Game Notes at North Park

WAUKESHA, Wis. - Carroll's football team got off to a tremendous start to the 2023 season last week with a 51-7 win against Wisconsin Lutheran in the second annual "Glazer Bowl." With that win, "The Golden Glazer" trophy will reside in Waukesha for at least one more year.

"We played a complete game last Saturday, while playing complimentary football, and we didn't punt once," Carroll Head Football Coach Mike Budziszewski said. "Defensively, we created some takeaways, blocked a field goal at the end of the half, and recorded six sacks, which is two shy of the single game school record. There were a lot of positives, and we had the opportunity to play a lot of people to get them some varsity experience."

This weekend, the Pioneers will try to provide an encore of that performance when they'll travel to North Park University for their first conference game of the season, which will also double as the Pios' first road contest of 2023.

"We had some rust that we needed to knock off last week and we did make some simple mistakes, but we corrected those in film and in practice this week, so I'm looking forward to being a better football team versus North Park," said Budziszewski.

Carroll leads the all-time series against North Park 33-11 in a series that dates back to 1960, and have won the last four meetings by a combined score of 125-40, which includes a pair of shutouts. Last season, Carroll defeated the Vikings 42-0 in a conference-opening victory at Schneider Stadium in Waukesha. A win on Saturday would also secure a 2-0 start for the Pioneers for the third consecutive season, marking the longest such streak since accomplishing that from 1976-78.

"Last week, there were some nerves, but now that we've knocked some rust off, it's time to set the tone for the CCIW slate," Budziszewski said. "We have nine CCIW games in a row beginning this weekend, so we'll be playing a conference opponent who will challenge us every single week. We'll have to make sure we're prepared for each game by setting the tone early."

One way to set the tone is by making game-changing plays on special teams, which the Pioneers did plenty of last week, blocking two punts and one field goal, while averaging 23 yards on two kick returns and recording a 20-yard punt return.

"Special Teams is huge, and Coach Holley does a great job scheming up our opponents. We spend a lot of time on special teams during the week because that can make the difference between winning and losing," Budziszewski said. "In addition to those three blocked kicks, we were pretty close on a couple others, and we're going to continue to put forth that same effort. Special Teams is just as important as offense and defense and our players understand that and that's part of the culture that we've created."

North Park was also dominant in their lone game of this season. Prior to last week's bye, the Vikings defeated Manchester University 27-0 in a non-conference road game to kick off the season. In that game, NPU built a 21-0 lead before coasting to victory behind 226 yards rushing on 36 carries. Running Backs Quadrell Hill and AJ Harris recorded 9.7 and 6.1 yards per carry, while the Vikings' defense earned the program's first shutout in 24 years.

"North Park is going to play hard every game and they're a better football team than they have been in the past," Budziszewski said. "Coach Rooker does a great job getting his players prepared and they have some big play capability, so we'll have to get pressure in the backfield and shut those down."

Saturday's game will begin at 1 p.m. in at Holmgren Complex in Chicago, Ill., and can be seen live at https://gopios.com/watch/?Live=160&type=Live. The game will also be available on WAUK Radio (540 AM and 101 FM) out of Waukesha and streaming live on their website at https://waukradio.com/.