Complete Game Notes (PDF)

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Setting the Scene:  The Cardinals take on a new opponent for the second straight week as they face a Hope squad that has already reached new heights within its program this season.

Series History: This is the first football meeting between the two institutions.

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). Hope was ranked No. 14 by the AFCA and No. 16 by D3football.com.

The Cardinals have been ranked No. 1 in the last 32 AFCA regular-season polls and 41 of the last 44 D3football.com regular-season polls.
 

Scouting the Flying Dutchmen: Hope completed its first 10-0 regular season last month and posted the first postseason win in its history last week with a 49-21 home victory over Aurora.

The Dutchmen trailed, 7-0, for the first time this season after Aurora scored on the game’s first drive. Hope responded with a run of 35 unanswered points and forced five turnovers to subdue the Spartans.

Quarterback Ben Wellman completed 16 of 20 passes for 208 yards and four touchdowns while running for 89 yards and another score. Tyler Amos gained a team-high 95 rushing yards with a touchdown and Grant Holtzer was Hope’s leading receiver with five catches for 86 yards and two TDs.

The Dutchmen rank fourth nationally in rushing yards (297.3 per game) and have gained at least 300 yards on the ground this season six times, including the first four games of the campaign. Chance Strickland has run for a team-best 919 yards and 18 touchdowns, while Amos has 872 yards and 12 scores. Wellman has thrown for 20 touchdowns and run for eight, connecting with Holtzer 37 times for 9149 yards and nine TDs.

The Dutchmen enter the game as the Division III national leader in scoring defense, allowing just 9.5 points per game. Linebacker Brad Raredon, Hope’s leading tackler against Aurora, has made five of the Dutchmen’s 16 interceptions, while Cole Luhmann is the team’s leader for the season with 76 stops. Defensive end Jack Lamancusa has made 12 tackles for loss.

This Week for the Cardinals: North Central achieved its 20th postseason victory at home Saturday, prevailing over Whitworth by a 42-17 count after taking control early with a 21-point first quarter.

The Cardinals opened the game on defense for the first time this season. On the first play from scrimmage, Will Vernon intercepted a pass and scored on a 29-yard return, the second interception taken to the house by the senior this season and the fourth overall by North Central.

North Central ran for 350 of its 493 yards, surpassing the 300-yard mark for the fourth time in five outings. Joe Sacco scored two touchdowns and gained a career-high 198 yards on just 10 carries. Sacco’s three highest singe-game yardage totals have come in the postseason.

Luke Lehnen completed 10 of 13 passes for 137 yards and touchdowns to Myles Walton and Thomas Skokna. Rahmareon Roby made a career-high seven tackles to share the team lead with BJ Adamchik.

North Central has scored at least two touchdowns rushing and passing in every game this season and owns a 34-game home winning streak dating back to 2018.

North Central vs. the MIAA: This is the Cardinals’ 22nd game against an MIAA opponent and the first since North Central’s 41-7 victory over Trine University on Sept. 12, 2015.

The Cardinals are 12-7-2 all-time against MIAA opposition.
 

North Central in the NCAA Playoffs:  The Cardinals own a 32-13 overall record in the Division III Football Championship, including trips to the national championship game, the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, the last four seasons. North Central is 20-4 in postseason home games.

North Central won the 2019 and 2022 national championships and finished as the national runner-up in 2021 and 2023. The Cardinals first qualified for the national quarterfinals in 2010 and the semifinals in 2013.

Elsewhere in the Bracket: The winner of this game will play the winner of the third-round matchup between Cortland (New York) and Springfield (Massachusetts) in next week’s national quarterfinal.

Other third-round games in the Cardinals’ side of the bracket feature Bethel (Minnesota) at Wartburg (Iowa) and Susquehanna (Pennsylvania) at Saint John’s (Minnesota).

Pryor Earns Coaches’ All-America Selection: Sam Pryor was named to the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Coaches’ All-America First Team this week, becoming the eighth Cardinal offensive lineman and 17th North Central player overall to be so honored.

Pryor has started 51 games at right guard the past four seasons, earning four All-Conference selections and this year’s CCIW Offensive Line Student-Athlete of the Year award.

Cardinals Sweep CCIW Individual Awards: North Central claimed each of the CCIW’s annual individual awards last week after closing out its fourth straight CCIW championship.

Lehnen was recognized as the Offensive Student-Athlete of the Year for the second straight season, marking the eighth consecutive time a Cardinal has claimed the distinction. Defensive tackle John Sullivan shares this year’s Defensive Student-Athlete of the Year honors. A North Central defensive lineman has won or shared the award each of the last three seasons.

Guard Sam Pryor was voted the Offensive Line Student-Athlete of the Year, extending the Cardinals’ string of six straight honorees since the award was introduced in 2018. Running back Donovan McNeal was selected as the First-Year Offensive Student-Athlete of the Year, an honor presented for the first time last season.

Tight end Bobby Behmer received his third straight CCIW Elite 26 Award, presented to the student-athlete with the highest grade-point average among the top two teams in the final CCIW standings.

North Central head coach Brad Spencer was named the CCIW Coach of the Year, becoming just the second coach in the conference’s history to be so recognized three straight years.

All-CCIW Teams: A total of 19 Cardinals received All-CCIW accolades, 11 of which were voted to the First Team.

First Team Offense selections include Lehnen (quarterback), Skokna (wide receiver), Pryor (offensive line), Jeske Maples (offensive line) and Ryan Kennelly (offensive line). Making the Second Team are Behmer (tight end), Nick Fehrle (offensive line), Jack Rummell (wide receiver) and Joe Sacco (running back).

The Cardinals’ six First Team Defense honorees are Sullivan (defensive line), Cortez Jones (defensive line), BJ Adamchik (linebacker), Brayden Garrigan (defensive back), Zack Orr (defensive back) and Rahmareon Roby (defensive back). Second Team selections are Jacob Vincent (defensive line), Angelo Cusumano (linebacker) and Jahmar Daniel (defensive back).

Wide receiver Jacob Paradee is a Second Team All-CCIW selection as a return specialist.

Lehnen Establishes National Records: Lehnen is the national all-divisions active leader in passing efficiency (212.0) and is on pace to establish a new collegiate career record.

The current record (202.6) is held by Mount Union’s D’Angelo Fulford (2016-2019).

Lehnen has already established new all-divisions records for consecutive games with a touchdown pass (55) and touchdowns responsible for (198).  The former record was 190, set from 2019-2023 by John Matocha of the Colorado School of Mines.

Lehnen has increased his career total offense yardage total to 14,855, bettering the previous standard of 14,568 set by Mount Union’s Kevin Burke (2011-2014).

Cardinals’ Career TD Passes Record Vanquished: Lehnen has thrown for 150 touchdown passes as a collegian, the most in the Cardinals’ history. Lehnen’s total ranks fifth in Division III history and 11th in college football history.

Lehnen now ranks fifth in Division III history and 11th in college football history in touchdown passes. Mount Union’s Braxton Plunk (2019-23) owns the Division III record (158).

Adamchik Takes Place Among Top Tacklers: Adamchik’s team-high 54 tackles thus far this season have pushed his career total to 250, ranking him sixth in the Cardinal’s history in total stops. Adamchik has the most tackles of any active CCIW defender.

Orr Poised for Top 10 in Interceptions: Zack Orr enters Saturday’s game with eight career interceptions. A ninth pick would move Orr into a six-way tie for ninth in the team’s history.
 

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