Sep 24, 2016
Maintaining a constant presence in the opposing backfield and making strides in its running game, the North Central College football team extended the unblemished start to its season Saturday, cruising to a 42-7 victory over Millikin University at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium.
Coming off a week during which it set a single-game school record with six interceptions in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) opener at Illinois Wesleyan University, the Cardinals' defensive unit applied pressure on Millikin quarterback Nicco Stepina all night long and kept the Big Blue's running game bottled up. North Central recorded 13 tackles for loss and six quarterback sacks, both among the program's all-time top 10, and allowed only 56 rushing yards on 41 carries.
"Our defense has done a great job, "said North Central head coach Jeff Thorne. "It's kind of been our calling card all year, getting pressure on the quarterback and creating havoc. We played really well on defense, especially when we needed to. They just did an amazing job stepping up."
The Cardinals put themselves in the driver's seat early on by scoring on each of its first three possessions of the evening. Quarterback Broc Rutter led North Central down the field on the game's first drive and completed a three-yard touchdown pass to Alex Ulmer. After forcing a Millikin punt, the Cardinals doubled their advantage to 14-0 on Austin Breunig's two-yard touchdown run. North Central converted a pair of third downs on the drive, including a leaping 23-yard catch by Ryan Kuhl to put the hosts in the red zone on third-and-eight.
The Big Blue jumpstarted its next drive with a 60-yard pass from Stepina to wideout Jordan Smith, but a pair of tackles for loss by defensive end Ben Wiley and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty derailed Millikin's progress and the possession ended on a failed fourth-down conversion attempt at the North Central 32-yard line. The Big Blue attempted five fourth-down conversions during the game, converting only once.
"All week long, we did a lot of work on pass recognition and the coaches did a great job of coaching us up," said Wiley, who recorded three tackles for loss in the game. "The whole defensive line did a great job with it. It was a team effort and everybody did great."
The Cardinals (4-0, 2-0 CCIW) extended their lead to 21-0 early in the second period when Rutter expertly fired a pass over Ulmer's outside shoulder for a 21-yard touchdown. Millikin got on the board with its lone score on the next drive, benefiting from a pair of North Central personal-foul penalties and scoring on Stepina's 15-yard TD pass to Gerald Perry with 12:10 left in the first half. Rutter connected with Ulmer for 21 yards and Dylan Warden for 24 more to put the Cardinals on the doorstep for another score, and Breunig crossed the goal line from three yards out two plays later to extend the lead to 28-7.
Millikin threatened to narrow the gap just before halftime, as defensive back Caleb Belcher intercepted a pass and returned it to the Cardinals' 23. North Central's defense, however, stood tall and limited the Big Blue to a net loss of a yard before a failed fourth-down pass on the first half's final play.
The visitors took the opening drive of the second half deep into Cardinal territory as well, gaining 68 yards on 14 plays and eating up more than eight minutes of game time, though they were turned away once again as Josh Leonhard and DJ Warkenthien stuffed a running play up the middle on fourth down-and-two at the North Central 10-yard line. The Cardinals' offense took the field and traveled 90 yards in just nine plays, as Rutter hit Warden for 27 yards before Jack Dibble, on his first carry of the game, ran for a two-yard touchdown with 3:20 on the third-quarter clock.
North Central traveled just 28 yards for its final score after Pat Cravens came through with a 42-yard punt return. Two plays later, Dibble rambled 21 yards to the end zone to account for the game's final margin. The Big Blue put together another extended drive, rolling up 88 yards on 14 plays, but once again came up empty with a turnover on downs. The possession concluded with three straight unsuccessful pass attempts from the North Central five-yard line, two of which were broken up by Larry Holman and Nate Bailey.
The Cardinals owned a 409-285 advantage in total yardage, gaining a season-high 172 rushing yards. Rutter completed 13 of 21 passes for 223 yards, while Ulmer caught four passes for 63 yards and Breunig gained 94 yards on 22 carries. Justin Stuursma put up a team-high eight tackles for North Central, while Tommy Sora totaled seven tackles, three tackles for loss and two sacks.
"We definitely wanted to improve in the running game," Breunig said. "We'd been struggling to run the ball lately. We didn't quite hit the goal we set for ourselves, but the running game was stronger today. We've just to keep working and get better."
Stepina completed 11 of 22 passes for 197 yards, finding Perry seven times for 124 yards. Linebacker Nikia Averitte recorded a game-high 12 tackles for the Big Blue (1-2, 0-1 CCIW).
The Cardinals are idle until Saturday, Oct. 8, when they travel to face North Park University (1-3, 0-2). Kickoff at the Holmgren Athletic Complex is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.