Naperville's North Central College eyes football national championship and revenge
NAPERVILLE, Ill. (CBS) – North Central College's football team has made it to three straight Division III Final Fours, but they came up just short in their attempt to repeat as national champions last year.
CBS 2's Jackie Kostek caught up with a team looking for another title game appearance, with a side of revenge.
"I'm locked in. I'm ready to go. I'm excited," said quarterback Luke Lehnen.
Lehnen and the undefeated Cardinals have been practicing at home this week where on Saturday they'll face Mary Hardin-Baylor, the team that ended their championship dreams last year. It's a get-back game one year in the making.
"We're almost at 365 days," said head coach Brad Spencer. "We'll be a week short. It's rare in life that you get to have a do-over or get revenge or get a repeat. We certainly left that game last December on the 17th not feeling great about how we performed."
It should come as no surprise the team hasn't skipped a beat under new head coach Spencer, as he's been with the program for the better part of two decades, first as a player, then as a wide receivers coach and later as offensive coordinator.
"In the very beginning when he made the jump to head coach, he said 'I'm not going to change anything, our philosophy, what we live for, what we embody as a team is not going to change,'" said running back Ethan Greenfield.
And it hasn't.
The high-octane offense the Cardinals have become know for was just as high-flying this season, averaging 560 yards and more than 54 points a game.
Junior wideout DeAngelo Hardy has caught the attention of NFL scouts and is chasing a Cardinals record. He ranks second in program history for career touchdown receptions with 35.
"It's just another accolade that doesn't mean anything if you don't finish the job," said Hardy.
That job is to do what last year's team couldn't: put the exclamation point on a perfect season by winning a national championship.
"The thing that makes it really special is all the younger guys are doing it for the fifth-years and all the fifth-years are doing it for the younger guys," said Greenfield. "I would want nothing more than to have the younger guys win a national championship, same with the coaches, same with the fifth-years as well. Everyone is doing it for someone other than themselves."
This is the first time the Cardinals will host a semifinal game and there is a lot at stake with the chance to even the score against Mary Hardin-Baylor and punch their ticket to another national championship game.
They expect the crowd in Naperville to be electric.