“We’re going to Disneyland!” shouted senior defensive linemen Ted Hennings and Phil Bucaro after Saturday’s 39-27 win over Toledo in their final game at Huskie Stadium.

The Huskies’ eighth straight win at the “Doghouse” was equally cherished, but the team knows that there is still one more week and one more game.

“It was a great game but we still have next week,” Bucaro said. “After that we’ll be 9-2. All we can hope for is a bowl.”

On the subject of bowl games, the team feels that if the last two games did not show that it is capable, nothing will.

“That was a hell of a game,” Hennings said. “If they didn’t see that, then it’s their loss. We did the best we could.”

Senior linebacker Ron Delisi led the Huskie defense with 14 tackles, but dropped two interception chances.

“I don’t want to make any excuses that my cast got in the way,” Delisi said. “I should have had them. No excuses.”

The errors did not take away from his savoring the victory.

“It feels great to win here,” co-captain Delisi said. “Every time I play here is special. We were fired up and that was a great way to end the season at home.”

The NIU defense recorded five quarterback sacks and made four interceptions, but agreed that it made mistakes along the way.

“We should have shut them out,” Bucaro said. “We made too many mistakes, but we’re happy with our last win at the Doghouse.”

Hennings racked up three sacks, including one for a safety. Junior Cary Caliendo recorded two sacks and, along with Bucaro, put a monster sandwich on Rocket quarterback Kevin Meger that knocked him out of the game with a concussion.

Earl Upton picked off two Toledo passes, while Steve Christian and Patrick Bryant added one each.

“We’re going to lose some good players after this season,” head coach Jerry Pettibone said. “But we’ve got some good young ones to take their spots.”

Senior cornerback Brett Tucker missed his final home game after suffering a knee injury during practice last week.

“I think that Brett’s absence had an effect on our defense,” Pettibone said. “His replacement (Jeff Geary) did all he could, but a couple of deep routes got past him.”

Geary finished the day with 13 tackles and a pass deflection.

Other senior Huskie starters that were honored at a pre-game ceremony were co-captain offensive guard Joe Gucwa and linebacker James Matlock.