Five locals help lift North Central football into another D-III national-title showdown
Once again, Naperville's North Central College has charged into another NCAA Division III national championship football game.
And, once again, the team is filled with stars from the Rockford area.
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"Oh we all know each other, it's kind of a little bond we have being from that area," said sophomore defensive back Marey Roby, one of two former Lena-Winslow stars, and one of five from the area, now on North Central's team. "And it's pretty cool... We all have each other's backs."
Those five players from the area — Roby; senior James Hart, the former Rochelle star, on the defensive line; junior tight end Bobby Behmer, a former Rockford Lutheran player; junior offensive lineman Nick Fehrle, the former Boylan standout; and true-freshman linebacker Gunar Lobdell, the other former Lena-Winslow star — are either starting or are spending a significant amount of time on the field for North Central as it charges toward its third national title. North Central, 14-0 and the unanimous No. 1-ranked team, takes on SUNY Cortland (New York), ranked 11th in one poll (D3football.com) and 13th in the other (the AFCA), in the 50th Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, the D-III championship game, at Salem Stadium in Salem, Virginia, at 6 p.m. Friday.
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SUNY Cortland (13-1) is making its first appearance in the D-III national title game, while North Central is not only the defending champion, but is making its fourth straight national-title-game appearance. The Cardinals won it all last year and back in 2019, and took second in 2021.
Now they are on the doorstep again, thanks to a bunch of players from this neck of the woods.
Roby gets warmed up
Roby has moved into the team's starting nickel-back, and depending on the opponent, he may either just go in on passing downs, or he could be an all-down guy. This week he expects to get a lot of work.
"I've kind of said 'Hey, I love playing, and I'll play anywhere, I don't care where,'" said Roby, who was a star running back, and a star defensive back, for Lena-Winslow's state championship teams in 2019 and 2021. He is shooting for his sixth championship, counting high school football, wrestling and college football. "I sometimes take it for granted a little bit, but not right now. This is so much fun."
Roby has 23 tackles, 15th on the team, three tackles for loss, two sacks, two interceptions, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
Hart's career winds down
The Cardinals are 56-2 since the start of the 2019 season — which happens to be when Hart came into the program. This game is his college football finale, however.
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"Us five-year seniors sure know what it's like to get to this point, and we know what it's like to win, and what it's like to lose," said Hart, who has started every game this season at the three-technique defensive tackle. "For me, it's time to finish the mission. This means a lot to me. I want to finish with a national championship. Another one."
Hart has 38 tackles, tied for eighth on the team, two tackles for loss and a half a sack.
Behmer makes big leap
Behmer has come on strong this year as well, and has turned into a key cog to an offense that ranks first nationally at the D-III level in scoring (60.1 points/game), total offense (566.4 yards per game) and completion percentage (73.9 percent). He has started 31 out of the team's 14 games and has six catches for 124 yards and a touchdown.
The 6-2, 242-pound junior is also a clutch blocker for the run game that is second in all D-III at 324.9 rushing yards per game.
"We have such a great culture around here, we just expect to win, and do everything, all week, with that in mind," Behmer said. "My freshman year I was basically a scout team player, and then last year I had four senior tight ends I was behind... Now I'm getting my chance. It's kind of my chance."
Fehrle, Lobdell make impact, too
Fehrle, at 6-2, 282 pounds, has started 12 of the team's 14 games on the offensive line this season as well, and he's come up big in his first season as a full-time player, too. And here's another one: Lobdell has 10 tackles and two fumble recoveries in 10 games while impressively getting some quality playing time as a true freshman at linebacker.
"There have been a lot of new guys making some key contributions this year," Hart said. "And the reason I came back was to make some more memories, and man have we done that."
Former Harlem big-guy Eddie Valdes on the O-line, and former Durand/Pecatonica defensive lineman Briaun Green, both freshman, are still working their way onto the field for the D-III juggernauts.
They hope to be getting more time on the field next year with another national title in their rearview mirror.
Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and follow him on Twitter at @JayTaft. Sign up for the Rockford High School newsletter at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a wide variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears to youth sports, since the turn of the century at the Register Star, and for over 30 years all together.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: With five from Rockford area helping out, North Central plays for title
