North Central College at Illinois Wesleyan
When: 1 p.m. Saturday, WONC-FM (89.1), wonc.org
Outlook: Cardinals (4-3, 3-1 CCIW) lost another close decision to a ranked team last week, losing to unbeaten Wheaton 17-9. That means that Cardinals need to beat Wesleyan (7-0, 4-0) and hope for help to grab the CCIW’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs. The Cardinals did receive good news on freshman quarterback Justin Hunniford. His ankle is not broken, but his participation in practice will be limited. That means junior Dylan Warden will move from his hybrid role to quarterback for the time being. Wesleyan is led by the top receiver in the CCIW, Artie Checchin. Checchin, the reigning CCIW Offensive Player of the Week, has caught 37 passes for 693 yards and eight touchdowns. Quarterback Jack Warner is versatile. Maurice Shoemaker-Gilmore leads ground game with 533 yards rushing and eight touchdowns. “They’re having a great season offensively and defensively,” NCC coach Jeff Thorne said. “They’re playing really good football.” Despite the fact the Cardinals have three losses, Thorne knows his team is on the cusp. The Cardinals are still ranked 19th by D3football.com. “We’re one play away in each of our losses and we could be ranked in the top five,” Thorne said. “We’re a really good football team, and we know that. The hope is we can put a clean game together. If we can do that, I don’t think there’s anybody we can’t play with.”
