Nov 14, 2015
The North Central College football team bade its seniors a fitting farewell on Saturday at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium, piling up a season-high point total in a 56-21 rout of visiting Elmhurst College at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium.
Leading the effort was sophomore running back Austin Breunig, whose four rushing touchdowns pushed his season total to a North Central single-season record of 18. He also tied the Cardinals' single-season records for total touchdowns and total points scored (108).
North Central (7-3, 6-1 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) scored on its first two possessions to seize control early. After Cardinal linebacker Justin Stuursma recovered a botched snap on Elmhurst's game-opening drive, the hosts marched 47 yards in seven plays and scored on Justin Hunniford's 22-yard touchdown pass to Cory Hartema. A Bluejay punt on the ensuing drive was downed at the Elmhurst 36-yard line, and Matt Randolph ran for an 18-yard score four plays later to double the lead.
Breunig delivered the Cardinals' longest play from scrimmage this season early in the second period, breaking free for an 80-yard touchdown run which boosted the lead to 21-0. Elmhurst (4-6, 1-6 CCIW) broke up the shutout with 7:47 left in the first half as quarterback Orlando Hernandez completed a 29-yard scoring pass to tight end Garrett Claxon. Breunig countered with his second TD of the day, scoring on a two-yard run with 5:01 on the clock. Breunig ran the ball for the final four plays of the possession, covering 51 yards. The Bluejays cut the gap to 28-14 just before halftime, as an 11-play, 74-yard trip culminated in a one-yard touchdown plunge by Hernandez.
The Cardinals tacked on a pair of third-quarter scores on a 52-yard pass from Hunniford to Alex Ulmerand a six-yard run by Breunig, and Elmhurst followed with its final TD of the afternoon, a 15-yard pass from backup quarterback Drew Domino to Joe Sanfilippo. Early in the fourth period, Hunniford hit Ulmer for 39 yards on third down before firing a 17-yard touchdown pass to Dylan Warden, and Breunig closed the scoring with a 7-yard run to cap off a 13-play, 66-yard drive.
"It was great to see the offense play the way we're capable of playing," North Central head coach Jeff Thorne said. "We got contributions all over the place, and Justin was tremendous. We needed a good performance from the quarterback position, and that was exciting to see."
North Central piled up 552 total yards, getting 286 through the air and 266 on the ground. Breunig ran 23 times for 192 yards and finishes the year tied for third in school history in single-season rushing yards (1,186) and all-purpose yards (1,402). Hunniford completed 17 of 20 passes, giving him the fifth-best single-game passing accuracy ever by a Cardinal quarterback (85.0 percent). Ryan Kuhl caught four passes for 76 yards, and Ulmer made three grabs for 100 yards.
Tom Sora's eight tackles paced the North Central defense, which totaled four quarterback sacks and recovered two fumbles. Richard Zirngibl added seven tackles, while Stuursma contributed six tackles and two tackles for loss. The Cardinals' defensive unit completed a strong finish to the season, allowing less than 300 total yards to each of its final three opponents.
"I'm really proud of this group of seniors," Thorne mentioned. "The character and resiliency that they've shown over the course of the year is remarkable. They could have folded the tent after losing two heartbreakers in a row, or after losing a really hard-fought game against Wheaton, and they didn't. They came back and fought, and we made a ton of progress on the defensive side of the ball. The defense was tremendous the second half of the year. I want to get to the point where this program is known for its defense, and we've made great strides that way."