Cardinals denied second national title
Team awarded multiple honors
Despite its loss in the NCAA Division III national football championship game, the North Central College football team (13-1) finished with a record haul of All-America honors with six student-athletes named to the 2021 D3football.com All-America Teams. This year’s selections were announced just prior to the Cardinals’ appearance in the national championship game, the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, on Dec. 17, 2021. Senior cornerback Jake Beesley, senior offensive lineman Sharmore Clarke, junior running back Ethan Greenfield and senior wide receiver Andrew Kamienski each claimed First Team honors, while junior defensive lineman Dan Gilroy was recognized on the Third Team and senior linebacker Ben Wong was named to the Fourth Team. In addition, Wong received the NCAA Elite 90 Award, presented to the student-athlete with the highest grade-point average at each national championship. Both Wong and Beesley were selected to the 2021-2022 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) NCAA Division III Academic All-America First Team in recognition of their continued adherence to the highest standards of excellence in academics as well as athletics.
get to the final game, North Central had to travel to the University of Mount Union. They dismantled the fourth-ranked Purple Raiders, 26-13, to advance to a second straight national championship game. Two additional postseason wins came against the University of WisconsinLa Crosse, 34-20, in the second round, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (New York), 55-6, in the quarterfinal.
JAKE BEESLEY ’21
The team finished the 2021 campaign with a total of 14 All-America Awards. Clarke and Kamienski claimed All-America awards from the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and the Associated Press (AP), while Beesley, Greenfield and Gilroy were also recognized by the AP. Clarke is a First Team AP All-America selection for the third straight season, while Beesley, Greenfield and Kamienski are second-time honorees. The Cardinals were denied in their quest for a second straight NCAA Division III national championship by the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas), 57-24. To
4 8 NORTH CENTRAL COLLEGE northcentralcollege.edu
ETHAN GREENFIELD ’22
It was North Central’s second straight appearance in the championship, following the program’s first national title in 2019.
