ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Augustana dropped a 42-6 decision this past Saturday at Illinois Wesleyan. The Vikings are currently 2-4 overall and 1-3 in the CCIW heading into a road date at Millikin on Saturday, October 15 at 6:00 p.m.
On the year Augustana is scoring 18.7 points per game and allowing an average of 25.3. Of the Vikings' 301.3 yards per contest of total offense, 73.3 come via the ground game and 228.0 through the air. Opponents are averaging 134.7 rushing yards and 213.7 passing yards per game.
Individually, senior linebacker
Jack Asquini (Buffalo Grove HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.) leads the Augustana defense with 35 solo tackles, 31 assists, 9½ stop behind the line of scrimmage and three sacks. Senior safety
Frank Kalble (Hersey HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.) has 50 tackles, sophomore safety
John Asquini (Buffalo Grove HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.) 49 and junior linebacker
Danny Giffels (Prairie Ridge HS, Crystal Lake, Ill.) 48.
John Asquini also leads with a pair of interceptions. Senior corner
Daniel Watson (Peoria HS, Peoria, Ill.) has two fumble recoveries and eight pass breakups.
Offensively, sophomore
Ryan Hennessy (Oswego HS, Oswego, Ill.) has caught a team-best 35 passes for 339 yards and two touchdowns this year. His next catch will move him into a tie for 10th place on the Vikings' single-season receptions list and with four games remaining, he's 25 away from Corbett Ball's school record of 60, set in 2010. Senior
Danny Lattner (Fenwick HS, Riverside, Ill.) has 22 grabs for a team-high 451 yards and two scores.
Sophomore quarterback
Zachary Fuller (St. Patrick HS, Schiller Park, Ill.) has completed 97 of 198 passes for 1,258 yards and six touchdowns. He's been intercepted five times. Sophomore
Luke Bleyer (Williamsville HS, Springfield, Ill.) saw his first extensive action this past Saturday. He's 11 of 21 for 110 yards with one interception on the year.
Sophomore
Ryan Pitra (Geneseo HS, Geneseo, Ill.) is Augustana's leading rusher with 294 yards and two touchdowns on 92 carries. Freshman
Bobby Jarosz (Prospect HS, Mt. Prospect, Ill.) has a team-best three rushing touchdowns.
Junior kicker
Jacob Stytz (Minooka HS, Channahon, Ill.) converted a pair of field goal attempts Saturday, including a career-long 46-yarder, and is now seven of eight on the year. He's also a perfect 13-of-13 on extra points and has made 53 in a row over the last two years. Senior punter
Robert Martin (Strake Jesuit HS, Houston, Texas) is averaging 39.9 yards with a long of 66 and 10 placed inside the opponents' 20-yard line.
Coach Dan Gritti's Millikin outfit will bring a record of 2-3 overall and a 1-2 CCIW mark into Saturday's game. The Big Blue's two league losses have come at 7th-ranked North Central (42-7) and 11th-rated Wheaton (35-19). Millikin defeated North Park 23-17 at home and in non-conference play, have a win at Greenville (40-21) and a loss to Rose-Hulman (26-14) at home.
The Big Blue offense is averaging 20.6 points and 362.2 total yards per game. Sophomore quarterback Nikko Stepina has completed 82 of 148 pass (55.4%) for 1,153 yards and nine touchdowns with five interceptions. Gerald Perry has team highs of 24 receptions and 286 yards, while David Jackson has caught four touchdown passes. The rushing attack has been split between three backs—George Jimerson (56 carries, 195 yards, one touchdown), Kyle McMahon (49-158-1) and Andre Colvin (30-102-2). Tackle Sean Nicholson was a second team All-CCIW selection a year ago.
Defensively, Millikin has allowed averages of 28.2 points and 373.4 total yards per game. Opponents have rushed for 184.2 yards per contest and 4.4 per carry. The Big Blue have given up 189.2 passing yards per game on a 55.8% completion rate. Linebacker Nikia Averitte is Millikin's leading tackler with 41 total, including 24 solo stops. Linebacker Matthew Brown has team highs of 5½ tackles for loss and two sacks.
Returning first team All-CCIW kicker Chayce Volpert highlights the Big Blue special teams. He's three of four on field goals this year with a long of 35 yards.
LAST WEEK...
10/08/16—ILLLINOIS WESLEYAN 42, AUGUSTANA 6
Vikings fall 42-6 at Illinois Wesleyan
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Maurice Shoemaker-Gilmore rushed for 212 yards and scored three touchdowns and the Augustana offense found the going rough Saturday, as Illinois Wesleyan handed the Vikings a 42-6 defeat at Tucci Stadium. Augustana dropped to 2-4 on the year and 1-3 in the CCIW, while the Titans improved to 3-2 overall and 2-2 in the league.
The first score of the game was set up by a Viking miscue. On the opening possession, IWU's Brinton Wilkey intercepted a
Zachary Fuller (St. Patrick HS, Schiller Park, Ill.) pass and returned it to the Augustana 24-yard line. Six plays later, Brandon Bauer hit Shoemaker-Gilmore with a six-yard scoring pass for a 6-0 Titan lead. Andrew Iwaszkiewicz added the PAT.
A
John Asquini (Buffalo Grove HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.) interception at the Augustana one-yard line just before the two-minute mark helped keep the Vikings just a touchdown back after one quarter.
Another Augustana turnover in its own territory led to IWU's second touchdown. Reese Sobol recovered a
Ryan Pitra (Geneseo HS, Geneseo, Ill.) fumble at the Viking 44 and seven plays later, Bauer hit Austin Wagner from 14 yards out. Iwaszkiewicz's point after made it 14-0 Titans with 10:12 left in the half.
After an Augustana three-and-out, Wesleyan drove 58 yards in eight plays for another score. Shoemaker-Gilmore finished it off, catching a 22-yard touchdown pass from Mitch Pfeiffer.
The Vikings got on the board with 45 seconds left in the half, when junior
Jacob Stytz (Minooka HS, Channahon, Ill.) booted a career-long 46-yard field goal. The teams went to the locker room with IWU on top 21-3.
The Titans put the contest away with three third-quarter touchdowns. Trevor Staley returned an interception 48 yards for a score and after Stytz kicked a 35-yard field goal, Shoemaker-Gilmore capped his day with a 58-yard touchdown run. The final score came with 1:24 left in the third. Bauer connected with Austin Harrell from 38 yards out and Iwaszkiewicz's extra point accounted for the final.
Sophomore quarterback
Luke Bleyer (Williamsville HS, Springfield, Ill.) relieved Fuller in the third quarter and saw his first extensive action of the year. He completed 10 of 19 passes for 107 yards and was intercepted once. Sophomore receiver
Ryan Hennessy (Oswego HS, Oswego, Ill.) made nine receptions on the day for 81 yards. Pitra was the Vikings' leading rusher, with 23 yards on 10 carries.
Augustana, which had turned the ball over just five times in its first five contests, lost three interceptions and a fumble on Saturday.
In addition to his interception,
John Asquini was credited with a game-high 11 tackles, including 1½ for loss. He also shared the Vikings' lone sack with junior linebacker
Danny Giffels (Prairie Ridge HS, Crystal Lake, Ill.).
Stytz's two field goals make him seven of eight on the year.
Augustana is back on the road next week, traveling to Decatur, Illinois to face the Millikin Big Blue in a 6:00 p.m. contest at Frank Lindsay Field on Saturday, October 15.
2016 AUGUSTANA VIKINGS FOOTBALL SCHEDULE/RESULTS
| DATE |
OPPONENT |
SITE |
TIME/SCORE |
| September 3 |
Mount St. Joseph (Austin E. Knowlton Kickoff Classic) |
Cincinnati, Ohio |
W, 21-10 |
| September 10 |
Central (Austin E. Knowlton Kickoff Classic) |
HOME |
L, 17-45 |
| September 17 |
*Carroll |
HOME |
W, 41-14 |
| September 24 |
*Carthage |
Kenosha, Wis. |
L, 24-27 |
| October 1 |
*Elmhurst (Homecoming) |
HOME |
L, 3-14 |
| October 8 |
*Illinois Wesleyan |
Bloomington, Ill. |
L, 6-42 |
| October 15 |
*Millikin |
Decatur, Ill |
6:00 pm |
| October 22 |
*North Central |
HOME |
1:00 pm |
| October 29 |
*North Park |
Chicago, Ill. |
1:00 pm |
| November 5 |
*Wheaton (Senior Day) |
HOME |
1:00 pm |
* - College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin game
2016 CCIW STANDINGS
| School |
CCIW |
Overall |
| Wheaton |
4-0 |
6-0 |
| North Central |
3-0 |
5-0 |
| Elmhurst |
3-1 |
4-2 |
| Carthage |
2-1 |
4-1 |
| Illinois Wesleyan |
2-2 |
3-2 |
| Millikin |
1-2 |
2-3 |
| AUGUSTANA |
1-3 |
2-4 |
| Carroll |
0-3 |
0-5 |
| North Park |
0-4 |
1-5 |
was introduced as the 19th head coach in the storied history of Augustana football on January 9, 2015. In 15 seasons as the head football coach at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois, Bell fashioned a 112-44 (.718) overall record. During his tenure at Monmouth, his teams won four Midwest Conference championships (2005, 2008, 2009, 2011) and finished second six times. Augustana finished 4-6 in his first season. Bell is a 1992 graduate of Bemidji State University with a degree in physical education.
