Dominance is the word that would define North Central’s 41-14 victory over UW-Whitewater in the Stagg Bowl. The North Central Football team is walking away with their first national title in program history and did it in style.
In the first quarter, North Central came out of the gates in a full sprint. A huge return on the opening kickoff put the offense in a great position and the drive quickly ended in a touchdown by Ethan Greenfield, ’22. The defense held Whitewater to no points in the first to keep a slim 6-0 lead. Quarterback Broc Rutter, ’20, quickly found receiver Blake Williams, ’21, down the field for a 31-yard score to make it 13-0. Then North Central began to run away.
Photo by Greg Williams
An interception by Julian Bell, ’22, was followed with a Rushing Touchdown from Rutter to make it 20-0. Then, Greenfield would find the end zone again to make it 27-0 at the end of the first half.
It never became much of a contest after that, but a notable scoring drive was in the fourth quarter. Broc Rutter found Andrew Kamienski, ’21, for the touchdown one final time. This play made it the 46th time these two have connected for a touchdown, Rutter broke the Division III all-time passing record with 14,265 passing yards in his career and Kamienski is the second player in Division III history to record 2,000 receiving yards in a season.
Ethan Greenfield was named most valuable player of the Stagg Bowl. Hours before kick-off, Rutter took home the Gagliardi trophy for the most outstanding player in Division III football.
Screenshot by Jordan Bradley
Many turned to social media to congratulate the team on their achievement. One, in particular, came from Northwestern’s head football coach Pat Fitzgerald.
The North Central athletic department also hit a major milestone with the victory last night. This is North Central’s 40th overall national title, which ranks sixth among Division III athletics. North Central athletic programs have also found themselves on top of the national podium 15 times this decade.
