Box Score

CHICAGO (Oct. 11, 2008) - Scoring all of its points in a 21-minute stretch of the second and third periods, the North Central College football team improved to 5-0 with a 35-15 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin victory at North Park University.

The Cardinals and Vikings played to a scoreless stalemate until midway through the second quarter, when Willie Hayes (Fr., Lemont, Ill./Lemont) forced a North Park fumble on a punt return, which allowed the visitors to take possession on the Vikings' 38-yard line. Kyle Kniss (Sr., Lanark, Ill./Eastland-Pearl City), making his first start of the season at quarterback, completed a 22-yard pass to Matt Jones (So., Mount Zion, Ill./Mount Zion) and a 20-yard strike to Joe Sosinski (Sr., New Carlisle, Ind./New Prairie) to move the Cardinals to the one-yard line, and Dominic Sulo (Jr., Oak Forest, Ill./Mt. Carmel) covered the remaining distance to put North Central ahead, 7-0, with 6:14 left in the first half.

The Vikings (1-4, 0-2 CCIW) threatened to even the score on the ensuing drive, driving deep into North Central territory on five straight completed passes by quarterback Shelby Wood. On his eighth consecutive pass, however, he was picked off by the Cardinals' Matt Wenger (Jr., Davis, Ill./Dakota) one yard from the goal line. Wenger returned the ball to the North Park 23, where the Cardinals' second scoring drive of the day would begin.

After two runs by Sulo, totaling 30 yards, moved North Central into the Vikings' half of the field, Kniss found Jones for a 25-yard pass to move his squad to the North Park five-yard line. Two plays later, Kniss threw to Jones once again, with the three-yard TD reception increasing the lead to 14-0 just before halftime.

The Cardinals turned their first possession of the second half into points as well, carving up the North Park defense with five straight running plays. Kniss scrambled 33 yards to provide a first down three yards from the goal line, then called his own number once again on the next play for the score. Just 2:35 into the second half, North Central owned a 21-0 advantage.

North Park broke up the shutout on the next possession, traveling 69 yards in eight plays for the first of two touchdowns. Wood navigated the final 50 yards with two passes, including a 35-yard scoring toss to Sam Cochairo with 8:41 left in the period.

Sulo jumpstarted the Cardinals' fourth scoring drive of the day with runs of 18 and 20 yards, and Mike Mucha (Jr., Orland Park, Ill./Univ. of Illinois) charged into the end zone from 10 yards away with 57 seconds remaining in the third quarter as the guests' lead ballooned to 28-7.

North Central's defense forced another Viking turnover on the first play of North Park's next drive, as Tyler Venier (Sr., Dixon, Ill./Dixon) stripped the ball from Cochairo. Hayes scooped up the ball and nearly scored, as he was finally brought down two yards short of the goal line. Kniss ran in for his second rushing touchdown of the afternoon with 28 seconds remaining in the period.

North Park's pass-heavy offense attempted to stage a fourth-quarter comeback, but was able to produce just one touchdown, a five-yard pass from Wood to Alan Hall with 5:15 left. Wood completed a two-point conversion pass to Cochairo.

Kniss finished the day 11 of 23 passing for 157 yards, while Sulo led the ground game with 141 yards on 23 carries. Jones was the team's top receiver with 50 yards on three catches. Perry Welch (Sr., Lanark, Ill./Eastland-Pearl City) became the eighth player in school history to top 1,000 career receiving yards, catching one pass for six yards to boost his four-year total to 1,002.

Wenger paced the defense in tackles for the fifth straight game, tallying nine total stops. Taylor Overman (Fr., Winfield, Ill./West Chicago) turned in two tackles for loss and Venier broke up a pair of passes in addition to the forced fumble.

Now 2-0 in CCIW play, North Central returns home Saturday to host Carthage College (Wis.) in its Homecoming game, with kickoff at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium scheduled for 2 p.m.