Area Roundup: Nov. 13
FROM STAFF REPORTS November 13, 2012 9:18PM
Updated: November 13, 2012 10:43PM
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
13 North Central players All-CCIW — The head coaches of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin have selected 13 North Central College players to the 2012 All-CCIW Football Teams. The CCIW announced its annual selections on Tuesday.
The 13 selections matched Wheaton College for the most representatives from any CCIW team. North Central and Wheaton shared this year’s CCIW Championship with Elmhurst College, marking the seventh consecutive year that the Cardinals have won at least a share of the CCIW title.
North Central had five players on the All-CCIW Defensive First Team, including defensive backs Shane Dierking, a junior from Wheaton Warrenville South and Josh Mitchell, a senior from Bloomington; senior linebacker Joey Michals (Providence Catholic), and defensive linemen Josh Fick (junior, Crystal Lake Central) and Alex Tripp (junior, Belvidere North). Defensive back Connor Douglas (junior, Glenbard South) was a Second Team honoree.
Running back Nick Kukuc, a senior from Naperville Central, and offensive linemen Jace Werkheiser (junior, Freeport) and Greg Whalen (junior, Marian Catholic) were named to the Offensive First Team, while running back Jordan Tassio (senior, Naperville North) and wide receivers Peter Sorenson (sophomore, Dunlap) and Chad O’Kane (junior, Richmond-Burton) made the Second Team. Punter Tyler Rasche (senior, Moline) was a First Team All-CCIW selection as well.
Fourteenth-ranked North Central (8-2) will participate in the first round of the Division III Football Championship on Saturday, traveling to face eighth-ranked California Lutheran University (8-1). The game is set to kick off at noon Pacific time (2 p.m. Central).
North Central player honored — North Central defensive back Josh Mitchell has been selected to the D3football.com Team of the Week for the week of Nov. 10.
Mitchell was selected as the top-performing returner in Division III after his performance in the 14th-ranked Cardinals’ 37-6 victory at Augustana on Saturday.
He racked up 224 yards on six punt returns, an average of 37.3 yards per return, to keep North Central in advantageous field positions all afternoon. He scored the Cardinals’ first touchdown on an 80-yard return and had three other returns of at least 25 yards against an Augustana team that had allowed only 45 total punt return yards all season.
