North Central College wins second Division III National Championship in three years
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (CBS) -- The North Central College football team won its second Division III National Championship title in three years Friday night.
The North Central Cardinals beat Mount Union 28-21 in the Stagg Bowl in Annapolis, Maryland.
Ethan Greenfield scored the first touchdown of the game for North Central, catching a 34-yard pass in the first quarter.
With a three-yard run by Greenfield in the second, North Central set a new Division III team record as they surpassed 5,188 yards on the ground in one season.
Luke Leuhnen passed to DeAngelo Hardy for a 94-yard touchdown later in the second, bringing the score to 14-0.
The Cardinals scored another touchdown early in the fourth and extended their lead to 21-0. Then, with a little over nine minutes to go in the game, the Purple Raiders finally got on the board, as Braxton Plunk scored a touchdown on a nine-yard run.
Plunk passed to Wayne Ruby for another touchdown for Mont Union – making it a one-possession game with only 3:34 to play.
But North Central scored another touchdown with 1:24 to play and extended their lead back to 14. Plunk found Edwin Reed for one more Mount Union touchdown with 30 seconds to go, but North Central still came out on top.
North Central has made it to three straight final fours, but came up short as repeat national champs last year when they lost to Mary Hardin-Baylor.
But this year, first-year head coach Brad Spencer gets the ice-cold Gatorade bath after the game. The Cards have something special going in Naperville.
