Quarterback Luke Lehnen’s legacy at North Central College was already intact before the Stagg Bowl on Sunday night.
That didn’t stop the Chatham Glenwood graduate from adding one more chapter to that story, which came as no surprise to NCC coach Brad Spencer.
“We have a lot of confidence in him,” Spencer said. “If you watched our game last week, it was kind of no-holds-barred. ‘It’s your game, buddy.’ This week was kind of the same thing.
“You come down to this time, and your best players make the biggest plays in the big-time moments.”
After receiving the Gagliardi Trophy, the NCAA Division III equivalent of the Heisman, for the second time on Friday, Lehnen threw four touchdown passes and also ran for a TD as the Cardinals beat Mount Union 41-25 at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston to win their third national championship in their fifth straight appearance in the game.
Lehnen completed 18 of 26 passes for 298 yards, with two TD passes to Jacob Paradee and one each to Jack Rummell and Homewood-Flossmoor graduate Myles Walton, and ran for 55 yards on 15 carries. Oswego graduate Charles Coleman added a 66-yard TD run for NCC (15-0).
“Those plays were really huge plays,” Lehnen said. “It gets the whole team going — not just the guys on the field, but also the guys on the sideline too. Just hitting a big play, that’s going to get everybody going, get everybody fired up. We had a bunch of huge, explosive plays and a lot of different guys making plays.”
Lehnen, who was named the most outstanding player of the Stagg Bowl, had one last epic drive before his career ended. With the Cardinals leading by nine in the fourth quarter, Lehnen orchestrated a 15-play, 92-yard drive that he capped with a 12-yard TD pass to Paradee with 2:32 left.
“We knew that drive was going to be the statement drive and really put the game away if we could just do our job and convert,” Lehnen said. “Shoutout to coach Spencer for calling some crazy plays. I thought they were really huge plays for the situation we were in, really gutsy plays, and our guys went out and executed those plays.”
Paradee’s celebration of the TD drew a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.
“I just got really excited and kind of blacked out,” he said. “We’re a super competitive group, so when we’re able to make those explosive plays and make things happen, it’s really fun.”
Mount Union (14-1) didn’t score again. Mount Carmel graduate Bobby Medina sacked Purple Raiders quarterback TJ Deshields on fourth down with 1:09 left, allowing the Cardinals to run out the clock.
“It’s rare to see a group continue to get better after 20 weeks of football,” Spencer said. “They continued to have more focus. They continued to have better practices. They continued to be locked in. That’s hard to do. It’s just an impressive group. (The seniors are) going to go out and be very successful in the world.”
Among them is Lehnen, whose 213 overall touchdowns set an NCAA all-division record. His 162 passing touchdowns broke the Division III record and tied the all-division record.
“When you step back and look at what Luke’s done, it’s absolutely remarkable,” Spencer said. “We knew he was close to those records, but honestly we’re just calling the best play for that time. I would have to think that his stats on the field rival anybody at our level all time.”
Lehnen is happy to finish his NCC career in style.
“It’s just an awesome feeling,” he said. “If it would have gone the other way, I don’t know how I would be doing right now. It’s an awesome feeling getting to do it with the guys that I came in with during COVID.
“Just going out with a win was a great feeling.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter.
