North Park University - Cupola Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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season record north park wheaton 26 north park 6 wilson 13 north park 6 la salle 25 north park 26 thornton 6 north park morton north park 6 wnght 6 north park 7 joliet 28 a cold, wet viking season opened against wheaton ' s b squad oct. 6 in a drizzle, the first half was an omen of a thoroughly disappointing season as the black and orange ran up 26 points against a green team which showed little co-ordina- tion and a lot of susceptibility to passes and end sweeps, the second half painted a completely dif- ferent picture of the coming season, however, as the vikings began to work as a unit, out-playing their foes both offensively and defensively, but having to settle for a 26-0 licking, their worst of the season. the blue and gold opened their conference schedule as they journeyed to wilson, only to lead the southsiders in every column but the score, wil- son scored the second time they got their hands on the ball on a neatly executed pass play, in the second quarter co-captain John hallsten broke off- tackle for 46 yards to score, and the boys went into the locker room behind 7-6. wilson scored again in the fourth quarter to make the score 13-6, and the gun went off as junior young was downed inches from pay-dirt. the vikings played hard against a good la salle team in the home opener, but the backfield just couldn ' t stem the accurate passing, three t.d. passes broke the blue and gold ' s back as they bowed to la salle 26-6. the win-hungry vikings ended their famine with a well-deserved meal at thornton, devouring the wildcats by a 20-6 score on a mushy field, after trailing 6-0, junior young lit the fuse with an inter- ception deep in his own territory and toted it to the thornton 15, from which the vikings scored on a pass from paul Johnson to vaughn rudnick. the blue and gold scored twice more, once on a t.d. pass, bruce lake to rudnick, and a one-yard plunge by don hescott. the vikings trotted off the field with their get your man no

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coach and co-captains in (0 o o the viking 1951 gridiron season was played un- der almost the worst conditions possible: a combi- nation of rain, snow, and ice. the blue and gold played seven games, only one of which was fought on good terrain, three were played on rain-drenched fields and three on snow-covered ground, one of these in a real blizzard at morton. all this added up to a season of close, low-scoring games in which hard, rugged line play prevailed. however, there was no lack of rugged line play in this year ' s eleven, and the boys more than held their own in a tough league, though compiling a mediocre 1-2-4 record, the team was nevertheless one of the best in the league, making every contest a real battle, there was little similarity of recent n.p. elevens evident as the vikings snapped a three- year losing streak at thornton ' s expense, 20-6 and proceeded to tie morton and then wright in a thrill- ing homecoming battle, the boys had more than their share of tough breaks, but proved beyond a doubt that coach swanson ' s team was one of, if not the best team in the vikings ' 16 seasons of foot- ball. kick off V,

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letterman first triumph in 22 straight games, and their first in three seasons. the viking victory ship was forced to a standstill in an icy blizzard at morton as the teams fought to a 0-0 deadlock, the blue and gold got as far as the panther seven-yard line in the second quarter but couldn ' t push over for a score, the game was marred by 23 fumbles in close to four inches of snow. then came the homecoming game against wright at winnemac park, which in all probability was the best per- formance of spirit, guts, and ability ever exhibited by a north park eleven, the rams fielded supposedly the strongest line in the league on a snow and ice-covered gridiron, only to be out-charged and out-fought all after- noon by a terriffically spirited viking team, sparked by outstanding guard and tackle play, the blue and gold led all the way after end jim aspegren recovered a fum- ble in the end zone in the second quarter, but with four minutes left to play a wright half-back broke around his right end for 49 yards, knotting the score and everyone ' s hearts as the vikings had to settle for a 6-6 deadlock. by the time of the joliet game all the enthusiasm had worn off and the vikings dropped a haphazardly-played game 28-7 to end the season with a mediocre record, but only those who saw the games can appreciate the team ' s splendid showing under the able tutelage of yank swanson and his aide, bob hjelm. they have worked hard to start n.p. football on the uphill road, and they have succeeded. a. jepson j. Johnson