Stringing together 27 unanswered first-half points to seize control of the contest, North Central College advanced to its sixth NCAA Division III national quarterfinal Saturday with a 71-28 victory over Trinity University (Texas) at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium.

The No. 1-ranked Cardinals (12-0) achieved their highest point total ever in a postseason game and forced four turnovers against a Trinity squad which had committed only five turnovers all season. North Central stopped three drives on fourth down in the second half to keep the No. 4/6-ranked Tigers (10-2) from mounting a comeback.

"I'm proud of our team, and I'm proud of our coaches for the game plan they put together," said North Central head coach Brad Spencer '04. "I thought our defense played outstanding. (Trinity) has one of the best offenses in the country, and to shut them down the way they did, especially early, was really important.

"On offense, I was proud of the effort our guys had running the football and making our passing game count when we did it. If you want to win playoff football games, we really believe you need to run the ball, control the line of scrimmage, take the ball away and protect the ball."

The hosts scored twice before Trinity's offense was able to take the field. Joe Sacco scored the day's first touchdown on a six-yard run before Rahmareon Roby forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and Will Vernon recovered the ball at the Tigers' 18-yard line. Just two plays later, Sacco ran for a second touchdown to spot the Cardinals a 14-0 advantage after less than three minutes of play.

Trinity, which entered the game ranked 10th nationally in passing offense, took to the air and tied the contest at 14-14 with 5:13 left in the opening period as Tucker Horn threw a seven-yard scoring pass to Cole Monago and a 13-yard TD strike to Caleb Crawford while forcing the Cardinals' only punt of the afternoon. North Central took the lead with two more touchdowns in rapid succession before the first quarter ended. Sean Allen ran 26 yards to the end zone to nudge the hosts back in front with 1:42 on the clock before Nic Rummell intercepted a pass from Horn, who had not thrown an interception all season heading into the game. The next play saw Lehnen push a shovel pass to Charles Coleman, who raced 58 yards across the goal line for a 27-14 advantage with 50 seconds still to play in the period.

"I was just telling guys to keep fighting," Lehnen said. "They had some momentum once they got it to 14-14, and we had to respond. I knew once we got the momentum to swing back our way, it was going to be over. I just told our guys to focus on the drive in front of us and do what we do."

The Cardinals maintained possession for the lion's share of the second quarter, tacking on two scores to head into halftime with a 41-14 lead. Coleman scored on a one-yard run to cap a 13-play, 61-yard drive which spanned more than seven minutes, and Lehnen closed the half with a 38-yard scoring pass to Joey Lombardi with just 24 seconds on the clock. North Central rolled up 348 yards in the first half while yielding only 164.

The Tigers took the first possession of the second half 86 yards and scored on Horn's 18-yard pass to Ryan Merrifield at the end of a 13-play drive. North Central countered with two touchdowns in less than three minutes to put the contest out of reach. DeAngelo Hardy hauled in scoring passes of 26 and 43 yards from Lehnen to leave the score at 54-21 heading into the fourth quarter, giving Hardy 56 career touchdown receptions. The North Central career record is 57, set by Andrew Kamienski from 2017-2021.

After shutting down a Trinity drive on fourth down at the 50-yard line to start the fourth period, the Cardinals got a second touchdown run from Allen, this time from 10 yards out, before cornerback Ethan Groark snagged a Horn pass out of the air and returned it 40 yards to the end zone on the next play from scrimmage. Following another failed fourth-down attempt, the hosts put together a final scoring drive which culminated in a 34-yard field goal by Sean Ryniec with 6:36 remaining.

The Cardinals finished with 536 total yards, including 291 on the ground, while allowing 300. Lehnen completed 11 of 14 passes for 245 yards and gained a game-high 94 rushing yards on 11 carries. Hardy caught seven passes for 98 yards while Lombardi gained 89 yards on three catches. Angelo Cusumano made a team-high seven tackles and forced a fumble, while Groark made two of North Central's three interceptions to give him a team-high four picks this season.

Horn completed 30 of 50 passes for 278 yards, connecting with Merrifield eight times for 94 yards. Caleb Harmel made a game-high 11 tackles, including two quarterback sacks.

The Cardinals advance to face the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse (11-1), a 56-35 second-round winner over Aurora University, in Saturday's quarterfinals at a site to be announced. North Central defeated the Eagles, 34-20, in the second round of the 2021 playoffs.