North Central Sets Modern Day Record of 86 Points

No matter who was on the field Saturday afternoon at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium, no member of the No. 14 North Central College football team could do wrong.

Three quarterbacks threw touchdown passes for the Cardinals, which held a 45-0 lead at halftime, in a 86-14 thrashing of Olivet College (Mich.) that set an NCC modern day record for points in a game.

"We wanted to throw the ball early and complete passes," NCC offensive coordinator Jeff Thorne said. "That's the area of our offense that has been struggling a little bit. I thought our quarterbacks did a really nice job of completing passes early in the game."

The Cardinals (2-1) were a model of efficiency on the opening drive, traveling 65 yards in just five plays -- all for first downs -- ending in an 11-yard touchdown pass from Brad Crackel to Kyle Fiedorowicz.

Crackel completed his first five passes for 58 yards before leaving after his coaches thought he'd received enough work.

"We have a 20 play script coming into the game," Crackel said. "We knew we had 12 passes out of the 20. We just got going. Completed the first one, completed the second one and it was pretty much a flawless drive and got the ball rolling for the rest of the game."

It didn't matter who was under center for North Central. Jordan Tassio tossed a 10-yard touchdown to Joe Antonacci on the team's third possession, set up by Antonacci's near punt return for a touchdown.

The Cardinals picked off Comets' quarterback Jake Messner twice in the first half, the first resulting in a 50-yard touchdown by Cardinals' defensive back Josh Mitchell. Josh McLeod had the other interception.

Six-foot-4 freshman quarterback Tyler Dicken came on for Crackel permanently and led several scoring drives, finishing 7 of 8 for 99 yards.

Dicken's first career touchdown was a 10-yard pass to Fiedorowicz just five seconds into the second quarter.

“It’s nice having a big target like that,” Dicken said. “You just throw it up high to him. He went up and got it and that’s what he’s been doing all year. Can’t ask for any more.”

Also scoring before halftime were freshman running back Ryan Kent (seven-yard run), junior tailback Nick Kukuc (four-yard run) and kicker Nick Dace on a 44-yard field goal.

Just two plays into the second half, the Cardinals were back in the end zone when freshman defensive back Caleb Bednarz undercut a Messner pass and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown.

Bednarz wasn't done, returning a punt 79 yards for a score a few moments later.

"It's awesome just coming into a program like this and getting playing time," Bednarz said. "It was nice to get some reps and contribute."

Senior Mike Boettcher amassed 121 yards rushing as the fourth running back and scored on runs of six and two yards during the second half.

Mike Fleming scored in the fourth quarter for NCC, which has a bye week upcoming before visiting Carthage College on Oct. 1 to open the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin schedule.

"We know we have to come out strong against Carthage," Crackel said, "like we did today."