The Carthage College football team (3-6, 2-4 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin) fell to CCIW-opponent North Park University (2-7, 2-4 CCIW), 36-14, on Saturday, Nov. 8 at the Holmgren Athletic Complex in Chicago.
Carthage scored on its first possession, going 52 yards on three plays, with Nick Anzelmo completing a 46-yard touchdown pass to Brock Kap at 12:24. North Park tied the game, 7-7, on its next possession, and that was set up by a 66-yard kickoff return by Anthony Burton. Two plays later, T.D. Conway hooked up with Devin Childress on a 23-yard touchdown pass. North Park took a 14-7 lead at 4:52 first period on a six-yard touchdown strike from Conway to Childress. That Vikings drive was set up by a 37-yard interception return by Ryan Boswell.
North Park went up, 21-7, at 5:46 second period after a 15-play, 57-yard scoring that ended with Burton scoring from the three-yard line. The Vikings upped their lead to 28-7 with a seven-play, 69-yard drive that ended with a 33-yard TD pass from Conway to Childress with 31 seconds remaining in the first half.
The Vikings took a 31-7 lead midway thru the third period when Noah Moore connected on a 19-yard field goal at 7:03. The North Park scoring drive covered 53 yards on 10 plays. North Park was threatening to score again when the Red Men's Curt Doornbos intercepted a Conway pass in the end zone at 4:53 third period. Carthage, however, surrendered a two-point safety on its next drive when Joe Godlevske fumbled at his own nine-yard line, and teammate Tyler Walsh recovered in the end zone. North Park led, 33-7. On the ensuing kickoff, Burton had another long return, this one for 43 yards. That set up another field goal by Moore, a 28-yarder that upped the margin to 36-7 at 4:44 fourth quarter. The Red Men scored a late touchdown, their first points since the game's opening drive, going 53 yards on five plays, with Walsh scoring from the 10-yard line at 2:43. That closed out the scoring at 36-14.
North Park rolled up 448 total offensive yards, 139 yards rushing and 309 passing, while Carthage had just 182 total yards, 146 in the air and 36 on the ground. The Vikings had a 26-13 advantage in first downs and a 35:23-23:37 margin in time-of-possession. North Park quarterback T.D. Conway completed 26-of-42 passes for 300 yards and three touchdowns. Anthony Burton caught seven passes for 82 yards and Devin Childress four for 79 yards, Vikings tailback Filo Langklide ran for 75 yards on 19 carries. Red Men quarterback Nick Anzelmo was limited to 11 completions in 20 tries for just 108 yards. Defensively, Carthage outside linebacker Will Fairchild (Jr., Land O' Lakes, Fla.) collected 15 tackles, five of those solo.
"We didn't play well in any facet of the game," admitted Carthage coach Mike Yeager. "We didn't come to play, and that's on me. We had an early lead, but a long kickoff return changed the momentum. Then we had two or three possessions where we didn't move the ball. You can't do that and expect to have success. We couldn't stop the run, and as a result, we gave up a lot from their passing game. We didn't block well, we didn't tackle well, and we didn't catch or throw the ball well. We don't want to end on this one, and we have one more game to play."
The Red Men close out the season next Saturday, Nov. 15 by playing host to No. 12 Wheaton College (Ill., 9-0, 6-0 CCIW) in a 1 p.m. contest at Art Keller Field in Kenosha, Wis.