FB: Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference

[d3fan1515]

Sat, Sep 11   Aurora @ MacMurray    1 p.m. AU
Sat, Sep 11   Carthage @ Lakeland 1 p.m. Carthage
Sat, Sep 11   Concordia Chicago @ Chicago 1 p.m.
Sat, Sep 11   Concordia Wisconsin @ Bethel 1 p.m. Concordia
Sat, Sep 11   Hope @ Wisconsin Lutheran 1 p.m. Hope
Sat, Sep 11   Loras @ Rockford 1 p.m. Loras
Sat, Sep 11   Maranatha @ Crown    1 p.m. Crown
Sat, Sep 11   Benedictine @ North Park   7 p.m. BU, I'd like to say by a bunch, but I heard NPU has a         solid D... A good test for the BU O let's c how they respond!

[d3fan1515]

I'm sorry, Bethel will win and so will Concordia Chicago

[RFMichigan]

Hope @WLC- Former MIAA opponents face off. WLC is much improved but Hope wins. 28-10.

I forgot that WLC used to be in the MIAA. What was the situation with that? I'm assuming that the MIAA needed a team to be an automatic bid conference. but why WLC? No other schools available? WLC is somewhat of a hike.  (That silly ol' Lake Michigan adds about 10 hours to the drive to and then back from Milwaukee.

[WLCALUM83]

Yeah, you are right about the automatic bid aspect. That was also in Tri-State/Trine's relative infancy as a gridiron program. A few years later, seeing as the old Illini-Badger Football Conference nad the Northern IL/Iowa Conferences were breaking up, and Tri-State/Trine's status was upgraded from provisional in the MIAA, WLC figured that since a couple of those old IBFC/NIIC schools were looking to form a new league anyway, and it gregraphically made better sense, WLC became part of the NAthCon.  

Correct me on any inaccuracy in the above

[CrazyHorse]

WLC will have its hands full with Hope but it should be a good game, and will come down to who can play the best D in the 4th quarter. A side note #1 from Benedictine is a hell of a player. Why did he transfer from Southern Illinois? Correct me if I'm wrong on the school. I remember him playing two years ago for them and he was a man among boys in the NAC

[oldnuthin]

WLC will have its hands full with Hope but it should be a good game, and will come down to who can play the best D in the 4th quarter. A side note #1 from Benedictine is a hell of a player. Why did he transfer from Southern Illinois? Correct me if I'm wrong on the school. I remember him playing two years ago for them and he was a man among boys in the NAC

It was illinois state, and walk ons are not that highly prized. coaches prefer to go with who they recruit.

[WLCALUM83]

WLCALUM83's guesses for Week 2:

Aurora
Carthage
CUC
Bethel
Hope
Loras
Crown
Benedictine

[Gregory Sager]

Fantastic, exciting game at NPU last night. The Vikings were completely stymied on offense in the first half, while Benedictine had two long drives -- an 80-yarder for an eventual TD, and another that also started at the BU twenty that NPU stifled with a fourth-and-one stop at the Vikings three yard line. The Vikings were lucky to only be down 7-0 at the half.

In the third quarter it was as though someone turned on the light switch for the NPU offense. Suddenly the option started working. Matt Hassan (159 yds) squirted through the middle for seven, eight yards at a clip, while Tyler Krebs kept the BU offense honest with his quickness at getting to the edge. Down 14-0, the Vikings scored 17 unanswered points to take the lead early in the fourth quarter.

A fumble at midfield gave Benedictine a short field with which to work, and the Bennies retook the lead midway through the final quarter, although the fact that they ganked the PAT attempt off the upright gave everyone hope that NPU could tie it back up with a FG. That wasn't necessary, as the Vikings marched down the field and regained the lead with 3:53 left on a Krebs TD run that made it 24-20, NPU.

That left a lot of time on the clock, though, and BU quickly got down into the red zone with under a minute left. Facing a fourth and two at the NPU 13 with forty seconds left in the game, Benedictine quarterback Preston Earl rolled right, spotted a man open at the goal line along the right sideline, and threw what looked for a split second like the game-winning TD -- only to see senior North Park DB Nick Pantaleo (14 tackles, seven solo) jump in front of the pass, pick it off, cut back across the entire field through traffic, and arrive in the end zone along the left sideline 99 yards later. It not broke a fifty-year-old record for the longest INT return in North Park history, it also went from one sideline to the other. It was an absolutely electrifying play that turned possible defeat into victory. The stands at Hedstrand Field were rocking.

Sure was good to hear the team raise their helmets and sing "Hail to the Varsity" after that one.

[baseman201]

CUC......Ouch

[formerd3db]

WLCAlum and WLCAlum83:

Although I posted my thoughts about the WLC/Hope game over on our MIAA board, I just wanted to congratulate you guys on your team's win yesterday.  Great win for WLC; bad loss for Hope, obviously.  I was at the game and enjoyed seeing your college's facilities.  Very nice for the size of your school and especially the scoreboard is great, although I do hope they eventually build visitors locker room/building at the open end of the stadium at some point in the future.  The only other minor draw back that I see is the facilities being a slight distance from the campus - makes the students and fans have to travel a bit to get there, yet obviously they don't mind since it appears they draw a nice, decent crowd for the home games.  Not as much as Hope's home crowds, but then Hope is in a different situation being right in town, with more community being around and able to attend.  Nonetheless, WLC program has come a long way - congrats and best wishes for the remainder of the season.

[WLCALUM83]

Thanks much! I've given a more elaborate reply on the MIAA board.

[bleedblue]

Went to the AU vs MacMurray game. AU took advantage early, jumping out to a quick 28-0 lead early in the 2nd qtr and never looked back. MacMurray got increasingly upset as the game went on and you can kinda guess what happened from there. AU dominated on both sides of the ball versus a young, undermanned opponent. Looking forward to seeing how AU does versus IWU this weekend. It should be a good guage on this AU team. I would expect a contest that may well be closer then most would think.

[maidenslayer77]

AU BLACK 'N BLUE
BRING ON THE TITANS!

[dizzle52]

I can't even explain how happy I was that BU lost to North Park....BU's roster must be filled with turds

[dizzle52]

Either there is a mistake on Rockford's schedule or whoever does their scheduling needs to be fired because they only have 3 home games this year.....being a terrible team and playing 7 games on the road is not a good combo