KENOSHA, WI., -- North Park Football stayed on the road out of their bye week, taking on the Firebirds of Carthage College Saturday. Points came at a premium for both teams this afternoon as the North Park and Carthage defenses refused to budge. The Vikings opened with an eight-play drive to around midfield before punting the ball away, while Carthage put together a 12-play first drive that resulted in a field goal from kicker Mugdim Kreho for the only points of the first quarter from either team.
North Park's defense opened the second quarter with a 3-and-out, giving their offense the ball back on their own 42-yard line. Leaning on the legs of quarterback Paul Palmer and running backs Aidan Delisi and Bryce Black, the Viking offense scored the game's first touchdown on a quarterback sneak from inside the 2-yard line. After Robert Kubon's extra point, North Park led Carthage 7-3.
Carthage responded with a nice drive of their own behind some nice runs from running back Chase Nurczyk and quarterback Leo Chiappetta's connection with Jack DeFilippis. However North Parks defense, led by Armando Martinez and Darrius Whiters, held the Firebirds to just another field goal to keep their lead at 7-6. Martinez and Whiters finished with impressive first halves; Martinez with 7 total tackles (4 solo, 3 assisted) and Whiters with 4 total tackles (3 solo, 1 assisted) including a tackle for loss and a pass break up. Their defense made it extremely difficult for Carthage to find a rhythm offensively, keeping them behind the sticks on many of their downs as linebacker Brayden Smith and defensive lineman Danny Alequin accounted for a tackle for loss apiece.
Special teams proved to be vital in today's win for the Vikings. After the Carthage field goal, the Firebirds forced the Vikings into a quick punt, but Hugo Backing boomed a 45-yard punt to pin Carthage at their own 1-yard line. Backing punted three times in the first half for a total of 131 yards, placing two of those inside the Carthage 20-yard line, not allowing the Firebirds any advantageous field position. After North Park's defense forced a three-and-out, a penalty on Carthage during the punt out of their endzone allowed the Vikings one more play before half from the Firebird 29-yard line. Kicker Robert Kubon and the field goal unit for the Vikings lined up the 46-yard kick attempt and converted to give North Park the 10-6 advantage at half, executing the second longest successful field goal in Vikings Football program history.
A scoreless third quarter further showcased how dominant each team's defenses were during this afternoon's action. Midway through, Armando Martinez and Darrius Whiters combined for a huge defensive stop for the Vikings as Carthage was on the outskirts of the redzone. Martinez closed on running back Haiden Janke and forced a fumble on a punch out, followed by Whiters diving on the loose ball, diverting the Firebird score. The Vikings would subsequently punt on the next drive, but Hugo Backing dropped his third punt of the game inside Carthage's 20-yard line. With three minutes left in the third, Manning Fisher thwarted another Carthage drive by intercepting a deep pass from Leo Chiapetta, and the Vikings defense closed the quarter forcing another Firebird punt.
With how the defense was playing, the Vikings knew if they could get one more score it would almost certainly put a pin in this game. On the opening drive of the fourth after the Carthage punt, North Park did just that, calling on freshman running back Jamaal Jones who totaled 61 total yards on this drive alone and capped it off with a 19-yard catch and run touchdown reception to extend the Viking lead to 17-6 after the Kubon extra point. Isaiah Bernadel picked off Chiapetta once again on the following drive, but the Viking offense was only able to burn around two minutes before punting the ball back to the Firebirds.
When Carthage failed to convert on their 4th and 8 try, North Park would get the ball back with plans to try and run out the remaining four minutes on the ground. Credit to the Carthage defense, they too forced another punt; however, the special teams of North Park would step up once again, recovering a muffed punt return by Carthage's Anthony Petrucci that fell into the hands of gunner Cayden DeBose.
As the Vikings worked the clock to less than 30 seconds, the Firebirds forced quarterback Paul Palmer to fumble in the backfield where Mariano Talamantez picked up the ball and returned it for a Carthage touchdown. At 17-12, the Firebirds went for the two-point conversion but freshman linebacker Ardarius Elmore made got home for a sack that virtually secured North Park's first win of the season. Carthage would successfully recover the onside kick attempt after their touchdown, but North Parks defense forced three straight incompletions and the last completion of the game was for two yards, running out the clock and finalizing the game 17-12.
North Park's offense rushed for a strong 172 yards while their defense held Carthage to just 42 yards on the ground. On the other side of the coin, the passing yards for each team were mirror to that of the run game; with North Park only passing for 44 yards and Carthage throwing for 167. The Viking defense would force four total turnovers with two interceptions and two fumbles, while special teams played a huge role in keeping Carthage off balance. North Park was able to win the penalty battle as well, totaling six on the game to the Firebirds' eleven, along with possessing the ball nearly 37 minutes to Carthage's 23 minutes.
Top Performers
- Armando Martinez - 10 TOT (6 solo, 4 ast), 1 FF
- Darrius Whiters - 6 TOT (5 solo, 1 ast), PBU, TFL, 1 FR
- Manning Fisher - 4 TOT (3 solo, 1 ast), INT
- Hugo Backing - 8 punts, 239 yards, 48-yard long, 3 inside the 20
- Robert Kubon - 2/2 XP, 1/1 FG (46 yards, 2nd longest in program history)
- Aidan Delisi - 17 rushes, 80 yards
- Jamaal Jones - 15 rushes for 73 yards, 1 reception for 19 yards, TD
What's Next?
The Vikings, now 1-5 overall and 1-3 in CCIW play, will be at home three of their final four games to close out the season. Augustana College comes in next weekend on Saturday, October 24th for the Vikings' first home game in five weeks.
