Four Touchdowns Not Enough to Thwart Elmhurst

ELMHURST, ILLINOIS (October 28, 2002) - Despite four scoring passes by North Park University (NPU) quarterback Phil DeWald, Elmhurst College edged the Vikings 42-28 for a homecoming victory Saturday at Langhorst Field.

Elmhurst raised its overall mark to 3-4, 1-3 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin as Eric Luna tied a school record with four touchdown runs while rushing for 158 yards on 33 carries. North Park is 1-6, 0-4 in the CCIW even though DeWald had his best passing performance as a collegian.

NPU jumped out to a 7-0 lead less than a minute into the game as DeWald hit Jon Harris from 27 yards out. Elmhurst answered quickly though as Luna scored from six yards out to tie the score at 7-7.

North Park reclaimed the lead 14-7 just 15 seconds into the second quarter as Quintrell Porter scored his first collegiate touchdown on a 22-yard reception of a DeWald pass. Elmhurst pulled even at 14-all as Luna dove in from a yard out with a just over two minutes to play in the half, but the Vikings recaptured the lead 21-14 just before the half as DeWald hit Harris from 35 yards out with his third touchdown pass.

Elmhurst quarterback Derek Bonaparte hooked up with Todd Evans for a 17-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 21-21 just over six minutes into the third period.

On the very next possession North Park took the lead 28-21 as DeWald connected with Porter from 14 yards out. However, the lead was short lived as the Bluejays intercepted a DeWald pass and Elmhurst tied the game 28-all on Luna's 11-yard run.

Luna scored again in the fourth period to put Elmhurst ahead 35-28 and, after the Vikings moved into Elmhurst territory late in the game, Taj English picked off a DeWald pass and ran it back 83 yards to ice the contest.

DeWald's 259 yards passing was the highest yardage compiled by a North Park quarterback since 2000 when Dana Anderson threw for 260 yards against Elmhurst.

NPU travels to Decatur Saturday for a 1 p.m. CCIW contest at Millikin University.

Printable version of this page.