Cardinals break 27-year skid
North Central claimed victory at Augustana's Ericson Field for the first time since 1980, dominating the Vikings 31-15 Saturday in College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin action. The Cardinals improved to 6-2 overall and 4-1 in the CCIW while Augie fell to 3-5, 1-4.
The key to the game was the Cardinals' run defense, which held the Vikings' sixth-ranked rushing offense to only 108 net yards. Forced to pass, Augustana quarterbacks were a combined 10 of 21 for 128 yards, one interception and one touchdown. In addition North Central was the team with the dominant ground game, rushing for 259 yards on 51 attempts.
The game didn't exactly get off to a great start for the Cardinals, as they fumbled the opening kickoff, and coupled with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, gave Augustana the ball on the North Central 13-yard line. The Vikings capitalized quickly as quarterback Tim Podulka found Josh Galliart for a 15-yard touchdown pass and 7-0 lead just over one minute into the game.
North Central countered immediately on its ensuing drive, marching 79 yards in 11 plays to even the score at 7s. Quarterback Aaron Fanthorpe (Naperville North) had runs of 31, 9 and 11 on the drive to set up first-and-10 at the Augustana 4. Dominic Sulo capitalized three plays later with a 1-yard touchdown run.
Although Sulo leads the CCIW in rushing, it was Fanthorpe who gained the most yards on the ground Saturday with 106 yards on 17 attempts. Sulo added 84 yards on 14 carries, Pat Malek 42 yards on 10 attempts and Phil Rossberg 29 yards on 7 carries.
After Augustana missed a 43-yard field goal on its ensuing possession, the Cardinals took a 14-7 lead with just seconds remaining in the first quarter by covering 73 yards in 10 plays. The key to the drive was a pass interference call that gave North Central the ball at the Augie 18.
Two plays later, Fanthorpe connected with Perry Welch on a 10-yard touchdown pass.
The Cardinals led 24-7 at halftime thanks to a 27-yard field goal by Ben Aguilar (Benet), and a 2-yard touchdown catch by Michael MacIntosh (Decatur, Ill./Mt. Zion). MacIntosh's score was set up by great field position as North Central started at the Augie 31 thanks to a 12-yard punt.
Wheaton 48, Elmhurst 7:ŒThe Thunder scored 34 second-half points to pull away at Elmhurst in a CCIW game.
Wheaton (8-0, 5-0) totaled 476 yards on offense. Andrew Hershey, Dan Newman, Brett Jackson and Rocky Gingg each ran for a touchdown, and Alex Pokorny caught a 40-yard TD pass from Kyle Bradley.
The Bluejays got their lone touchdown on a 44-yard pass to Blake Veldhuis from Chris Kudyba in the third quarter.