North Central College Claims National Title

SHENANDOAH, Texas (Dec. 20, 2019) – After sweating out Selection Sunday to become, by all accounts, the final team admitted into the NCAA Division III Football Championship, the North Central College Cardinals completed a five-week barnstorming tour of the nation's top programs on Friday, kicking in the door to what had been a highly exclusive party and overwhelming the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, 41-14, to claim the program's first national title at Woodforest Bank Stadium.

Effingham graduates on the team are Drew  Vasquez, 5-foot-7, 173 pound, senior DB; Braden Hasty, 5-foot-11, 186 pound, sophomore LB; Terrence Hill, 5-foot-10, 173 pound, sophomore RB and Griffin Paige, 6-foot-0, 211 pound, junior LB.

Friday's championship game wound up containing far less drama than the initial tournament selections, as the Cardinals (14-1) racked up the game's first 34 points and were never threatened as they eclipsed the 40-point mark for the 13th time in 15 games. In the process, North Central became the first team other than Wisconsin-Whitewater, the University of Mount Union (Ohio) or the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas) to win a Division III national title since 2004.

"I'm just thrilled with the way these guys played," said North Central head coach Jeff Thorne. "They played their ever-living tails off all year long.  To be here in this position is beyond description, I'm just so grateful. "It's a dream that was launched in 2002 when my dad (John Thorne) took this program over, and so many people have put so much into this, from the administration to our players, alums, parents, to see it to completion and be able to hand that trophy to my dad tonight was very special."

Also for the 13th time in 15 games, the Cardinals took their first possession of the contest into the end zone, benefiting from a 49-yard kickoff return by Terrence Hill. North Central traveled 45 yards in seven plays and scored on Ethan Greenfield's five-yard run to take a lead it would not relinquish less than three minutes into the game. The teams traded punts back and forth twice before the Cardinals' defense stopped Whitewater on fourth down at the North Central 28-yard line. After firing a 28-yard pass to Andrew Kamienski, quarterback Broc Rutter found a wide-open Blake Williams down the middle of the field for a 31-yard touchdown, Williams' seventh of the season.

For the second straight week, defensive back Julian Bell came up big for the North Central defense, intercepting a pass from Warhawk quarterback Max Meylor and returning the ball 20 yards to the Whitewater 46. The Cardinals ran the ball seven times in the ensuing nine-play possession and scored when Rutter, following a timeout, kept the ball on a read-option play from the one-yard line to score his third rushing TD of the year with 10:12 left in the first half.

After a missed Whitewater field goal, the Cardinals ate up six minutes of game time in a 13-play, 74-yard possession and got a two-yard scoring run from Greenfield to increase the lead to 27-0, as it would stand at the end of the first half. North Central owned a 285-138 advantage in total yards at the break.

"What a great first half we played," Thorne said. "Our defense was outstanding all night long. Coach (Shane) Dierking, coach (Tim) Janecek, our defensive staff, the game plan they put together to slow down that rushing attack, they did a great job in taking their zone and power rushing game away, which is what they hang their hat on."

A 47-yard run by tailback Alex Peete on the first play from scrimmage in the second half put the Warhawks (13-2) in striking distance, but a quarterback sack by Dan Gilroy on third down left Whitewater to attempt a 33-yard field goal, which sailed wide left. Rutter jumpstarted the next drive with 18-yard completions to Greenfield and Kamienski before Greenfield, facing third down-and-14, took a handoff and darted through the Warhawk defense for a 38-yard touchdown, his third of the evening, to boost the lead to 34-0 with 7:30 left in the third period.

Whitewater broke up the shutout on its next trip down the field, as a 65-yard kickoff return by Sam DeLany set the Warhawks up with a short field and Meylor finished a five-play, 21-yard drive with a 12-yard scoring pass to Jared Zausch. Following a Cardinal punt, Whitewater took possession at its own eight-yard line and embarked on a 15-play, 92-yard trek that concluded with Peete's one-yard TD plunge with 9:32 to play in the contest. The Warhawks successfully executed an onside kick to regain possession, but Bell stepped up again five plays later, intercepting Meylor for a second time to press pause on the Whitewater comeback effort.

The final scoring drive of the season began for North Central at the Warhawk 35 following a failed fourth-down conversion attempt. Three plays later, on fourth down-and-three, the Cardinals put the contest out of reach as the most prolific passing combination in program history came together for the final time. Rutter found Kamienski for a 28-yard touchdown with 1:58 on the clock, their 46th time doing so, making history for both players. Kamienski became the second player in Division III history to achieve more than 2,000 receiving yards in a single season (2,016), while Rutter became the new all-time Division III national leader in career passing yards (14,265).

"This coaching staff put us in great situations," Rutter said. "We were ready to play and executed our game plan about as well as we could.  We just kept fighting over and over and our offensive line played outstanding against a very good defensive line.  They played their tails off this week, it makes my job so much easier with a line like that and a back like Ethan."

Greenfield, who was named the game's Most Outstanding Player following its conclusion, finished with 138 rushing yards on 27 carries while also catching two passes for 36 yards. He finishes the season as the Division III national leader in rushing yards (2,169), all-purpose yards (2,580), rushing touchdowns (29) and total touchdowns (32).

Rutter finished the night 18 of 27 passing for 263 yards, finding Kamienski nine times for 134. North Central's defense, which allowed only seven first-half points in the final three games of the postseason, was led by Jake Beesley and Zach Butler, each of whom finished with 12 tackles, while Gilroy terrorized the Warhawks to the tune of three tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. The Cardinals finished the night with 14 tackles for loss, pushing their season total to a school-record 115.

The national title is the 40th overall for the North Central athletic department, ranking sixth among Division III institutions and 23rd throughout all of collegiate athletics.

The North Central College football teams continued to stack up the awards as head coach Jeff Thorne was named Coach of the Year by D3football.com and Broc Rutter received Offensive Player of the Year honors, while a program-record tying five Cardinals were named to the All-America teams. Fresh off their national title win, the North Central College football teams continues to stack up the awards as head coach Jeff Thorne was named Coach of the Year by D3football.com and Broc Rutter received Offensive Player of the Year honors, while a program-record tying five Cardinals were named to the All-America teams.

In his fifth year as head coach, Thorne led the Cardinals to the first national championship.  Thorne has led North Central to a 52-9 record, including a single-season high 14 wins this season.

Rutter, the 2019 Gagliardi Trophy winner, adds yet another Player of the Year award and All-America selection, named the First Team quarterback.  Rutter also earned D3football.com North Region and College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Offensive Player of the Year honors this season and became NCAA Division III's all-time leading passer, as his final pass in a Cardinal uniform found his favorite target in Andrew Kamienski for a 28-yard touchdown pass, passing Alex Tanney (2007-11) of Monmouth College (Illinois) with 14,265 career passing yards. Rutter also holds the North Central single-season records for pass completions (309), passing yards (4,591) and passing touchdowns (56).

Junior wide receiver Kamienski and junior offensive lineman Sharmore Clarke were also named to the First Team, while sophomore running back Ethan Greenfield received Second Team honors and junior cornerback Jake Beesley added a Third Team honor to his resume.