North Central College football has another accolade to add to a season full of standout performances. Senior quarterback Luke Lehnen was named a semifinalist for the Gagliardi Trophy, the annual award presented to the top player in Division III football.
Lehnen joins an impressive list of North Central nominees
The NCC signal caller is having a historic season on the gridiron for the Cardinals. Lehnen, the CCIW Art Keller Offensive Student-Athlete of the Year, is the current active career leader in passing efficiency (210.54) in all divisions of college football and ranks first among Division III quarterbacks this season in passing efficiency (278.5), completion percentage (76.0), yards per completion (20.44) and yards per pass (15.54) while ranking eighth in touchdown passes (37). His current 278.5 passer rating would break the all-time NCAA record, which stands at 230.4.
Luke Lehnen is the sixth consecutive Gagliardi Trophy semifinalist for North Central, following running back Austin Breunig in 2017, quarterback Broc Rutter in 2018 and 2019, wide receiver Andrew Kamienski in 2021 and running back Ethan Greenfield in 2022. Rutter in 2019 and Greenfield in 2022 went on to win the Gagliardi Trophy.
Other semifinalists are University of Wisconsin-River Falls quarterback Kaleb Blaha, University of Wisconsin-Platteville defensive end Justin Blazek, Belhaven University (Mississippi) running back Kolbe Blunt, Cortland State University (New York) quarterback Zac Boyes, Gustavus Adolphus College (Minnesota) wide receiver Jake Breitbach, Berry College (Georgia) running back Brandon Cade, Randolph-Macon College (Virginia) quarterback Drew Campanale, Illinois College quarterback Destin Chance, Carnegie Mellon University (Pennsylvania) linebacker Robert Coury, Wartburg College (Iowa) linebacker Owen Grover, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater defensive back Egon Hein, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse quarterback Keyser Helterbrand, Trinity University (Texas) quarterback Tucker Horn, Middlebury College (Vermont) defensive lineman Tomas Kenary, Mount Union quarterback Braxton Plunk, Johns Hopkins University (Maryland) defensive lineman Luke Schuermann, Saint John’s quarterback Aaron Syverson, Mount St. Joseph University (Ohio) quarterback Josh Taylor and Wheaton College running back Giovanni Weeks.
