CHICAGO, Ill. -- The North Park University Vikings faced the Illinois Wesleyan Titans at home on Saturday afternoon. The Vikings enjoyed a breakout second half to topple the Titans, 28-24. This is the first time in program history that North Park has beaten Illinois Wesleyan in consecutive seasons.

North Park elected to defer the coin toss, giving the Titans the ball to start the game.  The Titans struck quickly in three plays, including a 51-yard pass from Dermot Smyth to Myles Kee, taking an early 7-0 lead in the first two minutes. 

Offensively, the Vikings couldn't seem find their rhythm through the first quarter, punting on their first couple of drives. 

As the quarter wound down, the Titans were able go up 14-0, looking to put the game out of reach early.

To begin the second quarter, senior quarterback Matt Eck led a nice drive down the field that resulted in a 16-yard touchdown for junior receiver Jereme Ombogo, cutting the Titan lead to 14-7.  Both defenses wouldn't budge for the majority of the second quarter and the Vikings had an impressive 4th and 1 stop on a Titan quarterback sneak.  Unfortunately, when the Vikings got the ball after that turnover on downs, the Titans returned the favor by way of an interception, taking the ball right back.   

With less than two minutes left North Park was positioned to go on a slow drive and score before halftime, but ended up punting after a three-and-out. Wesleyan sent the house at senior punter Carson Blatchford, forcing him to rush up the middle on a 4th and 13.  The Titans took over at the North Park 14-yard line, aiming to take a 21-7 lead. However, the NPU defense stood tall as IWU settled for a field goal.

The second half was opened with a nice five-minute drive from the Viking offense.  Junior receiver Wesley McCloud caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from a scrambling Eck, edging the Vikings ever closer after the Messersmith extra point make, 17-14. 

Wesleyan would respond with a touchdown of their own, an 8-yard run by Smyth, extending their lead back to double-digits: 24-14.  From that point on, the North Park defense allowed zero points the rest of the game. 

Junior linebacker Theo Smith and defensive end JT Thomas made some tremendous stops on big 3rd and 4th downs, while junior safety Ben Butler accumulated 3 interceptions that all came in the 4th quarter, including the game-sealing pick on a Wesleyan desperation heave with time running out.  Fellow defensive back Chandler Hodge accounted for two breakups and 5 tackles.  Senior backers Jaydin Miller and Egan Bender combined for 19 tackles holding down the middle of the Viking front seven.   

To close out the 3rd quarter, Eck rolled to his right looking for an outlet and found Ombogo for a 32-yard completion that he turned into an 80-yard touchdown run, bringing it back to a 3-point Titan lead, 24-21.   

Entering the fourth, both defenses forced some punts from the opposing offenses, but it was the Viking offense that put up the only points of the quarter.  It was the North Park slow burn drive that Vikings fans have become accustomed to, taking 6-7 minutes off the clock and getting help from some Titan penalties.  With a handful of attempts from inside the 5-yard line, the North Park offense finally found the endzone with a 1-yard rushing touchdown from quarterback Matt Eck.   

With a 28-24 lead and 5 minutes left in the game, the defense continued to find ways to shut down the Wesleyan offense.  Safety Ben Butler got all three of his picks in the fourth quarter, with two of them being within these last five minutes, helping to seal the deal in this crucial conference game.   

Quick Hits:

• Matt Eck – 17-33, 274 yards, 3 passing TDs, 1 rushing TD 
• Jereme Ombogo – 7 catches 160 yards, 2 TDs 
• Wesley McCloud – 5 catches 88 yards, 1 TD 
• Ben Butler – 5 solo, 3 assisted, 3 INTs, 1 TFL 
• Chandler Hodge – 5 solo, 2 PBU 
• Jaydin Miller – 3 solo, 6 assisted 
• Egan Bender – 5 solo, 5 assisted 
• JT Thomas – 3 total tackles  
• Theo Smith – 4 solo, 1 TFL 

What's Next?

North Park (5-2, 4-2) heads north in a week's time to play Carthage on November 2nd at noon, looking to capture that extremely important sixth win of the season.