Donovan McNeal rushed for 144 yards and three touchdowns to lead defending national champion North Central (Ill.) to a 35-21 victory over Bethel in the Division III quarterfinals on Saturday in Naperville, Ill.
The victory was the 28th in a row for the Cardinals (13-0), who will meet John Carroll — a 21-13 winner over Berry — next Saturday in the semifinals.
It was the 44th consecutive home victory for North Central. The Cardinals’ last loss at home was in 2018 to Bethel in the second round of the playoffs.
North Central scored on its final possession of the first half, then stopped the MIAC champion Royals (12-1) at the Cardinals 1-yard line as time expired to take a 14-7 lead into halftime. The Cardinals then scored on their first two possessions of the second half to open a 28-7 lead.
North Central made it 35-7 in the fourth quarter before Bethel scored twice in the final five minutes. Cooper Drews scored on a 1-yard TD run with 4:22 to play and threw a 20-yard TD pass to Tyler Terry with 1:05 remaining.
Jordan Williams ran for 90 yards and a TD for the Cardinals, who rushed for 312 yards.
Drews passed for 260 yards and two TDs and David Geebli rushed for 80 yards for the Royals, who outgained North Central 432-398.
Wisconsin-River Falls 46, Wheaton (Ill.) 21: Kaleb Blaha (Fridley) passed for 406 yards and four TDs and Trevor Asher rushed for 106 yards and three TDs to lead the host Falcons (12-1) past the Thunder (11-3) and into the D-III semifinals for the first time in program history.
