North Central defense stymies Springfield in Division III quarterfinal win
North Central moved one step closer to reaching its fifth straight national title game by beating Springfield (Massachusetts) 27-3 in the Division III quarterfinals on Saturday in Naperville.
The Cardinals (13-0) came away with some injury concerns, with their top two running backs, Joe Sacco and Charles Coleman, both leaving the game early. North Central still rushed for 232 yards, led by Sean Allen with 94 on 15 attempts.
“I'm always ready. The whole group of running backs, we all practice the same,” said Allen, a Homewood-Flossmoor grad. “ I knew when my name was called, I was ready to go.”
North Central will host Susquehanna (Pennsylvania) next week in the semifinals. Susquehanna scored the go-ahead touchdown with a minute left to take the lead over Bethel (Minnesota) on Saturday, then survived a controversial ending as a Bethel TD pass on the final play was nullified by a holding penalty.
The Cardinals were in control of their game from the start. Sacco (St. Edward) burst through the middle for a 37-yard run on the first offensive play. That started an 8-play, 70-yard scoring drive, which ended with a 2-yard touchdown pass from QB Luke Lehnen to Thomas Skokna (Hinsdale Central).
North Central survived a lost fumble in its own end, got a 26-yard field goal from Andre Casas (Oswego East), then scored on a 3-yard TD run by Allen with 1:47 left in the second quarter. Springfield added a field goal to make it 17-3 at halftime.
Springfield (12-1) hadn't scored less than 31 points in any game this season but never found the end zone against the North Central defense. Early in the fourth quarter, the Pride ran a double reverse on fourth down. Blane Hart reversed field and ran for an apparent 14-yard TD, but it was called back by a blindside block penalty.
North Central freshman linebacker Matt Janiak (Plainfield South) was credited with 17 tackles, followed by defensive lineman John Sullivan (Lakes) and linebacker Danny Nuccio (Plainfield North) with 10 each.
“Our guys did a great job this week preparing for a little bit different style of football, particularly on defense,” North Central coach Brad Spencer said. “To hold them to 3 points, rush for more yards than them, all credit to our coaches and our players for executing a really good plan, trusting it and sticking to it. Happy to be playing again.”
Springfield is a very run-heavy team, coming into this game with just 53 pass attempts all season. Fullback Arsen Shtefan is the No. 2 rusher in Division III, but he left the field with an apparent right shoulder injury on the Pride's first offensive drive. Shtefan continued to play, clearly wasn't 100%, but still finished with 92 yards on 20 carries.
Springfield starting QB Jacob Silvester suffered a knee injury in the final regular-season game and was replaced by sophomore Drew Heenan. Heenan completed just 3 of 10 passes for 33 yards.
Casas hit a 35-yard field goal with 3:49 left in the third quarter to make it 20-3, then the Cardinals put the game out of reach with a 15-yard TD pass from Lehnen to Jack Rummell with 7:14 remaining. An interception by linebacker B.J. Adamchik ended Springfield's final drive.
The game got a little feisty at the end. North Central defensive back Zack Orr was hit with a targeting penalty, which means he'll likely have to sit out the first half of next week's game. Two Springfield players were ejected in the fourth quarter.