PICTURED: Norm Cupicciotti
Just when Carroll felt it had a comfortable enough lead to earn its first win of the season Saturday North Park nearly pulled off an epic comeback to earn the CCIW victory.
In the end however, the Pioneers held off the furious Viking rally and NP just came up short in a 28-21 decision in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
Entering the last 12 minutes of the contest, the Vikings were staring at a 28-7 deficit, but they put together back-to-back scoring drives in a matter of five minutes to close the gap to a touchdown, only to see time run out on their opportunity.
North Park took the initial lead with a 79-yard, 13-play drive that ended with a 23-yard scoring pass from T.D. Conway to Kadarius Daniels with 6:48 left in the first quarter, but from there Carroll raced out to a three-score lead despite two blocked field goals from David Simmons, Jr. – one in the second quarter and another in the fourth quarter.
NP's confidence wasn't deterred though as Conway engineered a 77-yard drive on eight plays which ended in his 29-yard TD pass to Devin Childress with 8:59 left in the fourth. After a solid Vikings' defensive stand, sophomore QB Jace Bankord took over for the injured Conway and found Norm Cupicciotti for a 14-yard touchdown pass with 5:58 left which trimmed the deficit to a one possession game. The Vikings did get the ball back with 38 seconds left in the game, but just came up short on their final play.
Along with Simmons Jr.'s two blocked field goals, the sophomore accumulated five total tackles. Austin Regel led the defensive charge with 12 tackles, eight solo, while Chaun Maiava had nine tackles, including a tackle for a loss of two yards. Mark Mamola, Nick French and Chris Washington each had a tackle for a combined loss of four yards while both Matt DiFecchio and John Kellum each had an interception.
North Park (1-8, 0-7) looks to end its season on a positive note as the Vikings host Carthage College next Saturday at 1 p.m. The Vikings have defeated the Red Men twice in the last three meetings, including an epic 22-20 victory in 2013, which ended the Vikings 89-game conference losing streak.
