Jacksonville, Il., -- In a contest that came down to the final possessions, North Park Women's Flag Football fell just short in a 28-26 thriller against Illinois College at England Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Despite a prolific offensive showing and a late-game surge, the Vikings couldn't quite overtake the Lady Blues in a matchup defined by explosive passing plays.
The North Park aerial attack was firing on all cylinders, led by freshman quarterback Janiya Greenfield, who had an efficient afternoon completing 16 of her 22 passes for 179 yards and tossing four touchdowns. She was able to get multiple Vikings involved offensively with six players logging at least two catches and four players with at least three catches. Olivia Eriksson led the way for North Park's with 4 catches, 84 yards, and 2 touchdowns, while Paige MacRitchie and Madison Slaton had 40+ years through the air apiece, with Slaton grabbing a touchdown of her own. On the ground, Ava Balmaseda and Tilda Karlsson provided stability for the Viking offense combining for 120 yards with Balmaseda accounting for a game-high 84 yards and a touchdown. Jayla Robinson provided a massive spark in the return game, ripping off a 35-yard punt return to set up a huge Viking scoring drive.
Defensively, the Vikings had standout performances from Slaton, Balmaseda, Greenfield, and Yamile Belmontes. Slaton led North Park in tackles with 7 and was a disruptor to the Lady Birds' passing attack with a game-high 3 pass breakups. Balmaseda and Greenfield logged five and four tackles, respectively, with Balmaseda showing her speed getting in the backfield for a sack as well. Belmontes had a 2-sack afternoon, leading all players in that category and broke up a pass along the way. However, Illinois College's offense was still a little more than the Vikings could handle in this high scoring affair. The Lady Blues were led by a massive performance from quarterback Ella Ausmus, who threw for 326 yards and 5 touchdowns. Her favorite target, Abby Flowers, proved difficult to contain racking up a staggering 251 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns. Defensively, the Lady Blues were anchored by Holly Morehard, who recorded 9 tackles, and interceptions by Kassie Weideman and Deniyah Lockman that proved to be pivotal in the narrow margin of victory.
North Park moves to 0-5 on the season after yesterday's loss, but remain optimistic with the offensive production they are able to put forth on any given day. They'll have a week to prepare for their second matchup against a familiar opponent in Rockford University on Saturday, April 4th at 2pm.
