NAPERVILLE, Ill. – The Elmhurst College football team suffered a 51-10 road loss to sixth-ranked North Central on Saturday night.

Backed up to the four yardline, North Central embarked on a nine play drive to open the scoring. Denied on a third and nine, the Cardinals settled for a 28-yard field goal from Nick Dace to grab a 3-0 lead with 8:12 to play in the first quarter.

Elmhurst responded with three of their own to even the game when Trevor Spaulding connected on his seventh field goal of the season, making good on a 28-yard try with 4:47 to go in the opening quarter.

The sixth-ranked Cardinals chalked up 20 unanswered points in the second quarter, taking advantage of a pair of Elmhurst turnovers to take a 23-3 lead at the half. Dace put North Central in front after a fumble on a punt, drilling a 33-yarder with 11:12 to go in the half. A short field enabled Jordan Tassio to dive in from three yards away, stretching the lead to 13-3. The ensuing kickoff was fumbled, setting up a 21-yard strike from freshman quarterback Tyler Dicken to Alex Haan. Dace rose to the challenge again with a 37-yard attempt just before the half to account for the margin.

The second quarter string was the start of 34 unanswered points, finally halted when Joe Furco hit Andrew Tubek on a 24-yard score. North Central added two more late scores including an interception returned for a touchdown to account for the final.

Elmhurst (4-4, 2-3) totaled 349 yards in the defeat. Furco finished 20-of-40 for 237 yards with a touchdown. Scottie Williams was limited to just 74 yards on the ground on 16 carries.

The Bluejays hit the road again next week to face Augustana in Rock Island, Ill.