2024 North Central Cardinals football team

2024 North Central Cardinals football
2024 North Central Cardinals football
NCAA Division III national champion; CCIW champion
Stagg Bowl, W 41–25 vs. Mount Union
Conference	College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin
Record	15–0 (9–0 CCIW)
Head coach	Brad Spencer (3rd season);
Offensive coordinator	Eric Stuedemann (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	West Coast spread
Defensive coordinator	Shane Dierking (6th season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Benedetti–Wehrli Stadium

2024 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 1 $^	9	–	0	15	–	0
No. 20 Wheaton (IL)	8	–	1	9	–	2
Washington University	7	–	2	8	–	2
Illinois Wesleyan	5	–	4	5	–	5
Carroll (WI)	4	–	5	5	–	5
North Park	4	–	5	5	–	5
Augustana (IL)	3	–	6	4	–	6
Elmhurst	3	–	6	3	–	7
Carthage	2	–	7	2	–	8
Millikin	0	–	9	0	–	10

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant Rankings from D3Football.com

The 2024 North Central Cardinals football team was an American football team that represented North Central College of Naperville, Illinois, as a member of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) during the 2024 NCAA Division III football season. In their second year under head coach Brad Spencer, the Cardinals compiled a 15–0 record (9–0 in conference games), won the CCIW championship, and were ranked No. 1 in Division III at the end of the regular season.

The team advanced to the Division III playoffs where they defeated Whitworth in the second round, Hope in the third round, and Springfield in the national quarterfinal.

CCIW preseason poll

The CCIW released its preseason coaches' prediction poll on August 19, 2024. The Cardinals were predicted to finish first in the conference, receiving 8 of the possible 10 first place votes.^[1]

Personnel

2024 North Central Cardinals football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
RB	`1`	Sean Allen	So
WR	`2`	Myles Walton	Jr
WR	`3`	Jacob Paradee	GS
WR	`4`	Terance Washington	So
QB	`5`	Luke Lehnen	GS
QB	`6`	Alex Porter	Jr
WR	`7`	Thomas Skokna	Jr
WR	`8`	Jack Rummell	So
WR	`9`	Grant McAtee	Fr
RB	`11`	Donovan McNeal	Fr
QB	`12`	Calvin Lavery	Jr
WR	`13`	Drew Willis	Fr
WR	`14`	Trey Madsen	GS
QB	`16`	Eric Franklin	So
WR	`17`	Nathan Rodgers	Fr
QB	`18`	Dennis Mandala	Fr
WR	`18`	Jake Pieper	Jr
WR	`19`	Mason Pierre-Antoine	Jr
WR	`19`	Emmett Robinson	Fr
RB	`21`	Charles Coleman	Jr
RB	`22`	Jordan Chismu	Sr
RB	`23`	Chris Hughes	Fr
RB	`24`	Joe Sacco	Sr
RB	`28`	Chase Boyd	Fr
RB	`29`	Matt Larson	Fr
RB	`30`	Jordan Williams	So
RB	`40`	Matthew Kraskouskas	So
TE	`41`	Dawson Trebolo	So
TE	`42`	Alex Hobson	Jr
TE	`42`	Dylan Ross	Jr
TE	`47`	Ahren Becker	Fr
OL	`50`	Colin Sturm	Fr
OL	`54`	Tyson Cramer	So
OL	`56`	Chase Stepp	Fr
OL	`57`	Nyles Robinson	Fr
OL	`58`	Sam Pryor	Sr
OL	`60`	Anthony Sivric	So
OL	`63`	Jerred Durian	Jr
OL	`64`	David Fuchs	Sr
OL	`65`	Alex Knaperek	Jr
OL	`68`	Patrick Jewell	Jr
OL	`69`	Matthew Warkins	So
OL	`70`	Jeske Maples	Sr
OL	`71`	Ryan Kennelly	Sr
OL	`72`	Brock Nunez	Jr
OL	`73`	John Golden	Jr
OL	`74`	Eddie Valdes	So
OL	`75`	Nick Fehrle	Sr
OL	`76`	Dominik Palka	So
OL	`79`	Jorge Ortiz	So
WR	`80`	Brandon Woods	So
WR	`81`	Jake Lynch	GS
WR	`82`	Caleb Barclay	So
TE	`83`	Will Diamond	Fr
WR	`84`	Alexander Pratt	Sr
WR	`85`	Brody Hartig	So
TE	`87`	Isaac Banker	Sr
TE	`89`	Bobby Behmer	Sr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DB	`1`	Jahron Williams	Sr
DB	`2`	Rahmareon Roby	Jr
DB	`3`	Jahmar Daniel	Jr
DB	`4`	Rory Hills	GS
DL	`6`	Jacob Vincent	So
LB	`7`	Angelo Cusumano	GS
DB	`8`	Kyler Green	So
DL	`9`	Martin Egbo	GS
DB	`10`	Zack Orr	GS
DB	`11`	Marcell Ellis	GS
DB	`11`	Kamil Kokot	Fr
DB	`13`	Kaden Hartnett	So
DB	`15`	Eddie Schmid	Sr
LB	`16`	Trevon Hunter	So
DB	`17`	Kelby James	Sr
DB	`18`	Austin Flax	GS
DB	`19`	Justin Obradovich	So
DB	`20`	Yasmani Rojas	Sr
DB	`20`	Yasneir Rojas	Fr
DB	`21`	Isaiah Mendoza	Fr
DB	`22`	Denarius Jackson	Fr
DB	`23`	Riley McCurdy	Sr
DB	`24`	Danny O'Malley	Fr
DB	`25`	Anton Cassell	Fr
DB	`25`	Brayden Garrigan	So
LB	`26`	Theo Millas	Jr
DB	`27`	Dakari Baldwin	Jr
DB	`27`	Kenny Rutherford	So
LB	`28`	Phillip Carlton	Fr
DB	`29`	Will Vernon	Sr
DB	`31`	Ethan Groark	Jr
DB	`32`	Charlie Lavery	So
LB	`33`	Danny Nuccio	Sr
LB	`34`	BJ Adamchik	GS
LB	`35`	Kachi Ugwu	So
DB	`37`	Alex Gil	Jr
DB	`37`	Gabriel Laughlin	So
LB	`37`	John Moore	Fr
DB	`38`	Fabian Alvarez	Sr
DB	`39`	Lucas Rossini	Fr
DB	`40`	Ethan Enriquez	Fr
LB	`42`	Augustus Winkler	Fr
DB	`43`	Jack Dettro	Fr
DL	`43`	Bobby Medina	So
DB	`44`	Galashky Blaise	So
LB	`45`	Gustav Tosterud	Jr
DB	`47`	Damarion Washington	Fr
DB	`47`	Alec Watrous	So
DB	`49`	Joey Gliatta	Fr
DB	`49`	Blake Ottow	Fr
LB	`50`	Charlie Egan	So
LB	`50`	AJ Mancilla	Fr
LB	`52`	Matt Janiak	Fr
LB	`53`	Drew Harp	Jr
DL	`59`	Noah Rapinchuk	Jr
DL	`61`	Corey Hotel	Fr
DL	`62`	Max Ness	Sr
DL	`66`	Jayden Dose	Fr
DL	`67`	Philip Dozier	Jr
DL	`77`	Myron Lewis	GS
DL	`78`	Shamus Straub	So
DL	`90`	Payton Allen	So
DL	`91`	Tucker Johnson	Fr
DL	`92`	John Sullivan	Jr
DL	`94`	Christian Miller	Sr
DL	`95`	Quinn Ahrens	So
DL	`95`	Eddie McLevige	Fr
DL	`96`	Chibueze Ibegbulem	Fr
DL	`97`	Cortez Jones	So
DL	`98`	Kendric Muhammad	Fr
DL	`99`	Graham Wight	So

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K	`36`	Sean Ryniec	So
K	`39`	Sebastian Vybral	Fr
P	`45`	Chip Dose	So
K	`48`	Dom Scalera	So
K	`51`	Nathan Blazewski	Fr
LS	`56`	Nate Boylan	Fr
LS	`61`	Oscar Morgan	Sr
K	`85`	Andre Casas	So

Head coach

Brad Spencer (3rd season)

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Eric Stuedemann (offensive coordinator/offensive line)
Shane Dierking (defensive coordinator/linebackers)
Colin Wood (special teams coordinator/cornerbacks)
Chris Allen (graduate assistant/wide receivers)
Joe Fehrle (tight ends)
Luke Foster (quarterbacks)
Maviolo Grier (linebackers)
Kyle Lane (graduate assistant/defensive line)
Kalus Murphy (safeties)
Chris Nendick (kicking specialist)
DJ Warkenthien (defensive line)
Jonas Waskosky (graduate assistant/running backs)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster
Last update: July 22, 2025

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 14	6:00 p.m.	at No. 14 Aurora*	No. 1	Spartan Athletic Park Montgomery, AL	W 48–21	3,743
September 21	1:00 p.m.	at Carthage	No. 1	Art Keller Field Kenosha, WI	W 63–0	1,553
September 28	12:00 p.m.	Washington University	No. 1	Benedetti–Wehrli Stadium Naperville, IL	W 49–9	4,000
October 5	1:00 p.m.	at No. 18 Wheaton (IL)	No. 1	McCully Stadium Wheaton, IL	W 55–27	5,337
October 12	1:00 p.m.	at Millikin	No. 1	Frank M. Lindsay Field Decatur, IL	W 70–14	475
October 19	6:00 p.m.	North Park	No. 1	Benedetti–Wehrli Stadium Naperville, IL	W 69–0	4,500
October 26	1:00 p.m.	at Augustana (IL)	No. 1	Lindberg Stadium Rock Island, IL	W 49–10	875
November 2	12:00 p.m.	Carroll (WI)	No. 1	Benedetti–Wehrli Stadium Naperville, IL	W 56–3	3,500
November 9	12:00 p.m.	Elmhurst	No. 1	Benedetti–Wehrli Stadium Naperville, IL	W 70–7	2,000
November 16	1:00 p.m.	at Illinois Wesleyan	No. 1	Tucci Stadium Bloomington, IL	W 42–20	2,238	^[2]
November 30	12:00 p.m.	No. 22 Whitworth*	No. 1	Benedetti–Wehrli Stadium Naperville, IL (NCAA Division III Second Round)	W 42–17	761	^[3]
December 7	12:00 p.m.	No. 16 Hope*	No. 1	Benedetti–Wehrli Stadium Naperville, IL (NCAA Division III Third Round)	W 41–21	1,491	^[4]
December 14	12:00 p.m.	No. 23 Springfield*	No. 1	Benedetti–Wehrli Stadium Naperville, IL (NCAA Division III Quarterfinal)	W 27–3	942
December 21	2:30 p.m.	No. 6 Susquehanna*	No. 1	Benedetti–Wehrli Stadium Naperville, IL (NCAA Division III Semifinal)	W 66–0	1,206
January 5, 2025	7:00 p.m.	vs. No. 5 Mount Union*	No. 1	Shell Energy Stadium Houston, TX (Stagg Bowl)	W 41–25	1,938
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from D3Football.com Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[5]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ( ) = First-place votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Final
D3football.com	1 (14)	1 (17)	1 (17)	1 (16)	1 (16)	1 (18)	1 (18)	1 (18)	1 (18)	1 (18)	1 (22)	1 (22)	1 (25)
AFCA	1 (26)	1 (28)	1 (33)	1 (33)	1 (36)	1 (36)	1 (36)	1 (36)	1 (37)	1 (36)	1 (38)	1 (38)	1 (43)

Game summaries

At No. 14 Aurora

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 1 Cardinals	17	17	7	7	48
No. 14 Spartans	0	7	14	0	21

Statistics	NCC	AUR
First downs	25	18
Total yards	463	372
Rushing yards	222	83
Passing yards	241	289
Turnovers	0	1
Time of possession	33:00	27:00

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
North Central	Passing	Luke Lehnen	21/31, 241 yards, 3 TD
	Rushing	Joe Sacco	19 rushes, 146 yards, 3 TD
	Receiving	Trey Madsen	6 receptions, 63 yards, TD
Aurora	Passing	Tyler Adkins	22/40, 289 yards, TD, INT
	Rushing	Tyler Adkins	8 rushes, 55 yards
	Receiving	Ty Pruett	4 receptions, 122 yards, TD

At Carthage

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 1 Cardinals	7	21	14	21	63
Firebirds	0	0	0	0	0

Statistics	NCC	CAR
First downs	31	9
Total yards	629	146
Rushing yards	300	29
Passing yards	329	117
Turnovers	1	2
Time of possession	29:34	30:26

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
North Central	Passing	Luke Lehnen	16/25, 294 yards, 2 TD, INT
	Rushing	Joe Sacco	16 rushes, 96 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Thomas Skokna	2 receptions, 67 yards
Carthage	Passing	Bryce Lowe	21/33, 117 yards, 2 INT
	Rushing	Bryce Frank	10 rushes, 17 yards
	Receiving	Gavin Betts	4 receptions, 42 yards

Washington University

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears					0
No. 1 Cardinals					0

Statistics	WASHU	NCC
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Turnovers
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Washington University	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
North Central	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

At No. 18 Wheaton (IL)

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 1 Cardinals					0
No. 18 Thunder					0

Statistics	NCC	WHE
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Turnovers
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
North Central	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Wheaton	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

At Millikin

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 1 Cardinals					0
Big Blue					0

Statistics	NCC	MIL
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Turnovers
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
North Central	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Millikin	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

North Park

	1	2	3	4	Total
Vikings					0
No. 1 Cardinals					0

Statistics	NPU	NCC
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Turnovers
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
North Park	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
North Central	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

At Augustana (IL)

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 1 Cardinals					0
Vikings					0

Statistics	NCC	AUG
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Turnovers
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
North Central	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Augustana	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

Carroll (WI)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Pioneers					0
No. 1 Cardinals					0

Statistics	CAR	NCC
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Turnovers
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Carroll	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
North Central	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

Elmhurst

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bluejays					0
No. 1 Cardinals					0

Statistics	ELM	NCC
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Turnovers
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Elmhurst	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
North Central	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

At Illinois Wesleyan

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 1 Cardinals					0
Titans					0

Statistics	NCC	IWU
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Turnovers
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
North Central	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Illinois Wesleyan	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

No. 22 Whitworth (NCAA Division III Second Round)

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 22 Pirates	0	3	0	14	17
No. 1 Cardinals	21	7	7	7	42

Statistics	WTW	NCC
First downs	16	20
Total yards	329	493
Rushing yards	99	350
Passing yards	230	143
Turnovers	1	0
Time of possession	31:01	28:59

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Whitworth	Passing	Ryan Blair	29/48, 230 yards, TD, INT
	Rushing	Nathan Owens	3 rushes, 56 yards, TD
	Receiving	Dawson Tobeck	6 receptions, 54 yards
North Central	Passing	Luke Lehnen	10/13, 137 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Joe Sacco	10 rushes, 198 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Isaac Banker	1 reception, 54 yards

No. 16 Hope (NCAA Division III Third Round)

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 16 Flying Dutchmen	0	7	7	7	21
No. 1 Cardinals	0	21	13	7	41

Statistics	HOPE	NCC
First downs	17	21
Total yards	334	486
Rushing yards	167	234
Passing yards	167	252
Turnovers	3	1
Time of possession	27:05	32:55

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Hope	Passing	Ben Wellman	13/27, 167 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Ben Wellman	11 rushes, 83 yards, TD
	Receiving	Grant Holtzer	5 receptions, 103 yards, 2 TD
North Central	Passing	Luke Lehnen	13/18, 234 yards, 2 TD, INT
	Rushing	Joe Sacco	19 rushes, 120 yards, TD
	Receiving	Thomas Skokna	4 receptions, 119 yards, TD

No. 23 Springfield (NCAA Division III Quarterfinal)

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 23 Pride	0	3	0	0	3
No. 1 Cardinals	7	10	3	7	27

Statistics	SPR	NCC
First downs	17	18
Total yards	260	328
Rushing yards	227	232
Passing yards	33	96
Turnovers	2	1
Time of possession	34:41	25:19

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Springfield	Passing	Drew Heenan	3/10, 33 yards
	Rushing	Arsen Shtefan	20 rushes, 92 yards
	Receiving	Logan Schenk	1 reception, 20 yards
North Central	Passing	Luke Lehnen	10/20, 96 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Sean Allen	15 rushes, 94 yards, TD
	Receiving	Jack Rummell	2 receptions, 46 yards, TD

No. 6 Susquehanna (NCAA Division III Semifinal)

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 6 River Hawks	0	0	0	0	0
No. 1 Cardinals	21	28	14	3	66

Statistics	SQH	NCC
First downs	5	32
Total yards	135	638
Rushing yards	60	352
Passing yards	75	286
Turnovers	3	1
Time of possession	23:59	36:01

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Susquehanna	Passing	Bobby Croyle	4/9, 55 yards
	Rushing	Rahshan La Mons	14 rushes, 72 yards
	Receiving	Chris Bookter	1 reception, 25 yards
North Central	Passing	Luke Lehnen	16/17, 275 yards, 4 TD
	Rushing	Jordan Williams	16 rushes, 106 yards, TD
	Receiving	Jacob Paradee	3 receptions, 86 yards, 2 TD

Vs. No. 5 Mount Union (Stagg Bowl)

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 5 Purple Raiders	7	3	7	8	25
No. 1 Cardinals	7	7	7	20	41

Statistics	UMU	NCC
First downs	23	25
Total yards	426	495
Rushing yards	112	197
Passing yards	314	298
Turnovers	0	1
Time of possession	29:32	30:28

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Mount Union	Passing	T. J. Deshields	21/36, 314 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Tyler Echeverry	20 rushes, 83 yards, TD
	Receiving	Nick Turner	7 receptions, 104 yards, TD
North Central	Passing	Luke Lehnen	18/26, 298 yards, 4 TD
	Rushing	Charles Coleman	2 rushes, 68 yards, TD
	Receiving	Thomas Skokna	3 receptions, 94 yards

References

^ "North Central Earns Top Spot in Preseason CCIW Football Poll". CCIW. August 19, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2025.
^ "Cardinals Overpower Titans for Tenth Win". North Central Cardinals. November 16, 2024.
^ Geoffrey Clark (November 30, 2024). "North Central pounces on Whitworth, ending Pirates' season with 42-17 rout in Division III playoffs". The Spokesman-Review.
^ Mike McGraw (December 7, 2024). "North Central beats Hope, gets help in Division III playoff bracket". Daily Herald.
^ "2024 Football Schedule". North Central College. Retrieved December 9, 2024.

[1] "North Central Earns Top Spot in Preseason CCIW Football Poll". CCIW. August 19, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2025.

[2] "Cardinals Overpower Titans for Tenth Win". North Central Cardinals. November 16, 2024.

[3] Geoffrey Clark (November 30, 2024). "North Central pounces on Whitworth, ending Pirates' season with 42-17 rout in Division III playoffs". The Spokesman-Review.

[4] Mike McGraw (December 7, 2024). "North Central beats Hope, gets help in Division III playoff bracket". Daily Herald.

[5] "2024 Football Schedule". North Central College. Retrieved December 9, 2024.

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North Central Cardinals football
Venues	Benedetti–Wehrli Stadium (1999–present)
Seasons	1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906–1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2025
National championship seasons in bold