Sep 20, 2014
Making its home debut in front of a large and energized crowd at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium, the North Central College football team treated its supporters to a stellar performance Saturday night, racing to a big early lead and defeating the seventh-ranked University of Wisconsin-Platteville Pioneers, 28-7.
The Cardinals (2-0) added the win to the second-round playoff victory they recorded over UWP last season, marking the first time in North Central's history that the Cardinals hosted the same team in two straight home games.
The hosts threatened to turn the contest into a rout in the first period, scoring three touchdowns in less than six minutes to seize control. North Central took the game's opening drive 67 yards in nine plays to secure the game's first score, getting third-down conversions on a 16-yard pass from Dylan Wardento Peter Sorenson as well as an 11-yard run by Ryan Kent. Warden later lofted an eight-yard touchdown pass to tight endKolton Kuczynski, whose first career TD reception gave the Cardinals a 7-0 lead with 11:12 on the first-quarter clock.
Just two plays later, North Central found itself in the end zone again after scoring a defensive touchdown for the second time in as many weeks. The Cardinals' Kevin Schroeder sacked Platteville quarterback Bryce Corrigan and caused a fumble, which was scooped up by teammate Nick Samuelson for a 23-yard return and score. After forcing the Pioneers (2-1) to go three plays and out on their next drive, North Central quickly scored again. The home team traveled 78 yards in six plays, each of which came on the ground, and scored on a seven-yard run by Kent with 5:52 remaining in the opening period. The Cardinals made use of a 22-yard run by Kent and a 29-yard scamper by Matt Randolph on consecutive plays to get into Platteville territory.
"We ran the ball really well against them last year," said Kent, who rushed for 257 yards and four touchdowns in last season's playoff win over the Pioneers. "We knew they were going to change some things up. Coach Jeff (Thorne) is really good at adjusting at halftime, and we changed some things up in the second half."
North Central was kept off the board the remainder of the first half but kept the Pioneers scoreless until halftime as well. The visitors put together their lone scoring drive of the game on their first possession of the second half. UWP went 76 yards in 10 plays as Corrigan completed 6 of 8 passes and threw a three-yard TD pass to Trevor Whitehead with 10:34 to play in the third quarter. The Cardinals put Platteville's next drive to an end after three plays when Trey Hartema intercepted a pass, and another Pioneer miscue proved costly on their next possession, as an errant snap from center was recovered byPeter Mann to halt a drive which had advanced to the North Central 10-yard line.
The Cardinals quickly capitalized on the error and turned it into a score. Warden completed passes to Kuczynski and Ryan Kuhl, then handed off to Kent for a seven-yard run. On the next play, Kent's number was called again, and the senior broke through a series of attempted arm tackles and sprinted 62 yards for his second rushing touchdown. The Pioneers saw their next drive advance to the North Central nine-yard line before a failed fourth-down covnersion, and Jordan Deanended UWP's final drive with an interception of his own.
"We knew if we played our game the right way, we would do pretty well," said North Central linebacker Michael Monterrubio, who totaled a game-high 14 tackles after missing last week's season opener at St. Norbert College due to injury. "We made a few adjustments up front, but we pretty much just stuck to what we were doing the whole game."
The Cardinals rolled up 303 rushing yards and owned a 414-310 advantage in total offense. Kent ran for 177 yards on 22 carries, becoming the seventh North Central player to rush for at least 2,000 yards in a career (2,076), while Warden completed 9 of 19 passes for 111 yards and ran 12 times for 62 yards. Peter Sorenson was the Cardinals' top receiver with three catches for 72 yards.
Corrigan completed 30 of 53 passes for 233 yards, with Whitehead making nine catches for 73 yards. Tailback Andy Puccini gained 82 yards on 19 rushing attempts and caught seven passes for 59 yards. Linebacker Jacob Zilbar led the Pioneers with 12 tackles.
North Central concludes its non-conference schedule on Saturday, traveling to face the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, which is 2-0 following a 37-21 win over Coe College. Kickoff at Community Stadium is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Links to live audio, video and in-game statistics are available by clicking HERE.