FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[matblake]

I also want to indicate how much I think Fanthorpe has improved.  He was always a complete player, but he is so much steadier in the pocket than he was last year.  Last year, under pressure, his feet got happy.  He seemed really relaxed.  Kudos to the line as well for keeping him that way.

[usee]

some stats:

Fanthorpe 18-28-0 294 yds 2 Tds; 10 rushes 45 yds 2 Tds
Sulo 25 carries 100 yds 4.0 yds per carry; 1 TD
Hlavac 5 catches 63 yds
Wenger 9 tackles 2 sacks 1 forced fumble
NCC had 5 sacks

NCC 451 total yds offense

Norris 18-33-2 244 yds 3 Td's; 12 rushes 56 yds
Gingg 16 carries 63 yds 3.9 yds per carry
Pokorny 5 for 68
Wheaton had 4 turnovers

Wheaton 326 yds

NCC sacked Norris 5x and hit him many others

One great Wheaton play that was also telling was in the 3rd quarter Fanthorpe threw the ball deep to a WR covered by Tyler Langs. Ittersagen was the corner on the other side and broke on the deep post, intercepting it and running it back 40 yds or so. he came out of nowhere to get that ball. Problem was Langs committed pass interference and it all went for naught. Tyler Langs played very poorly last night in my mind. NCC also kept ittersagen from any big punt returns. They did that mainly by not punting very much.  

[matblake]

I was extremely impressed with Ittersagens sure tackling.   The problem for Wheaton is that when you have an athlete like that, and he plays corner  he is not going to be around the ball nearly enough.  I did see that he returned a few kicks (as well as punts) but I dont think he had been returning kicks all year?

He's really fun to watch.  It seemed to me that he got dinged up after a few returns, which is why they took away his kick return duties.  He is an extremely dangerous returner, but its imperitive that he stays in on defense.

Have to give kudos to the kick coverage teams for North Central.  Very good coverage all night.  

[washdupcard]

This is a reality in the CCIW. There is a new sheriff is town: The North Central Cardinals. There is no way around it. They are a better team than every other team in this conference. I was very impressed with the cardinals tonight. Wheaton turned it over 4x to NCC's 0 but even without the turnovers I think NCC is 7-10 pts better than Wheaton. And there are not many Sr's on this NCC team. This is as good a CCIW team as I have seen in a long time. NCC dominated both Line of Scrimmages and they outplayed as well as outcoached Wheaton in every phase. Congratulations to the Cardinals on a much deserved victory.

I will say this: I have been watching CCIW football for over 25 yrs and Matt Wenger is as good a linebacker as this league has ever seen. That is saying something when there have been some great ones. He reminds me of Jon Munch from IWU in the mid 90's. He isn't as big as Chad Thorsen (but he is as good) from Wheaton but he is better than a VanWetzinga (who was awesome). He was a treat to watch, even as he destroyed my Thunder. He is also significantly better than DPOY Lenny Radtke, who was a great LB.

For the game I was very surprised with the Wheaton game plan. It seemed they thought they could run right at NCC which was a mistake. I thought the only advantage they had on the field was their WR's vs the NCC corners and they didn't get to that until the second half. Then I was shocked they didn't run the no huddle by midway thru the 3rd quarter.

And who the heck is kyle fiedorstorkevitch? #89 is some basketball player turned all american tonight. I thought the NCC offense would struggle without Jones, Rubin, Macintosh and welch, but up comes some freshman TE who makes mincemeat out of the wheaton secondary.

the reality is NCC is loaded with excellent players and they aren't going anywhere. They are for sure a top 3 team (nationally) for the next 2 years at least.

congrats. I will be very surprised to see NCC tested at all the next few weeks and they have a good chance at a #1 or #2 seed in the playoffs.

I just spit out my coffee!

[ncc58]

The NCC defense took control of the game in the first half. NCC started the game a bit shaky on offense, then Wheaton then had a 3rd down play where NCC caused a fumble. That led to three points and the Cardinals were off and running. Janacek's interception and return inside the 10 was also a key. I thought Wheaton had five turnovers, not four. NCC held Wheaton to 70 yards offense in the first half, and Gingg to 24 yards on 12 rushes. I'm sure both teams felt they could run on the other but the NCC defense has had a strong run defense all season.

I like to watch Wenger play. It's not just the number of tackles that he makes. He makes a lot of quality tackles -  hard hits and key stops. This was the first "wow" game for Fanthorpe this year. Maybe, it's because expectations are so high. But his performance in previous games was solid but not great. Only criticism is that he missed several receivers on deep routes several times. Just need steady improvement in the ensuing games.

I don't think there will be a letdown. In the last two seasons, NCC has needed to run the table after the Wheaton game. That mentality will still exist. If NCC does lose and I don't think they will, it won't be because of a letdown or overconfidence.

I thought the crowd was magnificent. The stands on both sides were packed. Of course, the Wheaton fans began to leave when in the middle of the fourth quarter when NCC maintained its 23 point lead.

[HScoach]

With NCC's win tonight, it makes me wonder where they will land in the polls...now I know the polls don't mean diddally-poo and that they are just something for fans and former players to brag about BUT.........

The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th ranked teams go down today. There are two teams currently ahead of the Cards who did not lose today.  They are Wabash and Muhlenberg.
Could winning the little brass bell sling the cards at least to a number 3 ranking? We'll find out next time on d3football.com (tv batman theme music)

The D3 poll might not mean anything but if NCC can finish the season 10-0, they could easily be the #2 seed in the entire bracket behind Mount Union.  Or at worst #3.  Which after last year's shuffling of the teams in the playoff bracket would put the Cardinals as far away from MUC as possible in the brackets. 

Honestly I hope this happens because the CCIW champs have been a tough out over the years for the Raiders and I would like to see if they could make a run deep into the playoffs if they didn't have to meet up with MUC in the 2nd round as has happened so many times in the last decade.

With WWW and MHB both falling today, I would pick the following as the regional #1 seeds.

#1  Mount Union (north)

#2  North Central (west)

#3  Muhlenberg (east)

#4  Mary Hardin Baylor or W&J (south)

[robertgoulet]

I do want to say that I was really impressed with the way Wheaton's QB stood in the pocket. He was getting pounded all night and he stayed in the pocket (save for the few scrambles) pretty much all night. Wenger laid wood to him on their first series and I assumed he may get a little rattled, but he really didn't.

[usee]

I agree w HSC. It would very easy to make ncc the #1 west seed.

[cardinalpride]

This is a reality in the CCIW. There is a new sheriff is town: The North Central Cardinals. There is no way around it. They are a better team than every other team in this conference. I was very impressed with the cardinals tonight. Wheaton turned it over 4x to NCC's 0 but even without the turnovers I think NCC is 7-10 pts better than Wheaton. And there are not many Sr's on this NCC team. This is as good a CCIW team as I have seen in a long time. NCC dominated both Line of Scrimmages and they outplayed as well as outcoached Wheaton in every phase. Congratulations to the Cardinals on a much deserved victory.

I will say this: I have been watching CCIW football for over 25 yrs and Matt Wenger is as good a linebacker as this league has ever seen. That is saying something when there have been some great ones. He reminds me of Jon Munch from IWU in the mid 90's. He isn't as big as Chad Thorsen (but he is as good) from Wheaton but he is better than a VanWetzinga (who was awesome). He was a treat to watch, even as he destroyed my Thunder. He is also significantly better than DPOY Lenny Radtke, who was a great LB.

For the game I was very surprised with the Wheaton game plan. It seemed they thought they could run right at NCC which was a mistake. I thought the only advantage they had on the field was their WR's vs the NCC corners and they didn't get to that until the second half. Then I was shocked they didn't run the no huddle by midway thru the 3rd quarter.

And who the heck is kyle fiedorstorkevitch? #89 is some basketball player turned all american tonight. I thought the NCC offense would struggle without Jones, Rubin, Macintosh and welch, but up comes some freshman TE who makes mincemeat out of the wheaton secondary.

the reality is NCC is loaded with excellent players and they aren't going anywhere. They are for sure a top 3 team (nationally) for the next 2 years at least.

congrats. I will be very surprised to see NCC tested at all the next few weeks and they have a good chance at a #1 or #2 seed in the playoffs.

Usee,
Other than the spelling of the last name, that may be an accurate statement when the career of one Kyle Fiedorowicz is complete.  FYI, Kyle came to NCC as a basketball recruit.  He played one season on the JV team and decided football was more to his liking.  However, he is not some overnight success on the gridiron.  Kyle was a good football player at Johnsburg H.S.  I believe he had several div II schools interested in his football ability.   I'm happy to see him stay the course at NCC and enjoy success on the football field!  I only wish he would've stuck with basketball as well.  Because with his size and athletic ability, he would provide a much needed interior presence for the Cards this year.

[cardinalpride]

After watching the game, I would have bet anyone that Matt Wenger had more than nine tackles in the Wheaton/NCC game.  Am I the only one that feels this way?

[AndOne]

Not positive, but I believe Kyle was even getting DI (Wisconsin) looks for football when he was in HS. During the summer after HS, he decided he would rather play basketball in college, and played on the JV team his freshman year. After his 1st year, I believe there was at least some question whether he would return to school. When he did last year, he didn't play either football or basketball. Now he has switched back to football.

If Kyle WAS to play basketball this year, my sense is that he could very well see some serious court time, and that he definitely would make a much needed contribution.     8)

[letsplay2]

Cardinalpride... That's not much of a bet... I'm pretty sure no one would take it based on the fact that Wenger has been all over the field in every game the cardinals have played this year.  I would have guessed he would have had at least 9 or 10 tackles before the game last night.

Usee... it was woodward that pass interfered on that play.  I definitely would not say langs had a poor game, but that each of the safeties played poorly.  ittersagen and langs did what they could given the scheme Wheaton plays, granted they also made mistakes last night.  most of the big pass plays came when north central would run receivers underneath to contain the cover two corners and run a slot to the deep outside zone where the safeties were constantly too late getting over to their zones.  On top of that, Wheaton's linebackers were not able to cover the short routes, leaving those zones WIDE open all night long.  North central obviously knew these were the weaknesses in the Wheaton D and somewhat stayed away from Ittersagen and Langs.     

[usee]

After watching the game, I would have bet anyone that Matt Wenger had more than nine tackles in the Wheaton/NCC game.  Am I the only one that feels this way?

I would have bet he had 9 tackles after about the first 9 plays.

[ncc58]

After watching the game, I would have bet anyone that Matt Wenger had more than nine tackles in the Wheaton/NCC game.  Am I the only one that feels this way?

I would have bet he had 9 tackles after about the first 9 plays.

Having seen the Cards several times this season, I thought that Wheaton did a good job of staying away from Wenger. Just my view, but he was definitely a bigger pain to Carthage the week before when he was credited with 18 tackles. He had 18 tackles in an earlier game as well. He's under consideration for DPOW every week. Wheaton spent most of the second half passing downfield, so many plays were outside his range.

[RadioNotes]

On North Centrals D....if you watch the redzone you will hear all of the
D players say it is a TEAM effort.  When Wenger has lots of tackles and
wins POW...the whole D is truly happy!  Coach Thorne talks all the time about
the great chemistry the team has....meaning they are unselfish!  How
about that D line too?  Several players consistently are hard hitters and big
play makers.....Wenger is the star, but he is heard giving credit to the whole D!
And if the O wasn't as great as they are the D would be too tired to be great!

http://www.nctv17.com/nctv17-redzone.html