Former Chatham Glenwood QB won the most prestigious award in DIII football. What’s next?

Luke Lehnen was wondering what the commotion was about at the end of practice.

The electric North Central College quarterback didn’t know why a camera was being set up with the NCAA Division III national championship game looming just a couple of days away.

The team soon swarmed Lehnen after he was proclaimed the recipient of the John Gagliardi Trophy as the most outstanding college football player in DIII.

He became the third Cardinal to win the prestigious honor. Former teammate and running back Ethan Greenfield won the award the previous season.

Lehnen, a 2020 Chatham Glenwood graduate, deferred most – if not all – of the credit to his teammates.

“I kind of see it as a team award, honestly,” Lehnen said in a phone interview on Thursday. “I said that back in December when they gave me the award because when you think about it, all of the stats and stuff I was able to get this year, I obviously couldn’t do that without the guys around me.

“I don’t get passing yards or passing touchdowns without the receivers, running backs or the guys blocking for me. It means a lot to me that I was able to win this award because of my teammates.”

Gaudy numbers

Lehnen set multiple DIII records over the course of the nearly perfect 2023 season, including passing efficiency (263.2), yards per pass (14.7), yards per completion (20) and percentage of passes completed for touchdowns (20.7%).

He completed 170 of 232 (73.3%) passing attempts for 3,407 yards and 48 TDs with just two picks. His completion percentage and TDs led the nation. He also ran for 850 yards and 13 scores, setting school records for career rushing yards (2,348) and rushing TDs (36).

That doesn't include his contributions on special teams. He also averaged 39.1 yards on 12 punt attempts.

2020 Male Athlete of the Year: Male Athlete of the Year and Large School Football Player of the Year: Luke Lehnen

Lehnen has always been hailed as an efficient passer at NCC, but he elevated that to an even higher zenith after throwing for 38 scores and six picks en route to the national title as a sophomore.

He returned to the Stagg Bowl for a third straight season against Cortland, but the Cardinals came up short in a wild 38-37 loss on Dec. 15.

“I think it had a lot to do with offseason training and spring ball practice, just working on accuracy and getting the ball to people earlier and quicker – making decisions quicker and studying defenses more and stuff like that,” Lehnen said.

“I also had some shorter passes worked into the offense, so that kind of made it easier. But at the same time, I think just working in the offseason and during the season to get the chemistry with the receivers and running backs really helps with that.”

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Lehnen shares the wealth

Lehnen certainly shared a strong connection with senior receiver DeAngelo Hardy over the past three seasons.

Hardy wound up with 75 catches for 1,353 yards and 20 TDs and departs with 58 career TDs for most in school history.

“It’s been great getting to connect with him not just on the field but off the field as well,” Lehnen said of Hardy. “He’s a great athlete. You can put him at any position and he’s going to succeed. But also, he’s just a great person, too.”

Junior running back Joe Sacco also ran for 1,818 yards and 20 scores and set a DIII record for most yards per rushing attempt (9.77). Hardy, Sacco, receiver Joey Lombardi and offensive linemen Jeske Maples and Jarod Thornton were named first-team all-Americans by The Associated Press.

That potent run game furnished opportunities to exploit the secondary down the field, Lehnen said, and the Cardinals (14-1) averaged 58.6 points per game.

If anything, NCC entrusted Lehnen with the ball more often in crunch time following the graduation of Greenfield.

Lehnen now has 9.400 career passing yards, 119 TDs and 18 INTs with still one more year left after the initial 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He will use that final year of academic eligibility undertaking graduate courses on sports leadership.

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Source of motivation

That 2024 season can’t get here soon enough after only a couple of yards thwarted the Cardinals in Salem, Virginia.

NCC elected to go for the win on the two-point conversion attempt with 70 seconds left, but the Red Dragons snuffed out Lehnen’s keeper toward the sideline.

“I’ve never really been a part of a game like that where it’s just so back and forth,” Lehnen said of the chaotic second half. “It was fun in the moment but obviously not fun in the end.”

That game certainly still lingers on his mind.

“I think about that game all of the time,” Lehnen said. “Every day I just get random thoughts about that game, like what I could’ve done differently and stuff like that.”

His achievements were stupendous, nevertheless.

He may downplay those feats to some degree, but he more than beams about his central Illinois roots.

Lehnen, in fact, trained over the offseason with Glenwood strength and conditioning coach Caleb Cox to enhance his speed, along with his younger siblings Blake and Katelyn. He still claims to be the fastest of the three — for now.

“Hopefully I can hold on to the fastest Lehnen title for a little bit longer,” Lehnen said with a laugh.

He is not only proud of those Glenwood ties but also how he continues to debunk conventional wisdom of what an ideal quarterback should look like at 6-feet tall.

“I think it’s cool to play at the level that I play at competing for national championships but also not being your typical height for quarterbacks,” Lehnen said. “It’s definitely fun getting to play quarterback and being able to run and pass the ball.”

Correction: The story incorrectly named the award the Ray Gagliardi Trophy. It is the John Gagliardi Trophy.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Gagliardi winner Luke Lehnen wants one more shot at national title