Football | 11/14/2015 4:35:00 PM

PICTURED: 2015 SENIOR CLASS

Box Score - North Park v. Illinois Wesleyan

For the first time in 30 years, North Park defeated 24th ranked Illinois Wesleyan, with the last being during the 1985 season. North Park put together quite possibly its best performance of the season in a 27-24 upset victory over Illinois Wesleyan Saturday afternoon for Senior Day in the 2015 season finale.

While 11 seniors were honored – Anthony Burton, Filo Langkilde, Dakota Conway, Noah Moore, Jamel Banks, Joe Butz, Brendon Dull, Epa Moananu, Matt Davis, Hunter Corrigan and John Gieseking for the hard work and dedication they've given to the program over their time as student-athletes – it was a pair of freshmen and sophomores who stole the show and showcased just what the Vikings have in store for the future.

First-year running back Matthew Chapp had a breakout game on the ground as he nearly rushed for 100 yards (95) on 13 carries with a touchdown while sophomore Devin Childress had seven catches for 62 yards and a score. Not to be re-missed was the stellar performance from freshman Jarelle Shipp who had five catches for 51 yards as well as sophomore Norman Cupicciotti who had four catches for 54 yards.

North Park put the chokehold on early and was looking to put away the ghosts of Viking past as they overcame a 7-0 deficit and turned it into a 10-point lead at halftime. Langkilde put away the first score for NP when he burst up the middle for a four-yard run which ended an 8-play, 67-yard drive and Chapp gave the hosts the lead for good when he electrified the Holmgren Athletic Complex crowd with a 26-yard run, ending a 75-yard drive with 7:44 left in the second.

Looking to continue the momentum into halftime, the Vikings then posted their third score of the first half when junior quarterback T.D. Conway found Childress for an 11-yard scoring pass in the back-right of the end zone which culminated an 80-yard drive with just over 30 seconds remaining.

To its credit, the Titans worked their way twice back into the game with a score late in the third quarter to trim the deficit to three, but a crucial one-yard score from Langkilde, ending a 35-yard drive kept the Vikings in control. It wasn't until Wesleyan's final possession of the game that the Vikings could gage the ultimate satisfaction when senior Brendon Dull ended the contest with an interception to seal the victory.

The Vikings 'D' was the definitive key to triumph. North Park accumulated six total sacks with both Joe Butz and Hunter Corrigan recording two. Nick French led NP with eight total tackles, including three tackles for a loss while both Butz and Uati Pati had seven tackles each. Pati also finished with two pass breakups.

Despite two turnovers, T.D. Conway completed 63 percent of his passes as he went 24 of 38 for 245 yards. North Park garnered 333 yards of total offense and held the Titans to only 97 yards rushing.

North Park ends the season with three victories, including two in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. In the last three seasons, the Vikings have now garnered seven wins in the conference and have shattered five different CCIW losing streaks.