Sutherland, North Central overwhelm Hanover in playoff opener
Matt Sutherland had 3 career interceptions heading into No. 9 North Central's Division III first-round football playoff game against Hanover on Saturday in Naperville.
The junior defensive back matched that number in the first half alone, and the Cardinals rolled over the Panthers 52-0 in the first game between the teams since 1997.
"It was our preparation all week because it's playoff time and you never know if you're going to have another game," Sutherland said. "Everyone knows it and everyone buys in and those first two (interceptions) were on my teammates. They got their hands in there and it's just our pursuit to the football. So I can't thank my teammates enough. It was an awesome game and we work hard and got everything we deserved today."
North Central (10-1), winner of seven straight games, wasted little time in jumping on Hanover, using 5 plays and covering 76 yards to go ahead 7-0 on Dominick Muoghalu's 5-yard touchdown run.
Sutherland then returned his first interception 42 yards to set up Derik Judka's 20-yard field goal.
He nearly returned his second interception for a touchdown but was tackled at the Hanover 3-yard line where Muoghalu powered in on the ensuing play to make the score 17-0.
"We knew they were a great team, but just knowing we are the North Central Cardinals, we're serious about getting things done," Muoghalu said. "We didn't hesitate to run the plays we needed to."
Quarterback Broc Rutter threw his only touchdown pass of the game to Andrew Kamienski with 2:47 still to play in the first quarter to extend North Central's lead to 24-0.
Rutter broke through the Hanover defense for a 43-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter, and Ethan Greenfield had an 8-yard touchdown run with 8:28 still to play in the first half as the Cardinals put the game away early, leading 38-0 at halftime.
"We have so much confidence in the offense that we know if we hold them to a few points we're probably going to win a football game," Sutherland said. "We've probably got the best offense in the nation. We've got the best quarterback and receiving corps and know they're always going to put up points."
The Cardinals outgained the Panthers 482-166.
Talha Ayhan recovered a fumble for North Central just 11 seconds into the third quarter and 19 seconds later Ethan Greenfield scored on a 17-yard run to make it 45-0.
Terrence Hill finished the scoring with a 6-yard run with 7:40 still left to play in the third quarter.
"Coach (Jeff Thorne) preached all week to play our brand of football," Muoghalu said. "I think we did that today. We made a couple of mistakes, but it's stuff we can correct next week."
That will be against a much more difficult opponent, No. 11 Bethel University (10-1), next Saturday.