North Central takes second in D-III football

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The longest winning streak in college football changed hands Friday, Dec. 17 when the reigning National champion, North Central College football team fell to Mary Hardin-Baylor, 57-24, in the Divisioin III Stagg Bowl championship game. North Central , 13-1, ended its run of 24 consecutive victories and Mary Hardin-Baylor, 15-0, took college football’s longest winning streak with its 20th-consecutive victory.

With the Stagg Bowl making its debut at the Tom Benson Hall of Fame stadium in Canton, Ohio, North Central provided the fireworks to open the proceedings when DeAngelo Hardy returned the game’s opening kickoff 93 yards to give the Cardinals a quick 6-0 lead. UMHB countered with a run of 16 unanswered points.

UMHB took control of the game in the second half, by owning a 38-7 scoring advantage and forcing three Cardinals turnovers. North Central was able to got on the board again in the fourth quarter when Luke Lehnen found Blake Williams for a 30-yard touchdown pass.

Ethan Greenfield finished with 124 rushing yards on 25 carries for his fifth straight 100-yard game. Luke Lehnen finished the game with 18 completed passes 27 attempts for 202 yards. He passed to Andrew Kamienski eight times for 115 yards. Kamienski is the fourth player in Division III history to accumulate more than 5,000 career receiving yards (5,019).

Dakota Cremeens recorded a North Central team-high eight tackles and Jake Beesley broke up three passes, a North Central single-season record 21 passes defended. The Cardinals established team single-season records for rushing yards, 4,118, rushing touchdowns, 66, and pass-breakups 76.

—CCIW.org

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