North Central College seeks repeat D-III championship

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Championship time and Christmas/holiday time!

National championship is relevant to the North Central College football team. The Cardinals, based in Naperville, will play for the fourth straight season in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, the championship of the Division III college football teams.

North Central has turned into a Division III college football juggernaut. The Cardinals have played four consecutive seasons for the Division III championship and in the Stagg Bowl game and captured National championships in 2019 and in 2022.

The Stagg Bowl, named after the famed and legendary college football coach of well more than 100 years ago (see below), is played in Salem, Va, in the southwest part of the state, offers incentive to excel for those players who play more for the love of the game for the most part and the love of the situation. As much as Division I football is appreciated and watched when the schedule permits here, many of those players are in the first phases of their professional football careers. It sounds pithy to say they are professional, just in the minor leagues. Division I college football is entertainment for and beneficial to the college scene, in which payment from television contracts is lucrative for the football successful schools recognizable for national success. More North Central below.

•Sports can be more enjoyable at the high school, junior college, and Division III levels, and certainly less profession.. The Division II level, based more on enrollment numbers greater than Division III and greater than success with victories.

High school level during the holidays at the end of the year? High School boys and girls basketball, wrestling, both boys and girls, and other Winter sports provide school area interest and pride with success. The other high school Winter sports in Illinois include girls and boys bowling, girls gymnastics, boys swimming and diving, competitive cheerleading, and competitive dance. All of them can be hard-working participants and love their sports. We can enjoy, be supportive, and understand the high school year in sports will be the extent to which many participants will compete at their levels. Enjoy!

•North Central football has been ranked No. 1 in the Nation nearly all year. The Cardinals were ranked well at the top at the end of the season by D3football.com and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and ranked first all season long. They were undefeated D-III football champions last season and No. 1 now until defeated. There is only game remaining for a team to take down the Cardinals. At the same time it is only one game, not the best out of three or, of five. A bad start for either team could prove fatal if championship is the goal. Either team is good enough to win the game and become the Division III national champion!!!

Running back Joe Sacco from North Central will be integral in the North Central offense in the 6 p.m. championship game Friday, Dec. 15. on television. Consult your local listings if you do not make the game in Virginia. Sacco is a junior from Bartlett who played at St. Edward High School in Elgin. At 5-9 he is built close to the ground. He stacked up 627 yard rushing and scored seven touchdowns. Balance on offense and defense by the Cardinals is well-secure and can be productive. He scored two touchdowns and North Central rallied from behind in the fourth quarter against Wartburg for the victory to propel the Cardinals into the championship game.

Sacco ran for 126 yards against Wartburg on a career-high 28 carries.

•A.A. Stagg, see above, started coaching at the University of Chicago in the 1890s when the sport was just starting at the university level. Stagg was dedicated to coaching and after the University of Chicago thought he was over the hill, he coached in college at Pacific College, then ended coaching in junior high when he was in his 90s. He turned down professional football coaching jobs more than 120 years ago because of his dedication. He was a good player in his youth.

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