Cardinals feel sting of upset loss

True. North Central College returns a slew of talented football players next season. False. That makes Saturday's 38-28 NCAA Division III home loss to Franklin College of Indiana a whole lot easier to swallow.

The much-anticipated shootout between two high-powered offenses started off as expected as top-seeded and previously unbeaten North Central College (11-1) led 14-10 just 10 minutes into the contest after quarterback Aaron Fanthorpe fired TD passes to fellow Naperville North graduate Steve Hlavac on each of the Cardinals' first two possessions.

But the visiting Grizzlies, who lost a last-second heartbreaker to NCC in last year's first-round playoff action, would not be denied this time around even though, unlike last year, this game was on the road. Facing a 14-3 deficit early on, Franklin College (11-1) rode the powerful right arm of record-breaking quarterback Chad Rupp, who last week fired 7 TD passes in a 62-45 opening-round upset win at Otterbein (Ohio).

Rupp completed 29 of 48 passes for 395 yards and 4 TDs - including the 100th of his career - and also rushed for 82 yards as the Grizzlies piled up 524 yards of offense and 30 first downs against North Central. The Cardinals, meanwhile, struggled to answer in large part because Fanthorpe and running back Dominic Sulo each suffered injuries.

During the postgame press conference Cardinals coach John Thorne pointed toward Fanthorpe and Sulo and said, "If those two can figure out how to stay healthy (today) it would have been a real shootout at the end."

Instead, the Cardinals saw a great season end in Round 2 for the third consecutive year, putting next year's squad on the hot seat in an effort to reach the quarterfinals for the first time in school history. Franklin College, meanwhile, will host a quarterfinal game against a Wheaton College squad that fell 44-21 to North Central last month.

"We know what we have coming back and we're a confident group," said Sulo, who rushed for 83 yards and one score before suffering an elbow injury in the second half. "Three of our captains are juniors - there's only room to improve."

But after Sulo's 18-yard TD run put the hosts on top 21-17 with 1:21 left in the first half, the Cards were thinking more about next week than next year. Fanthorpe was 12 for 15 in the first half for 183 yards and two scores, with Hlavac also having a monster half.

Fanthorpe suffered a leg injury in the second quarter and gave way to Kyle Kniss, who had a touchdown and an interception in reserve. The Cards' team leader returned before the end of the half, but his mobility was suffering, and he was reinjured in the second half as the Grizzlies turned a 21-17 halftime deficit into a 38-21 lead before Kniss's late TD to Joseph Sosinki made the final 38-28.

"It was just one of those days where too many things started piling up," Thorne said. "Franklin had a tremendous game plan and they put a lot of pressure on our quarterbacks."