Setting the Scene: The Cardinals face a second straight run-heavy opponent as they look to reserve a spot in the national semifinals for the fifth consecutive season.
Series History: This is the first football meeting between the two institutions. North Central has never played a football team from the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference.
National Rankings: North Central was ranked No. 1 nationally in the most recent NCAA Division III Top 25 Polls by D3football.com and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA). Springfield was ranked No. 20 by the AFCA and No. 23 by D3football.com.
The Cardinals have been ranked No. 1 in the last 32 AFCA regular-season polls and 41 of the last 44 D3football.com regular-season polls.
Scouting the Pride: Springfield opened the postseason with a 54-27 victory over UMASS-Darmouth before defeating No. 2-ranked Cortland (New York), 40-28, in the third round to set a new single-season program record for wins.
The Pride owned a 20-7 lead after one quarter vs. Cortland, scoring twice in short-field situations following a kickoff return and a fumble recovery. Springfield put the game out of reach with a 12-play, 98-yard touchdown drive that consumed nearly seven minutes of the fourth-quarter clock.
Fullback Arsen Shtefan, currently ranked second nationally in rushing yards (1,624) and third in touchdowns (21), ran for 148 yards and two scores against Cortland, leading an effort which saw the Pride gain 351 yards on 71 rushing attempts.
Springfield leads Division III in rushing yards, averaging 443.9 per game. The running game comprises the bulk of the Pride's offense as it has attempted just 53 passes this season. Halfback Blane Hart has run for 794 yards and 17 touchdowns, gaining just more than 10 yards per attempt.
The Pride defense stopped three drives on fourth down and forced three turnovers last week. Of Springfield's 30 offensive touchdowns allowed, 21 have come through the air. The Pride have allowed 16.9 points and 279.9 yards per game in 2024, led by linebacker Billy Carr's 78 tackles and 9.5 tackles for loss.
This Week for the Cardinals: North Central won its 12th straight postseason home game Saturday, prevailing in its third-round game against Hope, 41-21.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Cardinals scored on their next seven offensive possessions to take control of the contest. North Central outgained the Flying Dutchmen, 486-334, forced three turnovers, and owned a nearly six-minute advantage in time of possession.
Joe Sacco ran for 120 yards on 19 carries to top the 100-yard plateau for a second straight week. Luke Lehnen gained 93 yards on 10 attempts while completing 13 of 18 passes for 234 yards. Each ran for a touchdown and Lehnen also threw scoring passes to Thomas Skokna and Bobby Behmer. Skokna caught four passes for a career-high 119 receiving yards.
Brayden Garrigan made a season-high nine tackles while Rahmareon Roby and Jahmar Daniel intercepted passes and Danny Nuccio recovered a fumble. Roby and Garrigan now share the Cardinals' team lead in interceptions (3).
North Central has scored at least two touchdowns rushing and passing in every game this season and owns a 35-game home winning streak dating back to 2018.
North Central in the NCAA Playoffs: The Cardinals own a 33-13 overall record in the Division III Football Championship, including trips to the national championship game, the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, the last four seasons. North Central is 21-4 in postseason home games.
North Central won the 2019 and 2022 national championships and finished as the national runner-up in 2021 and 2023. The Cardinals first qualified for the national quarterfinals in 2010 and the semifinals in 2013.
Elsewhere in the Bracket: The winner of this game will play the winner of the quarterfinal matchup between Susquehanna (Pennsylvania) and Bethel (Minnesota) in next week's national semifinal.
Other quarterfinal games feature Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas) at Johns Hopkins (Maryland) and Mount Union (Ohio) at Salisbury (Maryland).
Pryor Earns Coaches' All-America Selection: Sam Pryor was named to the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Coaches' All-America First Team, becoming the eighth Cardinal offensive lineman and 17th North Central player overall to be so honored.
Pryor has started 52 games at right guard the past four seasons, earning four All-Conference selections and this year's CCIW Offensive Line Student-Athlete of the Year award.
Cardinals Sweep CCIW Individual Awards: North Central claimed each of the CCIW's annual individual awards last week after closing out its fourth straight CCIW championship.
Lehnen was recognized as the Offensive Student-Athlete of the Year for the second straight season, marking the eighth consecutive time a Cardinal has claimed the distinction. Defensive tackle John Sullivan shares this year's Defensive Student-Athlete of the Year honors. A North Central defensive lineman has won or shared the award each of the last three seasons.
Pryor's selection as Offensive Line Student-Athlete of the Year extends the Cardinals' string of six straight honorees since the award was introduced in 2018. Running back Donovan McNeal was selected as the First-Year Offensive Student-Athlete of the Year, an honor presented for the first time last season.
Tight end Bobby Behmer received his third straight CCIW Elite 26 Award, presented to the student-athlete with the highest grade-point average among the top two teams in the final CCIW standings.
North Central head coach Brad Spencer was named the CCIW Coach of the Year, becoming just the second coach in the conference's history to be so recognized three straight years.
All-CCIW Teams: A total of 19 Cardinals received All-CCIW accolades, 11 of which were voted to the First Team.
First Team Offense selections include Lehnen (quarterback), Skokna (wide receiver), Pryor (offensive line), Jeske Maples (offensive line) and Ryan Kennelly (offensive line). Making the Second Team are Behmer (tight end), Nick Fehrle (offensive line), Jack Rummell (wide receiver) and Sacco (running back).
The Cardinals' six First Team Defense honorees are Sullivan (defensive line), Cortez Jones (defensive line), BJ Adamchik (linebacker), Brayden Garrigan (defensive back), Zack Orr (defensive back) and Roby (defensive back). Second Team selections are Jacob Vincent (defensive line), Angelo Cusumano (linebacker) and Jahmar Daniel (defensive back).
Wide receiver Jacob Paradee is a Second Team All-CCIW selection as a return specialist.
Lehnen Establishes National Records: Lehnen is the national all-divisions active leader in passing efficiency (211.9) and is on pace to establish a new collegiate career record. The current record (202.6) is held by Mount Union's D'Angelo Fulford (202.6).
Lehnen has already established new all-divisions records for consecutive games with a touchdown pass (56) and touchdowns responsible for (201). The former record was 190, set from 2019-2023 by John Matocha of the Colorado School of Mines.
Lehnen has increased his career total offense yardage total to 15,182, bettering the previous standard of 14,568 set by Mount Union's Kevin Burke (2011-2014).
Cardinals' Career TD Passes Record Vanquished: Lehnen has thrown for 152 touchdown passes as a collegian, the most in the Cardinals' history. Lehnen's total ranks third in Division III history and eighth in college football history.
Mount Union's Braxton Plunk (2019-23) owns the Division III record (158).
Adamchik Takes Place Among Top Tacklers: Adamchik's team-high 58 tackles thus far this season have pushed his career total to 254, ranking him sixth in the Cardinal's history in total stops. Adamchik has the most tackles of any active CCIW defender.
Orr Poised for Top 10 in Interceptions: Zack Orr enters Saturday's game with eight career interceptions. A ninth pick would move Orr into a six-way tie for ninth in the team's history.