We must enjoy championship form when we see it because it is the exception. It is rare. It does happen and North Central College in the evening Friday, Dec. 17 will seek its second consecutive Division III college football national championship. The Cardinals of North Central won the national championship in 2019, however, because of COVID-19 there were no playoffs in 2020.
North Central will play another Division III power, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas) for the championship. Both teams will enter the championship game with undefeated records. In fact, both schools are the only two which have been ranked No. 1 this season in polls. The first few weeks Mary Hardin-Baylor was No. 1 and North Central exhibited significant power and ascended to No. 1. Both teams will come into the game with something to prove and seek to achieve. The game will be played at 6 p.m. in Canton, Ohio, in the A.A. Stagg Bowl in the a new stadium. Division III is the third level of competition. Divisions I and II are larger schools based on enrollment and level of scholarship offers. D-III is good quality competition. Any level of championship is good quality and has been tested for cohesiveness, endurance, and competence. The quality of the North Central coaching staff has brought the team into national prominence with quality and dedicated athletes.
• As a note, for those not informed in historical data, A.A. Stagg was a successful and dedicated coach in the spirit of amateur athletics from the University of Chicago in the 1920s when the school was a member of the Big Ten Conference, once the Big Nine Conference, and later when he was in his 80s as a coach at the College of the Pacific. Success, dedication, amateur athletics, were his calling card.
• Batavia High School in its success in all sports, continues to roll in girls and boys basketball. The girls team suffered a defeat at the hands of Naperville North, 75-59, December 6, then bounced back with victories against Glenbard North, 54-38, then against Burlington Central, 53-52. Brooke Carlson was the leading scorer in each game for Batavia.