ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – North Central's Broc Rutter threw for 389 yards and three touchdowns Saturday to lead the 17th-ranked Cardinals to a 48-10 win over Augustana on

Homecoming at Lindberg Stadium. The Vikings dropped to 2-3 on the year and 1-3 in the CCIW, while the visitors improved to 4-1 overall and 3-1 in the conference.
 
North Central took the opening kickoff and went 78 yards in nine plays for a touchdown. Dominick Muoghalu covered the last 42 yards on three rushes, finally going into the end zone from eight yards out. Derik Judka's point after made it 7-0 Cardinals.
 
The hosts answered with a seven-play, 61-yard touchdown drive of their own. Senior Zachary Fuller (St. Patrick HS, Schiller Park, Ill.) hit junior Ethan Jennigs (Notre Dame HS, Chicago, Ill.) with a 32-yard completion on the march and sophomore Alek Jacobs (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) finished it off with a five-yard touchdown run on third-and-goal. Ryan Ganson's (Geneseo HS, Geneseo, Ill.) extra point tied it 7-7 with 9:39 to play in the first quarter.
 
After the teams traded punts, the Cardinals struck quickly, covering 70 in just three plays to take the lead for good. Rutter found Michael Sfikas behind the Augustana secondary for a 59-yard scoring strike and Judka's kick made it 14-7 late in the first quarter.
 
It looked like Augustana would pull even on its next possession. Taking over at their own 25, the Vikings drove to the North Central 19. On a second-and-two play, Fuller lofted a throw toward Jennings in the right corner of the end zone. North Central's Jake Beesley deflected the ball before Jennings appeared to gather it in with a foot down in bounds. However, the officials ruled the catch out-of-bounds and after a four-yard loss on third down, Ganson's field goal attempt from 40 yards went wide left.
 
The Cardinals capitalized, putting together long touchdown drives on their next two possessions to go up 28-7. Rutter connected with Cameron Moore on a seven-yard scoring strike to cap a 12-play, 77-yard march and Muoghalu's one-yard burst finished off a 12-play, 68-yard trek. The visitors took the 28-7 advantage to the halftime break.
 
Fuller-to-Jennings completions of 36 and 10 yards keyed Augustana's opening possession of the second half. The Vikings went 45 yards in six plays before Ganson's 34-yard field goal made it 28-10.
 
North Central scored on its next four possessions to complete the day's scoring. The Cardinals sandwiched a Rutter-to-Moore 15-yard touchdown toss and Terrence Hill's 27-yard scoring run around Judka field goals of 35 and 37 yards to lead 48-10 with 6:25 to play. That turned out to be the final, as both coaches substituted liberally the rest of the way.
 
Fuller connected on 27 of 41 throws for 256 yards and was intercepted once. Jennings caught nine passes for 139 yards and sophomore Max Uranich (La Salle-Peru HS, ) and senior Ryan Hennessy (Oswego HS, Oswego, Ill.) each caught seven balls for 56 and 49 yards, respectively. Hennessy pushed his career reception total to 115, breaking Gary Fairchild's previous school record of 113 set from 1970-73.
 
Jacobs rushed for 54 yards on nine carries, but North Central stymied an Augustana ground game that came into the contest as the CCIW's best, limiting the Vikings to 92 net yards on 28 attempts. Junior linebacker Luke Sawicki (Neuqua Valley HS, Naperville, Ill.) led the defense with a game-high 12 tackles.
 
Sfikas was on the receiving end of 13 of Rutter's passes for 178 yards. Muoghalu ran for 78 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries.
 
Next Saturday, October 13, Augustana travels to Chicago, Illinois to take on their Viking namesakes from North Park. Kickoff at the Holmgren Athletic Complex is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.