North Central, Wheaton Earn Home Playoffs Openers

NAPERVILLE – Defending national champion North Central and College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) runner up Wheaton will host first-round games in the NCAA Division III Football Playoffs, according to a Sunday announcement from the NCAA.

North Central, which sewed up its third consecutive CCIW crown on Saturday, will host Belhaven on Saturday, Nov. 18 at noon at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium in Naperville. It will be the first all-time meeting between the undefeated and top-ranked Cardinals and Blazers, who won the USA South Athletic Conference’s automatic bid to the playoffs with a 9-1 overall record and a 7-1 league mark.

Wheaton will also play at home next Saturday, a noon kickoff against Mount Saint Joseph at McCully Stadium. The Thunder finished the season 9-1 overall and 8-1 in the CCIW. Their opponent, the Lions, posted a 9-1 record overall and a 7-0 conference record to sweep their second consecutive Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference championship. Wheaton and MSJ have met twice before in 2004 and 2006, both WC victories in the Playoffs.