Setting the Scene: A new era begins for the Cardinals as they travel to face a recent postseason foe in a highly-anticipated contest on both sides.
Series History: This is the fifth football meeting between the two institutions. The teams have played just twice in the last century, both of which occurred in the NCAA Division III Football Championship.
North Central hosted the Little Giants in the first round of the 2019 playoffs, recording a 51-15 victory en route to the Division III national title.
Owning a 28-15 lead midway through the third period, the Cardinals closed the door by scoring 23 unanswered points and allowing Wabash to gain just 49 yards on its final four possessions.
Ethan Greenfield established a North Central single-game record with 301 yards on 29 attempts, tying the Cardinals' single-game record for touchdowns (5), while Broc Rutter completed 17 of 19 passes for 230 yards and found Andrew Kamienski nine times for 163 yards and a score.
National Rankings: North Central is ranked No. 2 this week by D3football.com, which mirrors the Cardinals' ranking in the preseason poll.
Scouting the Little Giants: Wabash opened its season at Little Giants Stadium Saturday, winning a 52-48 thriller over Hampden-Sydney (Virginia).
Trailing, 35-30, heading into the fourth quarter, the Little Giants scored 22 of the game's final 28 points and ultimately got the game-winning touchdown on a 15-yard run by Donovan Snyder with 46 seconds remaining.
Wabash found the end zone on five of its six second-half drives and totaled 663 yards of offense while allowing 490. Quarterback Liam Thompson completed 23 of 37 passes for 380 yards and four touchdowns while also leading the Little Giants in rushing with 102 yards and two scores on 15 attempts.
Wide receiver Derek Allen caught three of Wabash's TD passes and made seven total grabs for 160 yards while Snyder and Cade Campbell combined for 130 rushing yards.
Defensive lineman Steven Thomas made a team-high three tackles for loss and a 14-yard interception return by cornerback
Garrett Mroz was the game's lone turnover.
This Season for the Cardinals: North Central returns 12 starters from the 2021 squad which advanced to the program's second straight national championship game last December.
The starting backfield remains intact with quarterback Luke Lehnen and senior running backs Ethan Greenfield and Terrence Hill. Wide receiver DeAngelo Hardy and tight end Matt Robinson are the top returning pass-catchers, while Jeske Maples, Jarod Thornton and Sam Pryor return as starters on the offensive line.
Defensively, the Cardinals are led by defensive ends Dan Gilroy and Tyler Rich, along with defensive tackles Dan Lester and Brandon Greifelt. Outside linebacker Sam Taviani is back along with cornerback Nic Rummell.
New starters on offense include left guard Alex Knaperek, right tackle Will Ebert and wide receiver Peter Braithwaite, while safeties Will Vernon and Julian Bell, cornerback Antwain Walker and inside linebackers Angelo Cusumano and B.J. Adamchik join the fray as well.
Active Winning Streaks in Play: The Cardinals have won their last 16 regular-season games and have prevailed in their last 12 regular-season home games.
North Central has not lost at home since a 27-24 setback against Bethel (Minn.) in the second round of the 2018 postseason.
NCAA All-Time Active Leaders: Greenfield enters the season as the second-leading active rusher in all of college football with a North Central-record 4,682 yards.
Greenfield trails only Youngstown State University senior Jaleel McLaughlin, who enters 2022 with 6,578 career rushing yards.
Greenfield also ranks second among active players in career all-purpose yards (5,478) and points scored (396).
McLaughlin also owns the top mark in all-purpose yards (7,372), while Wake Forest University kicker Nick Sciba is the active career leader in scoring (433). Greenfield is the highest-ranked non-kicker among all returning players and is the current active career leader in points per game (10.7).
National Statistical Rankings: The Cardinals ranked second among all Division III programs in scoring offense (52.6 points per game) and third in total offense (539.7 yards per game) while ranking 19th in total defense (26.08 ypg) and 21st in scoring defense (14.5 ppg).
Greenfield was the Division III national leader in rushing for the second straight season (1,796) while ranking second in points (150) and touchdowns (25) and fifth in yards per rush attempt (7.33).
Luke Lehnen ranked third nationally in passing efficiency (189.4) in 2021 while also ranking fifth in yards per completion (17.67) and eighth in passing yards (3,284).
Lehnen ranks third among returning quarterbacks in passing yards this season and ranked 11th nationally among quarterbacks with 10 rushing touchdowns in 2021.
Terrence Hill ranked 17th nationally in rushing touchdowns (16) and 20th in points scored (108) last season while DeAngelo Hardy ranked 21st in receiving touchdowns (12).
Team Single-Season Records: The Cardinals rushed for 4,104 yards in 2021, easily surpassing the previous program record of 3,448 set by the 2019 championship team.
North Central also established new single-season standards for fewest rushing yards allowed (65.3 per game), rushing touchdowns (66) and pass breakups (76).
This Day in Cardinal Football History: 2011 vs. Bethel (Tenn.) - A 35-point second quarter broke open the home opener as the Cardinals routed the Wildcats, 70-26.
Kyle Fiedorowicz opened the game-clinching surge by catching two touchdown passes from quarterback Brad Crackel in 62 seconds. Nick Kukuc added a pair of touchdown runs before Ryan Kent recorded the final score of the first half.
Crackel opened the game with a 37-yard TD pass to Manny Juarez and ran for an 11-yard score late in the game, while Kent scored on touchdown runs of 45 and 75 yards in the fourth quarter and Stewart Charles returned an interception 30 yards to the end zone.
North Central gained 392 of its 529 yards on the ground while allowing only 188 and forcing four turnovers. Kent gained 176 yards on just nine carries and eventual CCIW Defensive Player of the Year honoree Peter Bulandr finished with three quarterback sacks.
Around the CCIW: Augustana and Millikin opened with victories last week. Augustana defeated Rhodes, 34-28, while Millikin topped Greenville, 28-14.
North Park lost a 23-14 decision to Manchester, while Carthage lost to Albion, 52-0, and Elmhurst was beaten by Wisconsin-River Falls, 63-0.
WashU hosts Hendrix this week while Illinois Wesleyan hosts Ohio Wesleyan, Wheaton travels to Trinity (Texas) and Carroll visits Wisconsin Lutheran.
'Red Zone' Returns in 2022: Once again, fans of North Central College football can get an insider's look at the Cardinals' football program, as 'The Red Zone' highlight show returns for its 14th season on Naperville Community Television, Channel 17.
The show airs each Thursday at 8 p.m., Friday at 12:30 a.m., 10:00 a.m., 3:30, 7:00 and 9:30 p.m., Saturday at 12:30 and 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. It will feature interviews with coaches and players, highlights of the previous week's game, and a look ahead to the upcoming opponent.
Each show is viewable online at nctv17.com and is archived at youtube.com/northcentralsports as well as at northcentralcardinals.com.