Closing out a spectacular regular season with a familiar formula for victory, the North Central College football team celebrated its third straight College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) championship Saturday with a 61-17 victory over host Augustana College at Lindberg Stadium in Rock Island Saturday.
The No. 1-ranked Cardinals (10-0, 9-0 CCIW) closed out a third straight unbeaten regular season and won their 17th CCIW title all-time, setting new conference single-season records for points scored (576), touchdowns (83) and total offensive yards (5,504). North Central’s 33-game winning streak in CCIW play is the longest since Augustana went 55-0-1 across seven seasons from 1981-87.
Taking the ball for the game’s first possession, the Cardinals got a 27-yard run from Joe Sacco on the first play from scrimmage which ignited a 10-play, 65-yard drive which was kept alive by a 19-yard scramble by quarterback Luke Lehnen on fourth down. Facing third down-and-goal from the Augustana six-yard line, wide receiver DeAngelo Hardy took a direct snap and ran six yards for a touchdown, Hardy’s second rushing score of the campaign and fifth of his career.
The Vikings (8-2, 7-2) made a bid for their own first-drive touchdown, but Jahron Williams broke up a pass attempt in the end zone on third-and-goal. Augustana’s Sidney Maroon kicked a 25-yard field goal, cutting the Cardinals’ lead to 6-3 with 5:00 left in the first period. On the ensuing possession, Sacco got North Central going again with runs of 22 and 13 yards, and Charles Coleman gained six yards on another fourth-down conversion attempt to keep the North Central offense on the field. Coleman got the ball again on the next play, tearing through the right side for a 44-yard touchdown. The Cardinals held a 13-3 advantage after one quarter.
A 27-yard punt return by Jacob Paradee and a personal-foul penalty on the Vikings set North Central up with a short field on its next drive, taking possession at the Augustana 21. Lehnen connected with Hardy on both plays of the two-play trip, as Hardy’s nine-yard scoring reception raised the Cardinals’ lead to 20-3 with 14:14 left in the first half.
After forcing another punt, North Central went 73 yards in five plays and scored on Sacco’s eight-yard run with 5:55 on the clock. Augustana took the ball to begin the second half and scored its first touchdown of the day on Cole Bhardwaj’s three-yard pass to Jake Miller.
The Cardinals responded just four plays later, as Lehnen connected with Jack Rummell for a 56-yard score. Bhardwaj added a six-yard TD pass to Ben Ludlum with 3:21 left in the third period, though North Central answered in kind once again on the first play of the fourth quarter as Jordan Chisum closed a seven-play, 63-yard trek with a one-yard touchdown run. Coleman posted the final touchdown of the day, running 18 yards to the end zone with 38 seconds remaining.
The Cardinals gained 617 yards with a balanced effort, traveling 313 yards on the ground and 304 through the air. Lehnen finished the day 18 of 23 passing, finding Hardy seven times for a game-high 120 yards, while Sacco ran for 135 yards on 15 carries. Sacco eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark in rushing and now ranks tenth in the Cardinals’ history with 1,125 yards this season. North Central’s defense was led by BJ Adamchik’s season-high 11 tackles, while Bell and Zack Orr each finished with nine.
The Cardinals receive the CCIW’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Football Championship.
—North Central College