FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

North Park 35
Millikin 32

Noah Moore kicked a 23-yard FG with seven seconds left to stave off a great Millikin comeback and win the game for NPU.

This marks the first time since 1971 that the Vikings have beaten Millikin, and the first time that they've done it in Decatur since 1968. This is also the first time that NPU has won three CCIW games in a season since 1979.

[mr_b]

North Park 35
Millikin 32

Noah Moore kicked a 23-yard FG with seven seconds left to stave off a great Millikin comeback and win the game for NPU.

This marks the first time since 1971 that the Vikings have beaten Millikin, and the first time that they've done it in Decatur since 1968. This is also the first time that NPU has won three CCIW games in a season since 1979.

This is the team that continues to break those undesirable streaks.  I'm very happy for the players and coaches.

[mr_b]

Elmhurst 10, Carthage 9

Illinois Wesleyan 24, Augustana 10

I saw the Elmhurst-Carthage score. Very surprising that it was so close.  I look forward to the analysis.

[kiko]

It will be criminal if anyone other than Mike Conway wins the CCIW coach of the year award this season.

[Dennis_Prikkel]

congratulations to NPU on another streak-breaking victory.  Remarkable.

[Gregory Sager]

This was an extremely ugly win for North Park in a game between two teams that have a plethora of weaknesses between them. But heart and effort clearly aren't weaknesses for either team. The Big Blue staged a furious second-half comeback from 19 points down at halftime to tie the game late ... but the Vikings defense had two first-and-goal stops in the second half, the second of which led to Millikin settling for a field goal that tied the game rather than attempting the go-ahead touchdown from inside the one-yard line on fourth down. NPU stymied MU three times on fourth down in the second half in Vikings territory.

T.D. Conway, who broke the NPU record for completions in a season today, had an up-and-down afternoon for the Vikings. He was 22-43 for 283 yards and two touchdowns, but he also threw three picks -- including one in the end zone late in the third quarter that really hurt. After having his way with Millikin's defense in the first half, he really seemed to be thrown off-kilter by a heightened blitzing scheme from the edges in the second half. Great adjustment by the MU coaching staff. But he made some really good throws as well, particularly on the game-winning drive as the clock wound down.

D.J. Jones came in for the injured Marquis Magwood in the second half and did a fantastic job running the ball for the Park. The mighty mite from Simeon HS ran the ball 22 times for 128 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and his 56-yard scamper late in the third quarter was decisive.

The other big hero today besides Jones and Moore was John Barnabee. The kick-return team was awful in Magwood's absence ... right up until the final kickoff following the MU tying field goal, as Barnabee ran it back 51 yards into Jimmy Millikin territory, giving NPU a short field with which to work with 3:42 on the clock to set up the game-winning score.

Stunning Sean Dunning was ... well, stunning today for the Big Blue. He ran the ball 30 times for 278 yards, tying the school record set by Dion Wilson three years ago. NPU had no answer for him. He almost single-handedly brought the Big Blue a victory today, as he had some big runs that were all his doing in terms of speed and cutting rather than being the beneficiary of good blocks.

It wasn't pretty, but we NPU faithful will take it. As was the case with the win over Augie two weeks ago, this one was a long time coming. It certainly feels good to exit this season with those two nasty head-to-head losing streaks snapped.

[Gregory Sager]

It will be criminal if anyone other than Mike Conway wins the CCIW coach of the year award this season.

Alas, I think that for football the CCIW automatically gives the COY award to the coach of the league champions. The only time that the coaches vote on the award is in the case of a tie for first place (which is how Tim Lester won it last year).

I'm not torn up about it, because North Central is head-and-shoulders above everybody else in the league this season, as the Cards have decisively proven the past two weeks. John Thorne certainly deserves some recognition for that. But, yeah ... Mike Conway deserves some sort of recognition, too. For as much as the newbies have helped this year's team, NPU is still an undermanned outfit by CCIW standards -- but the Vikes have won three games in large part because they've overachieved, and their overachievement is a reflection of how hard and how fiercely Mike Conway has gotten them to play this season.

[Titan Q]

Congratulations to IWU's Rob Gallik, who became IWU's all-time completions leader today.  He passed both Kraid Ladd (493) and Lon Erickson (495) early in the game.

It's been great watching Gallik play QB the last 3 seasons.

[kiko]

It will be criminal if anyone other than Mike Conway wins the CCIW coach of the year award this season.

Alas, I think that for football the CCIW automatically gives the COY award to the coach of the league champions. The only time that the coaches vote on the award is in the case of a tie for first place (which is how Tim Lester won it last year).

I'm not torn up about it, because North Central is head-and-shoulders above everybody else in the league this season, as the Cards have decisively proven the past two weeks. John Thorne certainly deserves some recognition for that. But, yeah ... Mike Conway deserves some sort of recognition, too. For as much as the newbies have helped this year's team, NPU is still an undermanned outfit by CCIW standards -- but the Vikes have won three games in large part because they've overachieved, and their overachievement is a reflection of how hard and how fiercely Mike Conway has gotten them to play this season.

Sadly, I know this is the case.  But just because the conference has an established, albeit highly myopic, system in place already doesn't make Coach Conway any less deserving.

Serious question, given the comments that were posted on the board earlier in the season: has the NPU bookstore started offering Viking football-themed wares for sale yet?

[Gregory Sager]

Good question. I'll have to check on Tuesday. (It'll probably be closed on Monday, due to the holiday.)

[Gotberg]

It will be criminal if anyone other than Mike Conway wins the CCIW coach of the year award this season.

Alas, I think that for football the CCIW automatically gives the COY award to the coach of the league champions. The only time that the coaches vote on the award is in the case of a tie for first place (which is how Tim Lester won it last year).

I'm not torn up about it, because North Central is head-and-shoulders above everybody else in the league this season, as the Cards have decisively proven the past two weeks. John Thorne certainly deserves some recognition for that. But, yeah ... Mike Conway deserves some sort of recognition, too. For as much as the newbies have helped this year's team, NPU is still an undermanned outfit by CCIW standards -- but the Vikes have won three games in large part because they've overachieved, and their overachievement is a reflection of how hard and how fiercely Mike Conway has gotten them to play this season.

Sadly, I know this is the case.  But just because the conference has an established, albeit highly myopic, system in place already doesn't make Coach Conway any less deserving.

Serious question, given the comments that were posted on the board earlier in the season: has the NPU bookstore started offering Viking football-themed wares for sale yet?

When I was on the NPU campus for homecoming, they were selling North Park Football shirts - that is all I remember seeing.  I don't think they offer much for other sports either, so I didn't see it as a slight for the football team.

I imagine Coach Conway meant wanting more than just those shirts when he made the comment though.

[Gregory Sager]

I mentioned that T.D. Conway broke the North Park season completions record today. He's also on the verge of snapping another big mark -- season passing yardage -- next week. Here's what he's done thus far this season in terms of writing his name in the school recordbook:

Passes Completed, Game

Old:	33, John Love (1990 vs. North Central)
New:	37, T.D. Conway (2013 vs. Hope)

Passes Completed, Season

Old:	181, Shelby Wood (2008)
New:	201, T.D. Conway (2013)

The school record for passing yards in a season is 2,400, set by Mike Haehn back in 2004. T.D. Conway currently sits at 2,335, so he's pretty darned close to breaking that record as well. He's also close to the offensive plays record for a season of 490, set by John Love in 1990. Conway has currently taken 460 snaps thus far in 2013.

He's done all this without breaking the school record for passes attempted, which is 405 (set by Haehn in '04), a fact that makes his more positively-inflected new records pretty remarkable. However, he's likely to break that record next week, as he's only 27 passes shy of Haehn's season-attempts mark.

Conway is within hailing distance of Gary Duesenberg's 1972 season record for completion percentage (54.0 %; Conway is currently at 53.1%) and the season record for touchdown passes set by Bruce Swanson in 1968 and tied by Shelby Wood in 2008. That record is 19, and Conway currently has 16 touchdown passes. Alas, those two records will be hard for him to snap this season, as the lone remaining game for the Vikings -- Wheaton -- is going to be extremely tough sledding as far as the NPU offense is concerned.

[Gregory Sager]

North Park 35
Millikin 32

Noah Moore kicked a 23-yard FG with seven seconds left to stave off a great Millikin comeback and win the game for NPU.

This marks the first time since 1971 that the Vikings have beaten Millikin, and the first time that they've done it in Decatur since 1968. This is also the first time that NPU has won three CCIW games in a season since 1979.

This is the team that continues to break those undesirable streaks.  I'm very happy for the players and coaches.

Perhaps the undesirable streak that I'm happiest to see broken is the 19-straight-seasons-in-the-CCIW-cellar streak. Not only will North Park finish the season looking down on somebody else in the standings for the first time since 1993, but the Vikes are in great shape to wind up in a three-way tie for fourth with a 3-4 record. While NPU's chances of beating Wheaton next Saturday at Hedstrand Field are nil, Elmhurst's chances of beating Illinois Wesleyan in B/N and Augustana's chances of beating NCC in Naperville are equally nil, if not more so (if "more nil" is even a valid mathematical concept ).

If everything goes according to form -- and I can't even fathom any of those three games next week resulting in an upset -- NPU will finish in the first division (albeit in a three-way tie for fourth) for the first time since the Vikings finished in a tie for second in 1968.

Elmhurst 10, Carthage 9

Illinois Wesleyan 24, Augustana 10

I saw the Elmhurst-Carthage score. Very surprising that it was so close.  I look forward to the analysis.

Looks like the 'jays blocked Brent Bukari's extra-point attempt following a Carthage touchdown with 4:10 remaining in the game. NPU almost got bitten today by its inability to convert points after touchdowns; it appears that that's exactly what led to Carthage's downfall this afternoon.

[Langhorst_Ghost]

I saw the Elmhurst-Carthage score. Very surprising that it was so close.  I look forward to the analysis.

Bluejays find a way to get their third straight W, on Senior Day at Langhorst.

If you were to simply browse the box score, you would think Jays dominated the contest - EC held an advantage in EVERY positive measurable statistic on the day - some by considerable margins:

+10 advantage in first downs
+120 advantage in total yardage
+30 in offensive snaps
And an incredible +17 minutes in T.O.P.

But, as Coach Adam himself would tell you, the only important statistics are touchdowns and turnovers (which ended up even).  EC left a ton of scoring opportunities on the field in the first half, missing two field goals and fumbling away another chance in the redzone.  This game was much closer than it needed to be, but I give the beleaguered Carthage defense a ton of credit - they were on the field 2/3 of the snaps this afternoon, and really hung tough most of the way.

But as the game wore on, the Jays' ground game took its toll on the valiant Redmen defenders.  A 16 play, 69 yard drive on EC's first second half possession lead to the game-tying FG in the 3rd.  Two possessions later, a 14 play, 60 yard drive lead by the blue collar efforts of Josh Williams of Garrett Claxton chewed up 8 minutes and gave the Jays what felt like the final body blow.  But the feisty Kenosha kids bit right back, striking for 6 in 5 plays two minutes later, behind the upstart arm of gritty (if untested) freshman QB Nick Anzelmo - who took over for an underwhelming AJ Simoncelli.  EC blocked the extra point to stunt the Redmen rally - Williams and Claxton would salt away the win on the nest possession, grinding out a couple of first downs to seal the deal.

Good win for the Jays - third in the left hand column in the conference and a boost for the boys as they head to Bloomington next week looking to play spoiler (a very similar situation to last year's match-up, just flipped upside down).

As for Carthage...boy, they are young.  Just a ton of first and second year players are out there expected to make plays for Coach Yeager - I don't know if they will be any good in the seasons to come, but should certainly have experience if they can keep this roster together.  Of course, we saw an extremely young 2009 Jays team take their lumps...that team featured a few freshmen whose names you may recognize...Williams, Furco, Homoky, Tuckson, Lane, among others.  So, there is something to be said for earning that experience, I suppose.  Right now though, they are really inconsistent and inefficient on offense, and incredibly vanilla on D - but hey, someone's gotta win next week in Kenosha, right?

Oh, and the Veteran's Day unis...pretty sweet.  The shoulder pads had kind of that camp pattern in a lighter shade of blue and the chest and back of the jersey contrasted with a deeper blue.  Nice touch at the coin toss as 4 EC employees that are veterans joined the Jays captains for the call.

[Gregory Sager]

The North Central win is actually one of the featured stories on the Trib website.