Despite over 300 yards of total offense and 24 first downs, North Park couldn't overcome a fierce second quarter from host Washington University St. Louis in a 24-19 loss Saturday afternoon in Missouri.
Playing in their second meeting in the last four years, the Bears just got the better of North Park as they scored two unanswered touchdowns in the final 5:13 of the first half. After the Vikings took a 13-7 lead on a 16-yard pass play from quarterback T.D. Conway to Devin Childress, WashU immediately went to work on a 61-yard, 10-play drive that ended in a two-yard scoring run for Austin Smestad, who finished the game with 60 yards rushing on 13 carries. Nearly four minutes later, the Bears added another score on Sam Van Doren's 12-yard pass which ended a 49-yard drive in less than two minutes. A 36-yard field goal from WashU's Alex Hallwachs then gave the hosts a 24-13 advantage late in the third quarter. NP did bounce back with another score early in the fourth when senior Dan Anderson caught a 14-yard strike from Conway ending a 74-yard drive at the 11:26 mark, but the Vikings couldn't generate any other offense thereafter.
Conway finished the day completing 24 of his 52 passes for 224 yards, but was unfortunately sacked five times. He threw one other touchdown, a 30-yard bomb to Marcquel Hawkins, ending a 48-yard drive which gave North Park a 7-0 lead early, but WashU tied it at the 8:06 mark of the first on a five-yard run from Smestad. Childress led the receiving attack for NP with 12 catches for 99 yards, while Anderson also 42 yards on six catches. North Park's ground game unfortunately suffered as well as they garnered only 80 yards. Drew Walkington finished with 97 to lead the charge.
Defensively, Joe Butz finished with eight total tackles, while Ryan Boswell had seven and Kyle Leibforth had six. Trevor Forker also recovered a fumble for North Park.
The Vikings (0-3) look to bounce back Oct. 4 when they open College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin play against Wheaton College in Wheaton for a 1 p.m. contest.
