KENOSHA, Wis. – After falling in two straight one score games, the North Park football team was able to come out the right side of a one score contest with the Cartage Firebirds on Saturday afternoon at Art Keller Field. Matt Eck's 15-yard touchdown pass to Jakob Dreksler with 7:16 left in the fourth quarter proved to be the difference in the 33-30 Vikings win.
After forcing a punt from Carthage on the first drive of the game, North Park responded with a ten play, sixty-yard drive that resulted in a 25-yard field goal from Michael Messersmith with 10:07 left in the first quarter. NPU forced another punt, but the ensuing drive ended on the Carthage 23 with a Firebirds interception.
After Carthage missed a 53-yard field goal, North Park went three-and-out to give it back to the Firebirds and the home team was finally able to get their first points of the day on a six-yard touchdown pass. The Vikings wasted no time answering the Carthage touchdown, on a third and five, Matt Eck found Mike Oray who busted loose for a 70-yard score that made it 9-7 after the PAT was blocked.
The defense held strong for the remainder of the half and the offense couldn't muster anything as North Park went into the locker room up by just two.
HALFTIME: North Park 9, Carthage 7
AJ Harris gave the offense a huge boost to start the second half when he returned the opening kickoff 87 yards to the Carthage 13. The Vikings let Harris finish what he started just a few plays later when Eck found him for the score. Another blocked PAT made it 15-7. Two plays later the Firebirds responded with a 78-yard score, and after the two-point conversion was successful, the teams were all square.
An interception by Carthage gave them a short field which the Firebirds capitalized on by punching the ball in the endzone once again to make it 22-15. NPU responded with a methodical nine-play drive to strike back with a TD of their own, and a missed extra point made it 22-21. After another missed field goal by Carthage, the Vikings marched the ball down the field and Eck found Harris in the endzone for six. The two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful, but the NPU still found themselves with a five point lead as the game entered the fourth quarter.
Carthage held the ball for almost six minutes to start the quarter marching down the field in nine plays to take the lead back by a score of 30-27. The offense responded accordingly, with an impressive drive of their own utilizing Nick Del Nodal for a 13-yard rush and 26-yard reception that got NPU into business. Eck then found Jakob Dreksler from 15 yards out for what would end up being the game winning score for the Vikings.
The final two Carthage drives where ended by Juan Nieves who forced a fumbled that was recovered by North Park then sealed the game with an interception to exterminate all hope for the home side.
FINAL: North Park 33, Carthage 30
Quick Hits:
- Matt Eck finished 19-36 with 363 yards, four touchdowns, and three interceptions.
- Nick Del Nodal led the rushing attack with 14 attempts for 66 yards.
- The bulk of the receiving was done by AJ Harris and Mike Oray. Oray had five catches for 130 yards and a touchdown, while Harris followed up his 245-yard performance last week with seven catches, 147 yards, and two touchdowns this week.
- Juan Nieves was a everywhere on the field for the Vikings defense totaling eight tackles, two tackles-for-loss, one sack, one forced fumble, and one interception. CJ Martin recovered the fumble the Nieves forced.
- Maurice Carter also had eight tackles for the defense, while Arnaldo Landrau had four tackles, two and a half of them for losses.
What's Next?
The Vikings (1-5) head back home next Saturday, October 23rd as they host Elmhurst University (1-5) at the Holmgren Athletic Complex. Kickoff for that one is at 1 PM.
