Game Leaders
Team Stats
Passing Yards
Rushing Yards
Turnovers
Time of Poss.
St. Louis, Mo., Sept. 21, 2019 – No. 5-ranked North Central College broke open a tie game with 33-unaswered points in the final three quarters as the Cardinals blew past the No. 24 Washington University in St. Louis football team with a 46-13 win in front of 2,983 fans Saturday at Francis Olympic Field in St. Louis.
North Central improved to 2-0 and 1-0 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW), while WashU dropped to 1-1 and 0-1 in the CCIW.
"We did not play the way we needed to win a game like this," said WashU head coach Larry Kindbom. "The QB is good about getting rid of the ball fast and they are good up front. We will be all right. We have to get it figured out. Against a good football team, every little mistake becomes a big one."
Senior defensive back Matt Bernstein had a season-high 11 tackles and recorded his first career interception in the second quarter.
The Cardinals jumped out to a quick 13-0 lead in the opening seven minutes of play after a pair of TD passes from senior QB Broc Rutter. The Bears answered back with a 12-play, 65-yard drive, culminated by a one-yard TD run by senior QB Johnny Davidson.
WashU's defense came up big on the final play of the first quarter after junior Andrew Whitaker blocked a field goal attempt and sophomore Anthony Brown scooped up the loose ball and scampered 71 yards for the TD to tie the game.
North Central outscored WashU 13-0 in the second quarter to take the 27-13 lead at half. The Cardinals had a 385-117 advantage in total offense in the opening half. Rutter was 26-of-31 for 293 yards and four touchdowns.
Davidson finished the day 24-of-42 for 226 yards and was sacked five times. The Bears totaled 311 yards of total offense in the loss. Senior wide receiver Tim Matthiessen had a career-high seven catches for 52 yards.
North Central totaled 640 yards of total offense in the win, and was 7-for-8 in the red zone and 13-of-16 on third down. Rutter was 34-of-45 for 395 yards and five touchdowns, and became North Central's all-time leader in completions and passing yards.
Junior Andrew Kamienski set the North Central single-game school record with 15 catches for 181 yards and two touchdowns. Ethan Greenfield (118 yards) and Terrence Hill (116 yards) each ran for 100 yards on the ground for North Central.
WashU hits the road to take on Carthage College on Saturday, Sept. 28, at Noon.
BEAR NOTEBOOK: North Central leads the all-time series with WashU 6-1 … WashU is 5-11 in games played after a bye week since 2004, and has lost six-straight games … Francis Olympic Field was renamed during a halftime ceremony.