CHICAGO, ILL. – The Carroll University football team got back to winning on Saturday afternoon with a 34-26 victory over the North Park Vikings. The Pioneers shut out the Vikings through the first three quarters but allowed 26 points in the fourth quarter.
Michael Johnson led with 318 yards passing and three touchdowns, while
Damon Loker registered 12 tackles, a sack for a 12-yard loss, and 3.5 tackles for a loss of 17 yards.
The Pioneers (3-2, 2-2 CCIW) picked up their first CCIW road win of the season while racking up 463 yards of offense on 73 plays.
Adam Timbrook led the rushing corps with 70 yards on the ground, while
J.R. Muth caught five passes for 117 yards and two touchdowns. Carroll finished 3-3 on fourth downs, but just 3-13 on third downs all game. The Pioneers missed their chance to remain perfect in the red zone this season, going 2-3 on scoring inside the 20-yard line.
The Pioneers scored three straight times in the first quarter to set the tone of the game. In their second possession, Carroll only needed three plays to travel 55 yards, capped off by a 33-yard jet sweep by
Keon Miller. Carroll's longest touchdown drive of the game was a nine-play, 80-yard drive that ate up 4:28 seconds. On fourth and three, Johnson connected with
Josh Hill on a 38-yard pass to set up
Isaac Allen on the three-yard line. Allen scored the next play later.
Both teams punted to end their possessions the next five drives before Carroll broke the scoreless streak with a touchdown with 1:15 left in the first half. Johnson kept the drive alive on a 4-10 on the North Park 41-yard line, by connecting with Muth for 25 yards and the first down. Two plays later, Johnson moved the score to 27-0 with a pass to Muth for the 16-yard score.
North Park got the ball to start the third and forced a drive down to the Carroll five-yard line. Loker picked up a solo tackle for a loss of two yards, leading two a third and five for the Viking offense. Carroll's defense stayed strong and forced a turnover on downs by the Vikings.
Carroll lost two fumbles on back-to-back possessions, but the defense came up big both times. Carroll's defense stopped the Vikings on a 4
th and five on their own 29-yard line, thanks to a
Jonathan Rau pass-breakup. After a Pio three-and-out, North Park was threatening again on the Carroll eight-yard line.
Nick Mantas forced a fumble and
Cole Spaulding fell on the ball at the five-yard line to get the ball back from the Vikings.
After North Park's first score in the fourth quarter, Carroll responded with a five-play, 37-yard drive that took just 2:03 off the clock. Johnson connected with Miller on a 21-yard pass for the quarterback's third touchdown of the game. The Pioneers let North Park score 20 unanswered points but secured the victory.
Carroll returns to Schneider Stadium on the 16
th of October for the first Homecoming game since 2019 against the Wheaton Thunder.
