FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302

2009 All-CCIW Football Teams

Nov. 17, 2009 - The head football coaches of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin have honored 12 North Central College players with selections to the 2009 All-CCIW Teams. The CCIW released this year's selections on Tuesday.

The Cardinals, who finished 8-2 overall and tied for the CCIW Championship with an in-conference record of 6-1, had nine players selected to the All-CCIW First Team, including quarterback Aaron Fanthorpe, who was named the conference's Art Keller Offensive Player of the Year for the third consecutive season.

Fanthorpe completed 142 of 208 passes this season, setting a new North Central single-season record for completion percentage (.683), and threw for 2,096 yards and 28 touchdowns. He also ran for 330 yards and seven touchdowns. He established a single-game school record for completion percentage (.875) in a 69-18 victory over Olivet College (Mich.) on Sept. 26 and set another school record with six touchdown passes in a 58-0 win at Millikin University on Oct. 3. He was a three-time CCIW Offensive Player of the Week selection this season.

Also a First Team All-CCIW selection, Fanthorpe is the second player in the conference's history to be named the Offensive Player of the Year three times, and is the first to receive the award outright each time. Former Augustana College running back Scott Tumility was also a three-time winner, sharing the award twice.

Joining Fanthorpe on the First Team are running back Phillip Rossberg, tight end Kyle Fiedorowicz, wide receiver Steve Hlavac, guard Kyle Antos, tackle Josh Delancy, defensive tackle Robert Champion, linebacker Joe Schneiderbauer and safety Josh McLeod.

Rossberg took over as the starting running back midway through the season and led the Cardinals in rushing with 679 yards, scoring seven touchdowns. He posted four 100-yard games, including a 137-yard effort in a 55-0 win over Benedictine University, when he ran 96 yards for a touchdown for the longest play from scrimmage in school history. Hlavac, a Second Team All-CCIW pick last season, was North Central's top receiver with 47 catches for 619 yards and scored seven touchdowns.

Fiedorowicz caught 11 passes for 131 yards, scoring six touchdowns. As the starting right guard and right tackle, respectively, Antos and Delancy paved the way for an offense which ranked first among all divisions of the NCAA in scoring (49.0 ppg) and sixth in Division III in total offense (487.9 ypg). Delancy is a First Team All-CCIW selection for the third straight season, while Antos was a Second Team pick last season.

Champion ranked third on the North Central defense in tackles (40) this season, leading the team in tackles for loss (12.5) and quarterback sacks (6.5). He led the CCIW in sacks per game and was second in tackles for loss per game. Schneiderbauer moved from safety to linebacker early in the season and ranked second on the squad with 57 tackles, including five tackles for loss and five pass breakups. He was a First Team All-CCIW selection as a return specialist in 2007. McLeod, the Cardinals' starting free safety, put up 39 tackles, two interceptions and nine pass breakups.

North Central also had three Second Team All-CCIW selections in tackle Zach Baldacci, wide receiver Hank Johnston and defensive end Tim Janecek. Baldacci was the Cardinals' starting left tackle for the second straight season, while Johnston caught 38 passes for 480 yards and a team-high eight touchdowns and Janecek finished the year with 37 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, and five pass breakups.

The Cardinals' nine First Team selections were the most in the conference this season and the largest haul in the history of the North Central program, topping the 2007 squad's eight First Team honorees.