Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302

HOUSTON, Texas (Jan. 6, 2025) - After putting the finishing touches on Sunday's national championship victory, the North Central College football program was honored with a pair of final national awards from D3football.com.

North Central quarterback Luke Lehnen, voted the Most Outstanding Player of the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl after leading the Cardinals to a 41-25 victory over the University of Mount Union (Ohio), was named D3football.com's National Offensive Player of the Year. Head coach Brad Spencer '04, meanwhile, was selected as D3football.com's National Coach of the Year.

Lehnen closed out a unique career in the annals of college football history by completing 18 of 26 passes for 298 yards and four touchdowns while rushing for 55 yards and another score. He finished the 2024 campaign with 3,258 yards and 43 touchdowns passing and 979 yards and 15 touchdowns rushing as the Cardinals went 15-0 for a second time in three seasons.

Lehnen was named the second two-time winner of the Gagliardi Trophy, the most prestigious award in Division III football, Friday and has been selected as the inaugural Associated Press Offensive Player of the Year as well as the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Art Keller Offensive Student-Athlete of the Year for the second time.

The four passing touchdowns elevated Lehnen's career total to 162, a new NCAA Division III record and equal to the all-divisions record. Lehnenn completed at least one touchdown pass in all 59 career games (also an all-divisions record) and far surpassed the previous national collegiate record for touchdowns responsible for (190) by authoring 213 total scores. Lehnen's career passing efficiency rating of 211.9 betters the previous all-time collegiate record of 202.6.

In Spencer's three seasons as the Cardinals' head coach, North Central has won 44 of 45 games. The Cardinals scored a collegiate-record 879 points in 2023 and established a Division III standard in 2024 by winning all 15 games by at least 16 points. North Central has won 71 of 74 games the last five seasons, advancing to the national championship game each time and raising three Division III title trophies.

Spencer received his third straight CCIW Bob Reade Coach of the Year award in 2024. Spencer is the first CCIW coach to do so since the award's namesake, Bob Reade, won five straight for Augustana College from 1983-1987.

Sunday's victory bnrings a 46th national championship trophy to North Central and a second during the current academic year. The Cardinals' women's triathlon team won its fifth USA Triathlon Collegiate Championship in six seasons in November.

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