Box Score

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Alexis Santillan booted a 33-yard field goal with 4.7 seconds remaining Saturday to lift North park to a 20-17 win over Augustana at Lindberg Stadium. Santillo's kick spoiled a chilly Senior Day for the homestanding Vikings, who dropped to 1-8 on the season and 1-6 in the CCIW. The visitors improved to 2-6 overall and 1-5 in the league.
 
Jacob Stytz (Minooka HS, Channahon, Ill.)—one of 17 seniors honored by Augustana before the game—tied the contest at 17-17 with a 39-yard field goal with 3:21 to play. The kick gave Stytz a new single-season school record for field goals with 11, breaking the previous mark of 10 set by Mike Clark in 2001.
 
North Park took the ensuing kickoff and drove 60 yards in 13 plays for the winning score. One of the key plays on the march was a 10-yard Grant Borsch-to-Denton Delgado pass that first went through the hands of an Augustana defender—one of at least three such plays during the game. Borsch completed two more passes as well, eventually getting his team to the Augustana 16-yard line before the drive stalled. Santillan came on and, after being iced by two timeouts, squeaked a line drive just inside the left upright to give NPU a 20-17 lead with less than five seconds remaining.
 
Augustana attempted several laterals on the final kickoff, but North Park eventually recovered to end the game.
 
The hosts led from the 6:52 mark of the first quarter until a NPU touchdown with 8:23 to play in the game. Junior Luke Bleyer (Williamsville HS, Springfield, Ill.) hit senior Riley Donald (Morton HS, Morton, Ill.) with a 9-yard touchdown pass to start the scoring. The touchdown grab was the first of Donald's career and capped a nine-play, 77-yard drive highlighted by a 42-yard Bleyer-to-Ethan Jennings (Notre Dame HS, Chicago, Ill.) pass.
 
A 37-yard Santillan field goal early in the second quarter drew North Park to with 7-3, but two possessions later, Augustana drove 76 yards in 11 plays to go up 14-3. Freshman quarterback Alek Jacobs (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) carried on the final five plays, covering 43 yards, including the final two for the touchdown. Stytz's point after gave the hosts a 14-3 lead and that's the way the half ended.
 
Late in the third quarter, Borsch took North Park on a nine-play, 68-yard drive and finished it off with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Woodrow Corey. Santillan's extra point drew NPU to within 14-10.
 
The visitors took their first lead midway through the fourth. Following their second blocked punt of the afternoon, they went 37 yards in five plays with Borsch and Corey hooking up again for a touchdown, this time on third-and-goal from the three. Santillan's kick gave NPU a 17-14 lead. The ensuing Augustana possession ended with Stytz's game-tying field goal.
 
Jacobs finished the day with 101 rushing yards on 18 carries. Sophomore Bobby Jarosz (Prospect HS, Mt. Prospect, Ill.), filling in for injured starter Ryan Pitra (Geneseo HS, Geneseo, Ill.), added 63 yards on 16 carries. Through the air, Jacobs was 13 of 20 for 99 yards and Bleyer connected on six of 11 throws for 97 yards. Each was intercepted once. Jarosz had five catches for 31 yards and Jennings four for 67, but Augustana receivers suffered several key drops on the afternoon.
 
The Augustana defense, led by leading tacklers John Asquini (Buffalo Grove HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.) and Luke Sawicki (Neuqua Valley HS, Naperville, Ill.) (seven each), held North Park to just 46 yards on 28 rushing attempts, but Borsch—coming off the bench in relief of starter Nick DiNardo—hit on 14 of 29 throws for 184 yards and two scores. Delgado finished with four catches for 50 yards.
 
On Saturday, November 4, Coach Steve Bell's team will close out the 2017 season with a contest at 23rd-ranked Wheaton. The Vikings and Thunder are scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff.