Bloomington, Il., -- North Park Football (2-4, 1-4) made the trip to Illinois Wesleyan (3-3, 3-2) to take on the Titans in a game where the Vikings needed to get back on track. Both teams got off to a good start scoring on their opening drives, Wesleyan running a trick play to get one of their offensive linemen the touchdown reception and North Park with a touchdown of their own, seeing sophomore running back Aidan Delisi punch in the score from the 1-yard line.
The Vikings elected to roll out freshman quarterback Carson Lewis for his first collegiate start of his career. Early on he played well, using his legs and finding his receivers on time and on target. Lewis ended up being the Vikings' leading rusher and ran in a touchdown to tie the game at 14-14 shortly before the half. The Titans were able to run their two-minute drill immediately after Lewis' score, taking a 21-14 lead heading into halftime.
Senior receiver Jereme Ombogo took the opening kickoff of the second half 73 yards to put the Vikings in great position to start the third quarter, however they were stuffed on 4th and 2 on Lewis' quarterback keeper. North Park was able to then get the Wesleyan offense to 4th and 1 on the subsequent drive but were surprised to see the Titans run a fake punt from their own 16-yard line, converting a 27-yard pass down the seam for the first down. Following the fake punt, Wesleyan went deeper into their bag of tricks resorting to a flea flicker for another 42-yard completion to put them in scoring position inside the North Park 15-yard line. The Titans capped off their funky drive with a touchdown in the back of the endzone to take a 28-14 lead halfway through the 3rd quarter.
Right away the Vikings responded with a touchdown of their own as Lewis connected with Ombogo for a 31-yard touchdown to inch the score closer to 28-21. However, Wesleyan then made yet another big special teams play on the following kickoff, taking it all the way down for the touchdown for a 35-21 lead. North Park's next drive resulted in a punt as the offense stalled out, struggling to get anything going the rest of the game, whereas the Titans offense continued to roll on pushing their lead to 42-21 a few minutes into the 4th.
Wesleyan went on to run out the clock with their run game closing out with a 49-21 victory, marking North Park's fourth straight loss of the season moving to 2-5 on the year and 1-4 in CCIW play. The Vikings' next game will be at home against Firebirds of Carthage College on Saturday, November 1st at 12pm.
