CHICAGO, Ill. – The Washington University in St. Louis football team defeated North Park 28-21 on Saturday afternoon in its final road contest of the regular season. The Bears are 7-2 overall with a 6-2 mark in conference play.
 
After two drives each resulting in punts, North Park began its third drive of the game at 8:19. Quarterback Matt Eck connected with Randy Johnson for a 14-yard pass, but junior Caiden Hill forced a fumble which was recovered by senior Grant Purdy for six yards.
 
Senior Kenneth Hamilton began the Bears' drive with four runs totaling 35 yards, including a 23-yard gain for a first down at the 10. Sophomore quarterback Levi Moore ran the final 10 yards for a touchdown and sophomore Ross Muchnick hit the extra point for a 7-0 Bears' lead.
 
The Vikings scored on the following drive, starting with a one-yard rush from Reid Huseman. Eck hit Marcel Love for 10 yards and then connected with Jereme Ombogo for a 64-yard touchdown. Michael Messersmith III's kick failed, making it a 7-6 game with 3:46 remaining in the first quarter.
 
The Bears made it to the 26 on their next drive, but DJ Johnson forced a fumble from senior Kenvorris Campbel to give NPU the ball back, but the Vikings' drive ended in a punt.
 
On WashU's first drive of the second quarter, junior Fred Ware picked up six yards to the 36 before Moore connected with senior Collin Goldberg for 35 yards and a first down at the one. Moore then ran the final yard and Muchnick hit the kick for a 14-6 Bears' lead.
 
The Vikings began their drive with 12:38 on the clock and reached the 43 before sophomore Brett Kersemeier intercepted Eck's pass at the 21. It is his second interception of the season.
 
Following a punt from the Bears, NPU went on to score and tie things up at 14 with 1:17 remaining in the first half. Starting the seven-minute drive was a pass from Eck to Wesley McCloud for 11 yards. He connected with Ombogo again for seven yards and Love picked up three yards for a first down.
 
Back-to-back losses of four yards put NPU at third-and-18. Eck connected with Micah Catron for nine yards and the Bears were whistled for offside, moving the Vikings up five more yards to the 32. Eck hit Thaddius Leonard for 24 yards and a first down at the 44 and Love picked up three yards.
 
Eck ran for two yards and then hit McCloud for a 15-yard pass. Love ran for 11 yards and Eck connected with Love for the 13-yard touchdown. The Vikings completed the two-point conversion for a 14-14 game.
 
WashU opened the second half with a touchdown drive that lasted just over five minutes. Hamilton started things off with two 13-yard runs and a three-yard gain to put the Bears at the 44. Moore connected with Goldberg for a 14-yard pass and a first down at the 30 before he found graduate student Grant Hajicek for seven yards. Moore's pass attempt to Goldberg was incomplete, but the Vikings were called for pass interference, moving the Bears half the distance to the goal, to the 12.
 
Hamilton ran for six yards and then Moore ran for one yard to put the Bears five yards from the end zone. Moore connected with Goldberg for the touchdown pass and Muchnick's kick was good for a 21-14 lead.
 
North Park tied things up on its first drive of the fourth quarter. Eck found Catron for seven yards and then hit McCloud for 11 yards and a first down at the 43. Eck connected with Catron again for five yards and McCloud for seven yards to the 46.
 
Eck hit McCloud again for a 13-yard pass and then found Love for nine yards. Eck ran the ball himself for one yard and then McCloud connected with Eck for a 14-yard pass. Eck threw to Ombogo for the nine-yard touchdown pas and Messersmith III's kick was good, evening things up 21-21.
 
With 2:43 on the clock, the Bears began their game-winning drive. Moore connected with fifth-year Collin Hoyhtya for eight yards and Hamilton ran for four yards. Moore hit Goldberg for a 14-yard first down at the 48 and then connected with Hamilton for 25 yards for the 23.
 
Ware ran for three yards to the 20 before NPU called a timeout. Moore hit Hoyhtya for an eight-yard pass and a first down at the 12 coming out of the timeout. Hamilton ran for the final 12 yards for a touchdown and Muchnick's kick was good for a 28-21 lead.
 
On the final drive of the game for the Vikings, senior Zachary Ginsburg intercepted Eck's pass at the 22 with 16 seconds remaining to end things.
 
Hamilton led the rushing game with 116 yards on 18 attempts with one touchdown. Goldberg led the receivers with 80 yards on six catches with one touchdown. Moore went 17-for-30 with 187 yards and one touchdown, throwing no interceptions.
 
Defensively, senior Riley Merrigan had eight solo tackles, one tackle for loss and one quarterback hurry. Purdy had seven total tackles (four solo, three assist), one fumble recovery and one pass breakup. Junior Brady Willmer had six total tackles (five solo, one asst) with one tackle for loss.
 
The Bears wrap up the regular season next weekend at home with a 12 p.m. game against Augustana. The game will be senior day, neighbors' day and pride day.