Strong defense fuels Augustana football’s 55-0 triumph
· Yahoo Sports
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AUGUSTANA) –Augustana football powered past Concordia-St. Paul 55-0 on Saturday at Sea Foam Stadium. The Vikings scored 55 unanswered points across eight scoring drives, including 21 points in the first quarter. The defense held Concordia-St. Paul to 110 total yards and five first downs while stopping all 10 third-down attempts. The Vikings moved to 5-2 overall and 4-2 in league play, while Concordia-St. Paul dropped to 3-4 and 2-4.
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Gunnar Hensley completed 24 of 30 passes for 329 yards and five touchdowns without an interception. Cody Oswald caught six passes for 139 yards and two touchdowns. Max Carlson scored three touchdowns, rushing five times for 26 yards and two scores and adding a 20-yard touchdown reception. Max Grand rushed for 105 yards on 15 carries.
The Vikings moved 75 yards on the opening possession, with Hensley completing passes to DJ Page for six and 30 yards before finding Will Lynch for a 6-yard touchdown at 10:19, and Jake Pecina's extra point made it 7-0. After Concordia-St. Paul went three-and-out from its 46, Augustana put together a 12-play, 80-yard drive that converted three third downs, including Klayton Sattler's 17-yard catch on third-and-14, before Carlson's 13-yard run and Pecina's kick made it 14-0. Concordia-St. Paul picked up one first down on its next possession, but Brock Salm dropped BJ Davis for a 3-yard loss before the drive ended with a punt and a kick-catch interference penalty that placed Augustana at its 30. Hensley connected with Oswald for a 70-yard touchdown on the next play, Pecina's third extra point made it 21-0, and the Vikings led by that score after Chase Leary stopped Joel Lacy for a 2-yard loss on the final play of the quarter.
Tyler Birn's tackle for loss helped AU force a Concordia-St. Paul punt to open the second quarter, and the Vikings turned the next possession into a 10-play, 71-yard scoring drive. Hensley completed key passes to Page for 12 and 24 yards, then found Sattler for a 5-yard touchdown at 8:19 before Pecina's extra point made it 28-0. Concordia-St. Paul moved into Augustana territory on the next series, but Joshua Lee-O'Bryant and Ashton Toll combined on a tackle for loss, Birn followed with a sack, and Jermaine Hampton Jr. broke up a fourth-down pass at the Augustana 33. The teams traded late possessions from there, with Neal May returning a punt 13 yards to the Augustana 45 in the final minute before the quarter ended with the Vikings ahead 28-0.
After the teams traded punts early in the third quarter, the Vikings drove 79 yards in six plays, using Hensley completions to Page and Oswald before Hensley found Oswald for a 4-yard touchdown and Pecina's kick made it 35-0 at 6:44. Alex Belongia stopped Concordia-St. Paul's next possession with an interception at the CSP37 and returned it 17 yards, setting up Hensley's 20-yard touchdown pass to Carlson one play later for a 42-0 lead after Pecina's extra point. AU forced another punt and began a late drive from its own 30, with Rich Lucero Jr. completing a first-down pass to Sam Scholten and Grand adding multiple runs as the quarter ended with the Vikings ahead 42-0 and in Concordia-St. Paul territory.
The Vikings began the fourth quarter already in Concordia-St. Paul territory and, after a roughing-the-passer penalty moved the ball to the 13, finished the series on Carlson's 1-yard touchdown run at 12:22 before Pecina's kick made it 49-0. Concordia-St. Paul went three-and-out on the next possession, and AU kept its ensuing drive alive with May's third-down catch, a Concordia-St. Paul personal foul on a punt, and short-yardage runs by Ryan Kenny and Grand. Lucero capped the 15-play, 80-yard march with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Tytan Tryon at 2:52 for a 55-0 score, though the extra point was missed. Lathan Wilcox's sack helped set up a fourth-down stop on Concordia-St. Paul's final drive, and Grand's 25-yard run to the 1 preceded the final kneel-down in AU's 55-0 win.
Up Next
The Vikings celebrate homecoming as they host SMSU at 1:05 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24, at Kirkeby-Over Stadium in Sioux Falls.