The North Central College football team raced to a huge early lead and got into the end zone in all three phases of the game Saturday, improving to 2-0 in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) by defeating the North Park University Vikings, 58-26, at the Holmgren Athletic Complex.
The 12th-ranked Cardinals (4-1) scored 28 unasnswered points to start the game and never looked back, scoring a defensive touchdown for the fourth time in five games and recording the longest kickoff return in the program's history. North Central extended its winning streak against the Vikings to 19 games.
North Central lost starting quarterback Tyler Dicken and starting running back Ryan Kent to injury in the first quarter before getting on the scoreboard. Dylan Warden entered the game at quarterback with the ball on the Vikings' two-yard line and promptly delivered a two-yard touchdown pass to tight endKolton Kuczynski with 9:46 on the first-quarter clock. Running back Zack Pattat doubled the lead to 14-0 after just three plays on the Cardinals' second drive, also scoring from two yards out.
"For whatever reason, we also seem to have a lot of injuries on this field," said North Central head coach John Thorne. "Dylan and the running backs really stepped up. Having John Hoseyback on the offensive line was gigantic. It just seemed to calm everybody down up front to have him back, and he had a wonderful game. Hopefully, we've found some combinations that will keep working for us."
Just three plays later, the Cardinals were in the end zone again courtesy of linebacker Michael Monterrubio, who intercepted a pass from North Park quarterback T.D. Conway and ran it back 45 yards for a touchdown. North Central's defense has now returned two interceptions and two fumbles for scores in 2014.
"That pick by Monterrubio and the whole runback was pretty darn athletic," Thorne said. "He broke a lot of tackles and showed some great speed. We got some good pressure on the quarterback, particularly from Justin Stuursma, and that pressure was very important in getting them out of their rhythm."
North Central added a fourth first-quarter touchdown with 1:17 still left on the clock, as Matt Randolph capped off a five-play, 69-yard drive with a 30-yard scoring run. The Vikings (0-5, 0-2 CCIW) bounced back with a pair of TD passes from Conway before the Cardinals scored on a two-yard run by Pattat and a 33-yard run by Oshayne Brown. After the snap for a North Park punt attempt sailed out of the end zone for a safety, North Central went into halftime with a 44-13 advantage.
After linebacker Nick Samuelson ended North Park's first second-half drive with an interception, the Cardinals drove 37 yards in seven plays to get in the end zone on Warden's 12-yard pass to Alex Ulmer. Conway hit wideout Terrance Wright for a 77-yard scoring strike on the third play of the Vikings' next drive, but Ulmer struck again shortly thereafter by returning the ensuing kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown.
Ulmer scored on the first kickoff return of his collegiate career and recorded the longest kickoff return in North Central's history. The previous record of 90 yards had been accomplished twice, most recently by Joe Kubik in 1989, also against North Park.
"The hole I had to run through was huge," Ulmer said. "I really didn't have to do much. I think one guy might have touched me, but the guys up front did a great job to open it up."
"That play was electric," Thorne said. "I told one of the other coaches that I don't think he's ever going to come off that unit."
Using 10 different ball carriers and nine different receivers, the Cardinals rolled up 444 yards of offense. Brown led the way in the ground game with 62 yards on 11 carries, while Pattat ran nine times for 48 yards. Warden completed 15 of 17 passes, posting the fourth-best single-game accuracy in school history, for 165 yards, and Peter Sorenson gained a team-high 50 receiving yards on three catches.
Stuursma totaled a team-high eight tackles, while Samuelson finished with six and Andrew Bordner totaled five. Kevin Schroeder also intercepted a pass and Bill Mitchell and Jimmy Pelnarsh each recorded quarterback sacks.
Conway completed 23 of 45 passes for 349 yards for the Vikings, hitting Devin Childress nine times for 117 yards. Safety Philip Pendleton made a game-high 12 tackles.
North Central hosts Carthage College (2-3, 1-1) on Homecoming Weekend next Saturday. Kickoff at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium is set for 2:00 p.m.
Fast Start Carries North Central
/seasons/2014/boxscores/20141011_ke6n.xml
2014
North Central (Ill.)
58
North Park
26
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 15 North Central (Ill.) (4-1) | 28 | 16 | 14 | 0 | 58 |
| North Park (0-5) | 0 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 26 |
Oct 11, 2014