Wabash traded early scores with fifth-ranked North Central College in the early part of Saturday's NCAA Division III Football Tournament game. The Little Giants were outscored 23-3 by the number-one offense in the nation in the second half of the 51-15 loss.
 
Wabash (7-4) trailed 7-0 after North Central (10-1) scored on a six-play, 76-yard drive ending with an Ethan Greenfield four-yard touchdown run. Greenfield carried the ball four times for 45 yards on the opening drive on the way to 301 rushing yards and five touchdowns for the game.
 
The Little Giants responded with a seven-play, 75-yard scoring drive of their own. Wabash converted a fourth-down play with a 32-yard pass completion from Liam Thompson to Nick Hamman in the end zone. A failed two-point conversion kept North Central in front 7-6 midway through the first quarter.
 
The Cardinals responded with another six-play scoring drive capped by a two-yard run by Greenfield to take a 14-6 lead. Wabash moved the ball into North Central territory on its next drive but had to settle for a Schuyler Nehrig 44-yard field goal, matching the longest made field goal of his career for a 14-9 score. North Central added seven more points on a four-play drive with Greenfield going into the end zone for his third TD on a six-yard run to provide a 21-9 lead at the end of the first period.
 
Wabash added another field goal on the first drive of the second quarter. Nehrig connected on a 41-yard field goal to end a 10-play, 51-yard drive that cut the North Central lead to 21-12.
 
Another six-play drive added seven more points to the North Central side of the scoreboard. Greenfield scored on another four-yard run to push the lead to 28-12 midway through the second period.
 
Wabash moved the football into North Central territory on the next drive before the series bogged down at the 22-yard line. The Little Giants lined up for another field goal try but ran a fake to Nehrig. The Cardinals stuffed the trick play and ran out the quarter to take the 28-12 lead into halftime.
 
Wabash took the opening kick of the second half and marched 64 yards in 12 plays but were only able to add three points to the score on a 28-yard Nehrig field goal. North Central scored on its first four possessions of the second half to pull away for the final 51-15 victory to advance to the next round of the tournament to face Mount Union.
 
Thompson completed 14-of-29 pass attempts for 180 yards and one touchdown with one interception in his first NCAA playoff game. He also ran four times for 11 yards including twice when he eluded pressure in the backfield to turn possible losses into big gains for the Little Giants. Thompson finished the season throwing for 2,177 yards and 15 touchdowns.
 
Hamman led the Wabash receivers in the game against North Central with five catches for 74 yards.  Isaac Avant ran for 84 yards on 16 carries and ended his career with a total of 3,005 yards to rank fifth in Wabash football history. Ike James returned to action and ran for 41 yards on 16 carries.
 
The loss is only the second for Wabash in the first round of the playoffs. The Little Giants made their 10^th appearance in post-season play in school history and their first since 2015.