FB: Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference

[Pat Coleman]

Only week 1... but the NACC came to play!
CUC looks like the Cougars of 2012 (Undefeated regular season) with an offense dynamic enough to win games they probably shouldn't.
Benedictine has a Freshman wide receiver (Matt Fleming) who has elite speed and his 2 touchdowns sealed the victory over Central. The defense looked great through 3 1/2 quarters but got a little too conservative late in the fourth and gave Central a chance to come back.
Wisconsin Lutheran's Mitch Skarban looks like a matchup nightmare and WLC won that game in the second half.
Rockford started O'Malley, freshman QB, and he was impressive against a subpar Lawrence squad. Rockford looks like it finally has some pieces to build a program around under new coach, Jim Shroeder.
Lakeland's QB Whitley showed he is dual threat and LC's defense came up big in OT.
Exciting week 1 for the NACC. I hope they can keep this momentum rolling through the non-conference schedule and leap a few conferences in the power rankings.

Beating Beloit is a long way from going 10-0, but definitely a nice start for CUC.

[Rhythm21]

Only week 1... but the NACC came to play!
CUC looks like the Cougars of 2012 (Undefeated regular season) with an offense dynamic enough to win games they probably shouldn't.
Benedictine has a Freshman wide receiver (Matt Fleming) who has elite speed and his 2 touchdowns sealed the victory over Central. The defense looked great through 3 1/2 quarters but got a little too conservative late in the fourth and gave Central a chance to come back.
Wisconsin Lutheran's Mitch Skarban looks like a matchup nightmare and WLC won that game in the second half.
Rockford started O'Malley, freshman QB, and he was impressive against a subpar Lawrence squad. Rockford looks like it finally has some pieces to build a program around under new coach, Jim Shroeder.
Lakeland's QB Whitley showed he is dual threat and LC's defense came up big in OT.
Exciting week 1 for the NACC. I hope they can keep this momentum rolling through the non-conference schedule and leap a few conferences in the power rankings.

Beating Beloit is a long way from going 10-0, but definitely a nice start for CUC.

Pat, maybe I misspoke. Understandably beating Beloit is not as far-fetched as going undefeated. I simply meant that CUC's offense reminded me of their efficient teams in recent history, i.e.  spread out, talented WRs, solid/quick decisions at QB, quick running back, O-line playing stout. It has been something they haven't seen since the coaching change. This was more a post about the NACC having success as a whole: BU upsetting Central, Lakeland avenging their loss last year against Carroll, Wisc Lutheran having the poise to come from behind to beat Lake Forest, Rockford and CUC (Projected bottom of the barrel NACC teams) defeating teams from conferences considered "stronger" in the past than the NACC. Just hope this week wasn't a fluke and NACC teams can continue competing against these other conferences.

[Ryan Stoppable]

Week Two afternoon results:

Concordia Wisconsin 21
Augsburg 54

Ripon 13
Rockford 14

(Trinity Int'l at Wisconsin Lutheran and Carroll at Benedictine tonight; Aurora, Concordia Chicago and Lakeland have byes.)

Rockford looks like it finally has some pieces to build a program around under new coach, Jim Schroeder.

Did not expect this, but the Regents are off to a 2-0 start. They haven't won more than 2 games in a full season since joining the NACC.

[Captain_Joe08]

Week Two afternoon results:

Concordia Wisconsin 21
Augsburg 54

Ripon 13
Rockford 14

(Trinity Int'l at Wisconsin Lutheran and Carroll at Benedictine tonight; Aurora, Concordia Chicago and Lakeland have byes.)

Rockford looks like it finally has some pieces to build a program around under new coach, Jim Schroeder.

Did not expect this, but the Regents are off to a 2-0 start. They haven't won more than 2 games in a full season since joining the NACC.

Impressive win for the Regents. I think they will finish higher than 6th in the NACC this year.

[Ryan Stoppable]

Week Two evening results:

Trinity International 34
Wisconsin Lutheran 27 (OT)

Carroll 21
Benedictine 13

Next week, everyone heads over to Michigan and Indiana for the challenge series against the MIAA.

[fulbakdad]

Concordia Chicago wins today in a defensive epic battle, 107-96

[Ryan Stoppable]

Concordia Chicago wins today in a defensive epic battle, 107-96

Sadly, they didn't...and neither did anyone else, as the MIAA took out the brooms on our beloved conference.

But today is a new Saturday, and with it a new slate of games:

Week Four
Carthage at Lakeland, 1:00 pm
Millikin at Aurora, 1:00 pm
Maranatha at Concordia Chicago, 1:00 pm
Byes: Benedictine, Concordia Wisconsin, Rockford, Wisconsin Lutheran

[fulbakdad]

Concordia  Chicago takes care of business today.

[Ryan Stoppable]

Week Four finals:

Carthage 29
Lakeland 28

Millikin 20
Aurora 24

Maranatha 21
Concordia Chicago 42

The Muskies rushed for zero yards, had less than 22 minutes of possession time, and still gave themselves a chance to win it on the final play.

[Ryan Stoppable]

Week Five scores:

Rockford 8
Aurora 16

Lakeland 15
Wisconsin Lutheran 13

Concordia Wisconsin 49
Concordia Chicago 14

Kalamazoo 10
Benedictine 45

A little surprised to see Rockford lose and Concordia Chicago get blown out, as I thought those teams had looked better than that during non-conference play.

Also, a big win for my beloved Muskies, and all of a sudden Wisconsin Lutheran (who had their hopes of a first playoff appearance detailed in a recent Around the Region column) have to go into Benedictine in basically a must-win scenario next week.

[Rhythm21]

Week Five scores:

Rockford 8
Aurora 16

Lakeland 15
Wisconsin Lutheran 13

Concordia Wisconsin 49
Concordia Chicago 14

Kalamazoo 10
Benedictine 45

A little surprised to see Rockford lose and Concordia Chicago get blown out, as I thought those teams had looked better than that during non-conference play.

Also, a big win for my beloved Muskies, and all of a sudden Wisconsin Lutheran (who had their hopes of a first playoff appearance detailed in a recent Around the Region column) have to go into Benedictine in basically a must-win scenario next week.

Rockford has made huge strides under their new head coach this season, but I don't think they are quite ready to be competitive in NACC play week in and week out. Concordia Chicago has reverted back to an ineptitude on the offensive side of the ball, struggling against a below average CUW defense. Your Muskies are my pick to win the conference outright (IMO, Benedictine v Lakeland will decide who gets the NACC AQ) but they will need to find some sort of run game other than their talented dual-threat QB. Wisconsin Lutheran's hopes at a first playoff appearance are hanging by a thread, and- like you mentioned- they will be taking on a talented Benedictine squad who is coming off a confidence building blowout W against Kalamazoo.

[Ryan Stoppable]

Week Six
Concordia Chicago 0 at Lakeland 41
Aurora 31 at Concordia Wisconsin 34
Wisconsin Lutheran 13 at Benedictine 30
Hope 34 at Rockford 0

Week Seven
Aurora 58 at Concordia Chicago 7
Concordia Wisconsin 35 at Benedictine 39
Rockford 21 at Wisconsin Lutheran 34
Trine 35 at Lakeland 61

Preseason favorites Benedictine overcame a 21 point deficit to prevail on Saturday, and now only they and Lakeland are left unblemished in conference play (both at 2-0). Of the two, the Eagles would seem to have the easier path to remain undefeated heading into the regular season closing showdown: Lakeland has to travel to Aurora and CUW the next two weeks, while BU hosts the former and has already survived the latter.

Your Muskies are my pick to win the conference outright but they will need to find some sort of run game other than their talented dual-threat QB.

Apparently, they would like to reject your reality and substitute their own. But can it keep working for four more games? That's the big question.

[Ryan Stoppable]

Week Eight
Concordia Wisconsin 15
Rockford 7

Lakeland 47
Aurora 40 (2OT)

Benedictine 41
Concordia Chicago 0

Adrian 30
Wisconsin Lutheran 12

I don't know how much more of this I can take. That's now two overtime games, a 1 point game and a 2 point game for the Muskies this season. (And quite frankly, with six turnovers today and needing a missed extra point to get to OT, they were lucky to get out of there with this one.)

Benedictine and Lakeland both at 3-0 in conference play now, with Concordia Wisconsin at 3-1 and the latter two meeting for the Cheese Bowl next weekend.

[Captain_Joe08]

NACC Scores

Benedictine 20
Rockford 7

Lakeland 48
Concordia Wisconsin 21

Wisconsin Lutheran 21
Aurora 14

Alma 36
Concordia Chicago 13

[Ryan Stoppable]

Benedictine 20
Rockford 7

Lakeland 48
Concordia Wisconsin 21

Wisconsin Lutheran 21
Aurora 14

Alma 36
Concordia Chicago 13

And that means it's now set that the winner of the Benedictine at Lakeland game on the 14th will be the AQ.

Poor weather around the conference made for some interesting statistical lines this week. Particularly in the Benedictine-Rockford game, as there were only two completed passes in the entire game with one coming on a blown special teams play!