Box Score

ROCK ISLAND, Ill.— Led by a career-high 178 yards from sophomore Brandon Price (Providence Catholic HS, Plainfield, Ill.), the Augustana rushing attack produced 367 yards Saturday and the Vikings won their third consecutive game, 26-20 over North Park at Lindberg Stadium. Augustana improved to 4-4 overall and 3-2 in the CCIW, while North Park fell to 1-7 on the year and 1-4 in the league.
 
Although the hosts relied on the ground game for most of the contest, they got on the board first on a 60-yard Chris Salazar (Providence Catholic HS, Plainfield, Ill.) to Kyle Frake (Central HS, Clifton, Ill.) touchdown pass on the very first play from scrimmage. Salazar found Frake along the left sideline and the senior wide out covered the final 40 yards for the score. Conner Murray's (Conifer HS, Morrison, Colo.) point after made it 7-0 Augustana after just 17 seconds of action.
 
After forcing a North Park three-and-out, the Vikings went 67 yards in eight plays to take a 10-0 lead on Murray's 28-yard field goal. Price carried five times for 51 yards, including runs of 15 and 32 yards on the drive.
 
North Park got on the board early in the second quarter. A 35-yard run by quarterback T.D. Conway keyed a five-play, 44-yard drive which was finished off when Conway connected with Victor Iniestra from three yards out. The point after was mishandled, keeping the score at 10-6.
 
That's how the half would end, as Augustana had two drives stopped in North Park territory late in the second quarter. Salazar was sacked at the 24 and lost a fumble with 4:12 remaining and his fourth-down pass from the 36 with less than a minute left fell incomplete.
 
The visitors took the second-half kickoff and Conway led them on a seven-play, 78-yard touchdown march to take the lead. Conway hit Devin Childress from nine yards out for the touchdown and Noah Moore added the PAT to make it 13-10 North Park. Price carried six times on the next Augustana drive as the Vikings went 66 yards in 11 plays to tie it with a 36-yard Murray field goal.
 
An Austin Chausse (Nokomis HS, Nokomis, Ill.) fumble set up North Park's next go-ahead score. It took the visitors just one play, with Conway and Childress hooking up again, this time from 23 yards, for a 20-13 North Park lead.
 
It didn't take long to Chausse to redeem himself though, as the freshman running back broke loose for a 49-yard touchdown run on the third play of Augustana's next drive. Murray's PAT bounced off the left upright, but fell through to tie the game at 20 with 2:15 left in the third.
 
North Park's next drive was thwarted when sophomore corner Daniel Watson (Peoria HS, Peoria, Ill.) gathered Bo Goshorn's (Romeoville HS, Romeoville, Ill.) deflection of a Conway pass at the Augustana one-yard line. Two possessions later, the hosts got the go-ahead touchdown. Starting from their own eight, Price and Sean Fitzgerald (Providence Catholic HS, Manhattan, Ill.) each had runs of 11 yards before Ben Hodges (St. Charles North HS, Elburn, Ill.) had a 61-yard burst down the right sideline to the North Park one. Hodges went into the end zone on the next play and Augustana led 26-20 with 7:41 to play. The drive went 92 yards in six plays. Murray's point after attempt again hit the left upright, but this time bounced out.
 
On North Park's next drive, freshman corner Travon Aldridge (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) made a key play, running Childress out of bounds at the Augustana four-yard line following a 59-yard pass completion. The play was crucial, as the Viking defense pushed North Park back to the 10 before Conway's fourth down pass attempt fell incomplete. The visitors had their last hope extinguished on their next possession, when senior corner Ben Fornek (Batavia HS, Batavia, Ill.) intercepted Conway with a minute remaining.
 
Price finished with 178 yards on 29 carries. Chausse ran for 94 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries and Hodges added 85 yards and a score on seven attempts. Augustana attempted just one pass after halftime and none in the last quarter and a half. Salazar finished five of 11 for 93 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Frake caught three balls for 74 yards and a touchdown. In addition to his pick, Fornek led the Vikings with eight solo tackles and nine total stops.
 
Augustana travels to Naperville, Illinois to face 23rd-ranked North Central on Saturday, November 8. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.