Brad Spencer Wins His First Bell
For the fourth time in four weeks, it was a milestone Cardinals football victory for head coach Brad Spencer, as North Central defeated Wheaton 33-20 in the Battle for the Little Brass Bell. Despite the importance this game holds and that is placed on it by players and fans alike, Spencer said he wanted the players to, in some ways, treat it like any other game.
“The message was to make sure we’re taking care of the football, tackling [well], winning the time of possession, and winning the battle up front,” Spencer said. “Our guys did a great job of that. We checked most of those boxes, and although our guys didn’t get points on those first couple drives our offensive line did a good job establishing the line of scrimmage and our defense did a good job making stops so we were able to go into halftime 20-0.”
A Scary Moment and Early Offensive Struggles
However, the game had barely begun before a long injury stoppage. On the opening kickoff, Wheaton’s Kyle Carter suffered an injury to the head/neck area and was down for a prolonged period of time. In addition to hoping he was alright, as a coach Spencer also has the task of keeping his team engaged on the game they’re about to play.”
“Certainly you never want to see that,” said Spencer. “You never want to see a player from either side get injured to that level. Thankfully, he’s ok. But then it’s about making sure your mind and feet are where you’re at right then.”
While both offenses struggled early, it was the Cardinals defense who set the tone with turnovers, particularly interceptions by sophomore safety Zack Orr and sophomore linebacker Angelo Cusumano.
“Coach Dierking and our entire defensive staff did a great job putting together a great gameplan mixing up what we were doing upfront and different coverages,” Spencer said. “Turnovers in big games are always a factor and we knew that going in. So to be able to win the turnover battle I think went a long way in helping us win that football game.”
Hardy and Greenfield Step Up
When the North Central offense did find a spark, it was in junior wide receiver DeAngelo Hardy frequently being wide open and sophomore quarterback Luke Lehnen finding him.
“I think anytime you’re going into a big game, you want to get your best players the football,” said Spencer. “We just wanted to get DeAngelo into space, get the ball in his hands, and let him make plays and he certainly did. It seemed like every time we drew something up for him the ball landed in his hands and he made a big play.”
In addition to Hardy, a large portion of the offensive load was carried by senior running back Ethan Greenfield, which is often the case in big games. With almost 200 yards rushing and two touchdowns, it was a vintage Greenfield performance in a big game.
“Having a room as deep as we do with the running backs helps, because the rest of the season you can try and use other guys, give him some breathers when he needs it,” Spencer said. “He was ready to go. It’s almost like the first three weeks he was gearing up and getting ready. You can see on film each week him getting a little bit better, and part of that is he’s a fifth year, he’s played a lot of football. He certainly stepped up and played really well on Saturday.”
Closing Out the Victory
After the Cardinals led 20-0 at halftime, the Thunder made it a one-score game with touchdowns on each of their first two second-half drives. It was a pivotal point in the game, and North Central was able to make the necessary adjustments.
“The message doesn’t change a whole lot,” said Spencer. “It’s ‘control what you can control.’ We felt the places we weren’t executing on offense, it was things we were doing to ourselves. On defense, it was just stay the course: don’t give up long drives, don’t let them make big plays, make them have to feel rushed.”
Time to Celebrate
The Cardinals went on to seal the victory, and jubilant celebration ensued. Seniors Terrence Hill and Dan Gilroy were the first to lift the Brass Bell before Matt Robinson sprinted down the field to a crowd of former players, all under the glow of fireworks to celebrating Homecoming Weekend. But for Brad Spencer, those initial moments were blur.
“I think you miss most of it,” Spencer said. “You’re shaking hands, your congratulating your staff, congratulating your players and hugging them. But you certainly try to stop and take it all in, especially it being my first Wheaton game as the head coach. But really it’s a blur. You want to huge your guys, tell them how proud you are of them. It certainly was a pretty neat scene especially with it being homecoming and a night game. The community of North Central did a great job of making that a fun night.”
Eventually, he did make it to a crowd of his players, where Robinson handed him the trophy. All week, players had said they wanted to win this game for him, and that showed in the way they rallied around Brad Spencer.
“It was really special,” he said. “That something I’m never going to forget. I believe that our players are the ones who won the game. They’re the ones who deserve to be chanting and holding that trophy, but I do appreciate that they would say that and that they want to get that done for me. But it’s about our players, it’s about our seniors, it’s about our staff. And they all did such a wonderful job.”
