Game Leaders
Team Stats
Passing Yards
Rushing Yards
Turnovers
Time of Poss.
Yet another career record fell for the North Central College football team on Saturday, as the Cardinals treated the Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium faithful to a 42-14 victory over College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) rival Augustana College.
The Cardinals (4-1, 3-1 CCIW) pushed their winning streak against the Vikings to 14 straight years, dating back to 2006. North Central has eclipsed the 40-point mark against Augstana each of the past four seasons.
Etching his name into the Cardinals' record book once again was junior wide receiver Andrew Kamienski, who became the program's new all-time leader for career pass receptions. Kamienski hauled in 11 passes for 135 yards and a career-high three touchdowns to push his career reception total to 182, surpassing the previous record total of 179 set by Steve Hlavac '11 from 2007 to 2010.
North Central took a lead it would not relinquish on the game's opening drive. A 40-yard pass from Broc Rutter to Blake Williams left the hosts just two yards from the goal line, and Ethan Greenfield covered the remaining distance on the next play to open the scoring after less than three minutes of play. The Cardinals doubled their lead to 14-0 on the next possession, as Kamienski slipped behind the Augustana coverage for a 30-yard touchdown catch from Rutter with 6:51 still to play in the opening period.
After a short North Central punt set them up with a short field, the Vikings (3-2, 2-2 CCIW) narrowed the gap to 14-7 on Tom Dolis' diving 39-yard scoring catch from quarterback Zach Fuller. The Cardinals, however, gave themselves a far shorter field early in the second period, as defensive tackle Isiah Ziegler pounced on a fumble at the Augustana two-yard line. Greenfield again did the honors on the next play, boosting the lead to 21-7.
Greenfield jumpstarted the Cardinals' next scoring drive with four straight runs for a gain of 29 yards before Rutter delivered a 21-yard strike down the middle to Alex Rose and shot a screen pass to Kamienski, who darted through the defense for a 32-yard touchdown. Kamienski collected his third touchdown of the day on a six-yard pass with 3:09 left in the second quarter, sending the home team into halftime with a 35-7 advantage.
A 12-play, 90-yard drive produced North Central's final score of the day with 3:52 left in the third period, as Rutter completed 6 of 6 passes before handing off to Greenfield for a three-yard scoring run, his third of the afternoon.
Rutter finished the day 25 of 37 passing for 291 yards, while Greenfield gained 138 yards on 27 rushing attempts. Bryan Beauchamp led the Cardinals' defense with nine tackles and two pass breakups, while Cole Griffin made seven stops in his first collegiate start at linebacker and safety Dakota Cremeens turned in an interception and a fumble recovery.
North Central travels to face Carroll University (1-4, 0-4) on Saturday. Kickoff at Schneider Stadium is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.