The Cardinals gained 613 yards (447 from their running game) on just 51 plays and posted their highest point total against the Thunder since 1917.

Luke Lehnen ran for a career-high 170 yards on 13 carries while also completing 5 of 8 passes for 166 yards. Joe Sacco gained 138 rushing yards on just six attempts, while Danny Nuccio and Antwain Walker shared the team lead with eight tackles apiece.

National Rankings: North Central was ranked No. 1 nationally in the most recent NCAA Division III Top 25 Polls by D3football.com and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA). Wheaton is ranked No. 18 by D3football.com and No. 23 by the AFCA.

The Cardinals have been ranked No. 1 in the last 25 AFCA regular-season polls and 34 of the last 37 D3football.com regular-season polls.

Scouting the Thunder: Wheaton improved to 2-1 on the season Saturday with a 22-10 victory at Carroll. The Thunder pulled away by scoring the game’s final two touchdowns after the Pioneers rallied to tie the score at 10-10 in the third period.

Wheaton gained 372 of its 415 yards through its passing game, as quarterback Mark Forcucci completed 26 of 36 passes for 361 yards and a touchdown. Running back Giovanni Weeks ran for one score and passed for another, gaining 30 of the Thunder’s 43 rushing yards, while receiver Ben Bonga made 10 catches for 174 yards.

Through three games, Forcucci has thrown for 880 yards with five touchdowns and just one interception, completing 68.3 percent of his attempts. Bonga, this week’s CCIW Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week, has made a team-high 21 catches for 324 yards and two scores, while Weeks leads the ground game with 172 yards and two of the team’s four rushing touchdowns.

The Thunder’s defense, which has allowed only four touchdowns thus far, is led by safety Colin Moore’s 21 tackles. Defensive tackle Isaac Parrish has a team-best 3.5 quarterback sacks.

This Week for the Cardinals: North Central won its 29th straight home game and its 39th straight regular-season contest Saturday, scoring 35 second-half points in a 49-9 conquest of the WashU Bears at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium.

The Cardinals owned a 14-2 advantage at halftime after getting a 10-yard touchdown run from Joe Sacco and a 51-yard scoring pass from Calvin Lavery to Jack Rummell. Charles Coleman’s three-yard TD run opened the second-half scoring before Lehnen found Thomas Skokna (37 yards) and Myles Walton (41 yards) for touchdown passes on consecutive drives. Jordan Chisum added a six-yard touchdown run and Jahmar Daniel scored the team’s first defensive touchdown of 2024 on a 29-yard interception return.

North Central finished the game with 556 total yards while allowing only 145, and kept the Bears out of the end zone until the fourth quarter.

Lehnen completed 9 of 14 passes for 192 yards and was the team’s leading rusher with 70 yards on just six carries. Jack Rummell caught six passes for 123 yards and Thomas Skokna made seven grabs for 102 yards, both hitting triple digits for the first time as collegians.

Brayden Garrigan was North Central’s leading tackler with eight total stops, while John Sullivan made 2.5 tackles for loss and Zack Orr also contributed an interception.
 

Adamchik Among Leading Tacklers: Adamchik’s 15 tackles thus far this season have pushed his career total to 211, making him the 12th player in the program’s history with at least 200 total stops.

Adamchik is 20 tackles shy of achieving a spot in the Cardinals’ all-time top 10.

CCIW Preseason Poll: North Central was picked as the favorite to win its 18th CCIW Championship, receiving eight of 10 first place votes in the annual preseason coaches’ poll.

Wheaton received the remaining two first-place votes and sits second in the poll, followed by WashU, Augustana, Carroll, Illinois Wesleyan, North Park, Carthage, Elmhurst and Millikin.

Lehnen Chases All-Time Efficiency Record: Lehnen is the national all-divisions active leader in passing efficiency (209.1) and is on pace to establish a new collegiate career record.

The current collegiate career record (202.6) is held by Mount Union’s D’Angelo Fulford (202.6). The Purple Raiders have the top five all-time career leaders in passing efficiency.

Individual NCAA Records: Lehnen established new Division III single-season records for passing efficiency (263.2), yards per pass attempt (14.7), yards per pass completion (20.0) and percentage of passes completed for touchdowns (20.7).

Lehnen also holds the current record for consecutive games with at least one touchdown pass, having done so in all 47 collegiate games.

Joe Sacco established a new single-season record by averaging 9.77 yards per rushing attempt.

Division III Active Career Leaders: Lehnen is Division III’s active career leader in total offensive yards (12,612), passing touchdowns (126) and total touchdowns responsible for (163).

The NCAA Division III career record for total offense is 14,568 yards, set by Mount Union’s Kevin Burke from 2011-2014, while Central’s Blaine Hawkins (2017-21) holds the record for touchdowns responsible for (178). Mount Union’s Braxton Plunk (2019-23) owns the record for touchdown passes (158).

Trey Madsen ranks second among active Division III players in touchdown catches (48) while ranking third in receptions (210) and receiving yards (3,062). Joe Sacco sits 10th nationwide in rushing yards (3,067) and 14th in all-purpose yards (3,599), while Lehnen and Sacco sit seventh (37) and eighth (34), respectively, in rushing touchdowns.

CCIW Single-Season Records:The Cardinals established new CCIW records in 2023 for points scored in conference play (576) as well as points per game (64.0), touchdowns (83), total offensive yards (5,504) and yards per game (611.6).

North Central has gone 9-0 in conference play the last three seasons and has won 35 straight CCIW games.

Gagliardi Trophy: Lehnen was named the 31st recipient of the Gagliardi Trophy, the premier individual award in Division III football, in 2023.

Lehnen is the third junior to win the trophy and the third Cardinal in the last four seasons to claim the award. Quarterback Broc Rutter won the 2019 Gagliardi Trophy, while running back Ethan Greenfield was the 2022 winner.

The University of Southern California is the only other college football program in the nation to win three such awards in a four-season span, claiming the Heisman Trophy in 2002 (Carson Palmer), 2004 (Matt Leinart) and 2005 (Reggie Bush).

This Week in the CCIW: North Central, Wheaton and Illinois Wesleyan share the CCIW lead with unblemished 2-0 records.

IWU defensive lineman Zach McNees and Augustana returner Breyden Smith were named this week’s CCIW Student-Athletes of the Week on defense and special teams, respectively.

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

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