Getting vital contributions from its defensive and special-teams units on a day when conditions made maintaining possession difficult, the North Central College football team kept itself in College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) championship contention Saturday as the 19th-ranked Cardinals knocked off the 15th-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University Titans, 33-15, at Tucci Stadium.
With persistent rainfall making the simplest of plays difficult, the Cardinals (5-3, 4-1 CCIW) managed just 291 yards of total offense, but limited Illinois Wesleyan (7-1, 4-1) to just 184 yards and scored a touchdown and a safety off of Titan special-teams miscues.
North Central got on the board before even taking possession. The Titans, set to punt on the game's first drive, saw the snap sail wide and into their own end zone to spot the visitors a 2-0 advantage. After their first possession ended with an intercepted pass that was tipped at the line of scrimmage, the Cardinals were able to extend their lead to 9-0 on their next drive, as Austin Breunig capped off a six-play, 57-yard drive with an 18-yard touchdown run.
The Titans responded with one of its few big plays on the day, moving into scoring position on a 42-yard pass from Jack Warner to Artie Checchin. Warner covered the final 10 yards by finding Austin Wagner for a 10-yard TD pass at the back of the end zone to narrow the gap to 9-7. IWU forced a punt and looked to be on the move again as running back Maurice Shoemaker-Gilmore broke through the line on an apparent first-down run. The Cardinals, however, were able to force a fumble on the play and Kevin Nalefski recovered the ball at the Titans' 34-yard line. Seven plays later, Matt Randolph made good on a second straight run from one yard away to score his 20th career touchdown and increase North Central's lead to 16-7 with 11:11 on the clock. The margin would hold until halftime, as the Cardinals' last-minute field-goal attempt was off the mark.
IWU's punting woes continued after halftime with another errant snap, this one recovered by Al Willett, who needed to cover just five yards for a touchdown to put the Cardinals ahead, 23-7. North Central mishandled a punt return on the ensuing drive to give the Titans new life at the Cardinals' 30-yard line, and Warner wound up hitting Andrew Javorka for an 11-yard scoring pass and firing a two-point conversion pass to Checchin to cut the lead to 23-15 with 7:26 left in the third quarter.
North Central extended its lead to 26-15 on Dom Zavaglia's 27-yard field goal with 23 seconds left in the period. The Cardinals ended the next two IWU drives on fourth-down quarterback sacks by Eric Wilson, the second of which halted the hosts at their own 19. Breunig tacked on the final score of the day on the next play, tearing through the middle of the IWU defense for his 13th rushing touchdown of the year.
Breunig finished the day with 128 yards on a career-high 26 carries, while Dylan Warden completed 10 of 17 passes for 109 yards and Alex Ulmer made four catches for 52 yards. Wilson, Nalefski and Justin Stuursma each recorded seven tackles, with Stuursma adding two of the Cardinals' nine tackles for loss and Brandon Kibby making his team-best third interception of the year on the game's final play.
Warner was sacked four times and harassed into a 14 for 41 passing effort for 128 yards, more than 100 below his per-game average. Shoemaker-Gilmore gained 101 yards on 16 carries and Will Hargrove made 10 tackles.
The Cardinals are on the road again next week, taking on Augustana College (3-5, 2-3) on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m