Crusaders post 20th consecutive win over North Park with a 36-15 win at McCully Field

Wheaton, Ill.

(10/16/99)- The Wheaton College (Ill.) football team won its fifth consecutive

game of the season in a 36-15 win over the Vikings of North Park University

this afternoon at McCully Field. It was Wheaton's 20th consecutive win over

the Vikings who have not beaten the Crusaders since 1979 when North Park won

a 10-7 decision at Wheaton. Wheaton entered the game ranked 16th in this week's

American Football Coaches Association Coaches Poll. The Crusaders improve to

5-0 on the season and 3-0 in the CCIW, while North Park falls to 1-4 overall

and 0-3 in the CCIW.

Wheaton head coach Mike

Swider said of his team's effort today, "It's a good win and we played hard.

I don't think we have anybody that is seriously hurt." He continued, "this is

a game, where you are playing against a team that is not a great team, but they

are a much-improved team than they have been and we are beat up and you have

the potential for bad weather. That all creates a scenario that concerns you.

" Swider said of his Crusaders' contest next week at Illinois Wesleyan, "It

is a real big game next week. We have won the last three games that we have

played down there (at Illinois Wesleyan) and won the last two games against

them. We'll have to play hard, because Illinois Wesleyan is a good team and

they are well coached so we have to be ready to play."

Wheaton got on the scoreboard

early in the game when senior Jeff Ford (St. Charles, Mo./West) scored

on a five-yard touchdown run with 13:12 left in the first quarter. On Wheaton's

third drive of the game the Vikings pinned Wheaton back at the Crusaders' five-yard

line. On the second play of that drive North Park posted a safety thanks to

a quarterback sack by Pete Jablonski (Sandwich, Ill./Sandwich) and Patrick

Ryan (Chicago, Ill./Notre Dame) to cut the Wheaton lead to 6-2 with 6:39

left in the first quarter. Wheaton's junior runningback Brian Pastermack

(Merritt Island, Fla./Merritt Island) gave Wheaton a 12-2 advantage with a 45-yard

touchdown scamper with 4:35 left in the first quarter. At 11:17 left in the

second quarter Wheaton kicker Chris Baughman (Fort Morgan, Colo./Fort

Morgan) tied his career-long field goal with a 43-yard kick to give Wheaton

the 15-2 advantage. North Park reached the endzone with 2:45 left in the first

half when Mike Lundberg (Savage, Minn./Burnsville) scored on a two-yard

touchdown run that cut the Wheaton lead to 15-8. Wheaton took a 22-8 advantage

with 00:29 left in the first half when Pastermack scored on a three-yard touchdown

run. The Crusaders took a 29-8 lead with 12:35 left in the third quarter when

quarterback Mitch Slater (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) threw a 10-yard touchdown

pass to senior Jay Westra (Wheaton, Ill./North). Slater again connected

with Westra on a 10-yard touchdown toss with 5:35 left in the third quarter

to give Wheaton the 36-8 lead. That drive was setup by a blocked punt by Pastermack

for his second blocked punt of the season. North Park posted the final points

of the day on a fake field goal that saw Garry Jackson (Skokie, Ill./Niles

West) reach the endzone on an eight-yard touchdown scamper that made it the

36-15 final score.

The Crusaders' posted 392

yards of total offense on 70 plays for an average of 5.6 yards per play. Wheaton

amassed 200 rushing yards and 192 passing yards. Pastermack had 136 rushing

yards on 10 carries with two touchdowns. Pastermack entered the game as the

CCIW's scoring leader and now has 54 total points (nine touchdowns) on the season

to go with 445 rushing yards and an average of 6.2 yards per carry this season.

Slater was 15-27 passing today with 154 passing yards and two touchdown tosses.

Westra was Wheaton's leading receiver with seven catches for 77 yards and the

two touchdown catches. Junior receiver Jeremy Amos (Austin, Texas/Westlake)

had six catches for 67 yards on the day.

The Wheaton defense was

paced by Mark Ritzman (Norton, Ohio/Norton) with nine total tackles (four

solos) and a sack (minus-10 yards). Defensive back David Tofilon (Palatine,

Ind./Fremd) had six total tackles (five solos) with an interception and a pass

break-up. Senior linebacker Mitch Clement (Garden City, Kan./Garden City)

had six total tackles (five solos) with a pass broken-up. Safety John Peays

(Austin, Texas/Westlake) made six total tackles (four solos) with one fumble

recovery.

North Park posted 251 yards

of total offense on 73 plays for an average of 3.4 yards per play on the day.

The Vikings had 201 passing yards and 50 rushing yards on the day. Today's game

marked the fourth consecutive game that the Crusaders have held an opponent

to 50-yards or less rushing the ball. The Wheaton defense entered the game with

the 10th-best rushing defense in NCAA Division III and is the fourth-leading

Division III team in total defense.

North Park's quarterback

Dana Anderson (Wallace, Mich./Stephenson) was 18-34 passing with 187

yards in the air with an interception and five sacks. Lundberg was Anderson's

top receiver with six catches for 76 yards and added 20 rushing yards on nine

attempts with the rushing touchdown. North Park receiver Lawrence Matthews

(Calumet, Ill./Simeon) posted six catches for 56 yards. Runningback Darnell

Rios (Zion, Ill./Zion Benton) ran for 48 yards on 15 carries.

Wheaton (5-0/3-0 CCIW) will

be at Illinois Wesleyan (4-1/2-1 CCIW) next Saturday afternoon for a 1:00 PM

kickoff in the Titans' homecoming game. Illinois Wesleyan was a 44-27 winner

at Carthage today. North Park (1-4/0-3 CCIW) will be at Elmhurst College (1-4/0-3)

next Saturday afternoon for a 1:00 PM kickoff with the Blue Jays. Elmhurst lost

a 40-6 decision this afternoon at home to Augustana College.