The Carthage College football team (3-0, 0-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), tied for 35th place in the Sept. 27 American Football Coaches Association NCAA Division III poll and ranked 40th in the Sept. 27 “D3football.com” poll, opens its CCIW-schedule on Saturday, Oct. 2 against North Central College (3-0, 0-0 CCIW) in a 6 p.m. game at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium in Naperville, Ill. The Cardinals were ranked seventh in the AFCA poll and 10th by "D3football.com."
Carthage closed out its non-conference schedule on Sept. 18 by winning a 51-3 game over Concordia University (Wis.) at Century Stadium in Mequon, Wis.
John Thorne (69-21, 9 years) coaches the North Central College Cardinals, who went 8-2 last year and won a CCIW co-championship with Illinois Wesleyan University, both with 6-1 marks. North Central, which has shared the last four conference titles, did not receive a berth in last year's NCAA Division III Football Championship. North Central is off to a 3-0 start after defeating then-No. 17 Wisconsin-Eau Claire, 20-6, last week in Naperville, Ill. The Cardinals previously defeated Cornell College, 41-7, and Olivet College, 52-9. Carthage leads the North Central series, which began with a 1928 game in Naperville, Ill., 27-25-3, but the Cardinals have won the last games in the series, including a 63-38 decision last year at Art Keller Field.
The Red Men play host to CCIW-opponent Millikin University on Saturday, Oct. 9 in a 1 p.m. Carthage Homecoming game at Art Keller Field in Kenosha, Wis.
