lNorth Central College made it 2-0 in CCIW play with their crushing win over North Park. The Cardinals ran out to a 28-0 lead after one quarter before coasting home to the 58-26 win.
The first drive for the Cardinals ended in a lost fumble by Tyler Dicken. North Park reached the Cardinals’ 22 yard line, but an incompletion ended the threat on fourth and five.
The Cardinals made no mistakes on their next drive as they marched down the field to the first score of the game. Dylan Warden‘s two yard touchdown pass to Kolton Kuczynski made it 7-0.
After forcing a three and out, North Central went down the field quickly thanks to two penalties on North Park. Zack Pattat pounded the ball in from 2 yards out to make it 14-0. The defense stepped up on the next drive with Michael Monterrubio getting a 45 yard pick six to make it 21-0.
The defense forced another punt and the offense had little trouble finding the end zone again. Matt Randolph ran in from 30 yards out to make it 28-0 before the end of the first quarter.
The Vikings would respond with an 8 play, 63 yard drive. T.D. Conway found Devin Childress for an 11 yard strike to get North Park on the board. The Vikings came up with a huge play on defense when Nick French picked off Warden at the North Park 30 yard line. That turned into yet another 11 yard touchdown pass from Conway to Childress to make it 28-13. The extra point was no good, but the Vikings were within striking distance.
That 15 point cushion would be extended when Warden used his arm to lead the Cardinals down the field. Zach Pattat came up with his second rushing touchdown, this one from two yards out as well, to make it 35-13.
After a three and out, North Central scored yet another touchdown. Oshayne Brown ran the ball in from 33 yards out to take a 42-13 lead. The lead ballooned to 44-13 after a safety by the Cardinals on North Park’s punt with less than a minute to go in the second quarter.
The Cardinals defense was strong to start the third quarter as well. Nick Samuelson picked Conway off at the North Central 43 yard line. NCC capitalized on that turnover when Warden and Alex Ulmer connected for a 12 yard touchdown to make it a 51-13 score.
North Park would break down the defense again with Conway and Terrance Wright connecting on a 77 yard touchdown pass. However, the Cardinals responded on the next drive with Ulmer taking the kick back to the house for a 91 yard return. Just like that, it was 58-20.
North Park scored a late touchdown with under 2:30 remaining. Conway and Childress hooked up for the third time in the game with this one a 17 yard score. The extra point failed again and the final score would be 58-26.
North Central was led by a very effective Dylan Warden at quarterback. Warden went 15 of 17 for 165 yards and two touchdowns. He also had an interception. Warden carried the ball 6 times for 34 yards as well.
The leading rusher for NCC was Oshayne Brown with 71 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. Zach Pattat had 48 yards and 2 touchdowns on 9 carries. Matt Randolph ran for 44 yards and a touchdown on only 3 carries while Ryan Kent ran 7 times for 44 yards.
Peter Sorenson led the Cardinals with receiving by catching 3 passes for 50 yards.
T.D. Conway finished 23 of 45 for 349 yards passing. He had 4 touchdowns, but also threw 3 interceptions in the loss. His top receiver was none other than Devin Childress who had 9 catches for 117 yards and 3 touchdowns. Terrance Wright caught 5 balls for 92 yards and a touchdown while Daniel Anderson chipped in with 6 catches for 90 yards.
The leading rusher for North Park was Drew Walkington with 15 carries for 65 yards. D.J. Jones added 13 carries for 41 yards as well.
North Central College (4-1, 2-0) came in ranked #12 and they will not see that ranking change next week. They are home to Carthage (2-3, 1-1) next Saturday.
North Park (0-5, 0-2) will continue their campaign next week on the road at Elmhurst (3-2, 2-0).