Cardinals Ready For Whitewater Showdown

As last Saturday's 28-9 victory over Ohio Northern in the second round of the Division III playoffs was becoming more and more apparent, North Central College's football team started looking ahead to its next opponent.

The Cardinals knew that if they won over Ohio Northern, defending national champion Wisconsin-Whitewater, the No. 1 team in the nation, would be coming to Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium Saturday.

"We all wanted Whitewater to win," NCC receiver Steve Hlavac said. "We had a chance to play them a couple of years ago, and we were able to score some points on them. We've developed as a program. We've always wanted to beat the best teams in the country, so we wanted them to win. We want the challenge. I think we can do something next week."

The Cardinals get their chance at noon Saturday as they make their first Division III football quarterfinal appearance. Both teams come in a spotless 12-0.

Hlavac played in the 2007 meeting, which came in the second round of the playoffs, as a freshman. He caught two touchdown passes in the 59-28 loss to the Warhawks.

That game was yet another in a string of second-round losses for the Cardinals, a trend that was bucked by last Saturday's win.

After their third game of the season, a 20-6 win over Wisconsin-Eau Claire, NCC coach John Thorne had a feeling this year's team was going to be different.

"I do remember telling all the coaches and the players right after the Eau Claire game that this team is really going to be special," Thorne said. "I've been coaching football for about 40 years now, and there have just been a few who were like this. Really early, you could start to see it. It's still there and they're still doing special things."

One major difference from this North Central playoff team compared to the ones in the past is the distribution of the running game. Thorne recalled playoff battles where workhorse running backs like Steve Holden and Dominic Sulo were so worn down after a year of pounding that they were a shell of themselves come playoff time.

That's not a problem this year. Thorne has mixed and matched his backfield brilliantly. Nick Kukuc and Jordan Tassio both rushed for more than 100 yards last week against Ohio Northern.

On the season, Tassio leads the way with 873 yards, followed by 770 for Kukuc and 407 from freshman Denzel Thompson. Nick Hicks and quarterbacks Brad Crackel and Spencer Stanek also have helped out. All told, North Central has gained 2,790 yards on the ground, averaging five yards per carry, with 32 touchdowns.

"We knew how fast Nick (Kukuc) was and we also knew that his body was not going to be able to handle the pounding," Thorne said. "Jordan (Tassio) had a better body for handling some of the contact, and he can do so many things. He can throw it, run it, and run the wildcat, things like that."

In what figures to be a snowy field Saturday, that's going to become all the more important if the Cardinals hope to capture the North Region and head to the Division III semifinals next week.

"I've been on three teams that lost in the second round," senior linebacker Matt Wenger said. "It's pretty frustrating. We have a really good team this year. I think we have a good shot to be able to continue to play. Just getting to the third round is not our ultimate goal."