Scoring early and often against the last remaining undefeated Division III team, the North Central College football won an historic 45-14 victory over the Muhlenberg College Mules Saturday to clinch North Central’s first trip to the Stagg Bowl.
The Mules boasted the Nation’s third-ranked scoring defense entering Saturday’s game at 9.6 points per game, but fell silent against North Central’s trio of offensive threats in Broc Rutter, Andrew Kamienski, and Ethan Greenfield, who helped pour in 38 first-half points. Kamienski recorded four touchdown receptions, to match his career high, to establish a new Division III single-season record for touchdown receptions with 30.
“I’m so pleased with the way our guys played,” said head coach Jeff Thorne, who called this team’s improbable journey to the Stagg Bowl the realization of 18 years of work beginning when his father John took over the program in 2002, before handing the torch off to him in 2015. “We feel very fortunate to be moving on and are extremely excited to be heading to Texas for our first Stagg Bowl, but we’re not done yet: We still have one more to go.”
The Cardinals day got off to a tough start when Rutter’s first pass attempt was picked off. But Julian Bell quickly regained the momentum for North Central by intercepting Muhlenberg’s Michael Hnatowsky’s pass, and returning the ball 36-yards to Muhlenberg’s 27-yard line. The Cardinals faced little resistance and Rutter eventually found Kamienski on a two-yard pass to give North Central a lead it held the entire game against a team that had trailed only once this season.
North Central held a 293-69 advantage in rushing yards and nearly a 10-minute advantage in time of possession. Rutter completed 16 of 23 passes for 193 yards, while Kamienski finished with 11 receptions for 112 yards. Greenfield led North Central’s rushers with 21 carries for 199 yards. Terrence Hill added 14 carries for 79 yards.
Jake Beesley led the North Central defense with seven tackles. Zach Butler, Cameron Martin, and Isiah Ziegler all had six tackles each. Talha Ayhan was responsible for the lone North Central sack.
“A lot of people talk about our offense, but I thought our defense was the difference today,” Thorne said. “They got stop after stop and put the ball back into the hands of these guys (Rutter, Greenfield, Kamienski).”
Hnatkowsky finished 23 for 41 with 277 passing yards.
The Division III National Championship Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl will be played Friday, Dec. 20 in Shenandoah, Texas. Game time at Woodforest Bank Stadium will be 7 p.m..
—North Central College