BLOOMINGTON - The Illinois Wesleyan football team served up a heaping helping of senior sizzle Saturday at chilly Wesleyan Stadium.

Hapless North Park proved to be the perfect serving plate.

Seniors Christian Winston, Tom Almanzo and Martin Ceisel accounted for five of IWU's seven touchdowns, and the Titans dominated form the outset en route to a 46-21 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin victory in the season finale.

"It was wonderful," said Winston, who rushed for 172 yards and two TDs. "It was the last time I'll be able to suit up and I just wanted to go out with a bang and have fun, and we did that today.

"We had high expectations this season. We wanted to win the conference and that didn't happen. But we didn't get down on ourselves and we kept playing hard."

The Titans, who scored on six of their seven first half possessions, snapped a two-game losing streak to finish at 6-4 overall and 3-4 in the CCIW. North Park (1-9, 0-7) fell behind 39-7 by halftime en route to its 61st straight CCIW loss.

"We just came out with a little fire today and decided we were going to win this game," said IWU senior linebacker Dan Souder. "We made sure everybody gave their full effort this week (in practice) and we got the job done.

"I think it was a perfect way to go out with how we played and how everybody gathered around our seniors and really propelled us to this win. I wouldn't want to have it any other way."

IWU outgained North Park 424-103 in the first half and finished with a 521-369 edge overall. The Titans received interceptions from Adam Crouch, Robert Beauchamp, Lucas Spoerl and Erich Bushong while playing turnover-free football.

"I thought we really controlled everything from the get go," said IWU coach Norm Eash. "I thought we controlled the line of scrimmage, we rushed the ball which really makes a difference and the defense played great. The kids played that game we were looking for.

"They really had a strong desire to get some things corrected after the last two games. They knew that we did not play well and so they wanted to really rectify that and show everyone and themselves how we could play."

Junior quarterback Kraig Ladd threw three TD passes for the underclassmen-dominated Titans, and sophomore backup Brien Rooney passed for one score while rushing for 80 yards. Junior fullback Jon Meacham added running and receiving TDs.

"They feel good right now," Eash said. "There are smiles on their faces. They know the potential is there. We just have to take good and make it excellent. We'll be ready to go next year."

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AT BLOOMINGTON

North Park…7…0…0 … 14 - 21

Ill. Wesleyan…13…26…7… 0 - 46

SCORING SUMMARY

IWU - Ceisel 10-yd. pass from Ladd (Duffy kick)

IWU - Winston 2-yd. run (kick failed)

NP - Anton 20-yd. pass from Dybdahl (Wery kick)

IWU - Meacham 18-yd. pass from Ladd (run failed)

IWU - Almanzo 40-yd. pass from Rooney (kick blocked)

IWU - Meacham 2-yd. run (Duffy kick)

IWU - Almanzo 27-yd. pass from Ladd (Duffy kick)

IWU - Winston 2-yd. run (Duffy kick)

NP - Cochiaro 41-yd. pass from Wood (Wery kick)

NP - Lialios 14-yd. pass from Wood (Wery kick)

YARDSTICK

…NP…IWU

Total first downs…20…27

Net yards gained …369…521

By rushing…60…288

By passing…309…233

Passes attempted…49…24

Completed…24…16

Intercepted by…4…0

Fumbles-lost…1-1…1-0

Yards penalized…36…74

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING - North Park: Mueller 13-49, Rhoads 1-14, Ratajczyk 2-4, Jones 2-2, Wood 1-minus 9. Illinois Wesleyan: Winston 22-172, Rooney 8-80, Gant 6-21, Bailey 9-15, Ladd 2-6, Berg 4-2, Meacham 1-2, TEAM 1-minus 4, VanRheeden 1-minus 6.

PASSING - North Park: Wood 21-37-2 274, Roberson 1-4-0 3, Ratajczyk 1-3-1 12, Dybdahl 1-2-0 20, Rhoads 0-2-1 0, Hart 0-1-0 0. Illinois Wesleyan: Ladd 10-15-0 138, Rooney 5-7-0 90, VanRheeden 1-1-0 5, Almanzo 0-1-0 0.

RECEIVING - North Park: Cochiaro 6-137, Lialios 5-72, Mueller 5-16, Dybdahl 4-39, Anton 2-31, Ziemba 1-11, Pipes 1-3. Illinois Wesleyan: Almanzo 5-101, Podkowa 3-39, Meacham 3-37, Ceisel 3-26, Scalcucci 1-25, Topf 1-5.

PUNTING - North Park: Hart 2-71-35.5. Illinois Wesleyan: Zic 3-129-43.0, Rooney 1-34-34.0.

INTERCEPTIONS - Illinois Wesleyan: Crouch, Beauchamp, Bushong, Spoerl.

TACKLE LEADERS

(Solo-assist-total)

NORTH PARK - Brusky 8-3-11, Cullotta 6-5-11, Nygaard 4-3-7, Shafer 4-2-6, Serrano 4-2-6, Pantaleo 2-4-6, Mullen 4-1-5, Jacobson 3-2-5.

ILLINOIS WESLEYAN - Souder 5-0-5, Gresko 4-0-4, Rogers 2-2-4.