The North Central College football team is getting pretty good at this national championship thing, winning its third NCAA Division III title in the past five seasons on Sunday.
North Central (15-0), based in Naperville, got five touchdowns from quarterback Luke Lehnen while knocking off Mount Union 41-25 in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston, Texas. And it once again did it with a lot of help from the Rockford area.
“We all know each other, and we all talk about representing the 815 when we play,” said starting cornerback Marey Roby, the former Lena-Winslow star who was the Rockford Register Star’s Male Athlete of the Year in 2021-2022. “It’s been an amazing ride; an amazing experience. And I’ve still got more to come.”
Here is more on the Rocford-area players who helped North Central win it all by starting every game this season:
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Marey Roby shines on ‘D’
The former Le-Win star was moved from running back to defense full time last year. Since then, he’s hardly come off the field.
Roby, a 5-foot-11, 184-pound junior, started every game at cornerback, finished fifth on the team with 49 tackles, and was second with three interceptions and a fumble recovery.
“I could’ve never even hoped for a better situation for me,” Roby said of North Central. “I’m blessed to have the best teammates and coaches all around me. And look where it gets you.”
It gets you titles.
Roby won four championships with Le-Win: a team wrestling state title as a freshman; football titles as a sophomore and as a senior; and an individual state wrestling title as a senior.
Now he has two national championships in his first three years in college.
North Central is losing 38 seniors from this year’s team, including the other two Rockford-area starters. And Roby could always slide back over to the offensive side (or play both) for his senior year.
“I wouldn’t count anything all the way out,” he said. “It sure would be fun.”
Nick Fehrle mows ’em down
Boylan-grad Nick Fehrle, whose older brother Joe Fehrle is the team’s tight ends coach, was a fixture on one of the top offensive lines in all of Division III. North Central rushed for 4,468 yards and 59 TDs this year, averaging 7.1 yards per carry and 297.9 yards per game.
And with Fehrle, the 6-3, 284-pound senior at left guard, starting the past 29 games, consistency has been key to the growth of the line ― and the offense.
“It’s been a lot of hard work, but this group has really come together, and it’s been a ton of fun,” said the former Boylan star on both sides of the line. “From the moment I got here, it’s been quite a ride… When it was all over, I just took it all in.”
Fehrle is planning on going to law school after he graduates this spring.
Bobby Behmer’s consistency pays off
And then there’s former Lutheran standout Bobby Behmer, one of the smartest football players in the nation, and another fixture on the North Central O-line. He has been mowing down defensive linemen from his tight end spot for 29 straight starts, just like his best friend Fehrle.
He was seventh on the team with 13 catches for 139 yards and three touchdowns.
“I’ve been to the championship game in each of my four years here, that’s pretty special,” Behmer said. “It’s just been a super-rewarding time here at North Central. It really set me up for my future.”
Behmer won this year’s NCAA’s Elite 90 Award, which honors the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average at each of the NCAA’s 90 national championships each year. It was the second in a row for the economics major who has a 4.00 GPA.
And he graduated in December with his Bachelor’s degree. He’s not sure what his next chapter will be.
But this one ended with a national championship.
“To get to finish this way, it’s just incredible,” Behmer said. “It’s just what you always dream of, to be able to go out on top.”
Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and sign up for the Rockford High School Sports Newsletter here at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears and Blackhawks to local youth sports, since the turn of the century at the Register Star
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Rockford connections spark North Central NCAA football title
