ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Augustana dropped a 42-21 decision this past Saturday to sixth-ranked North Central at Lindberg Stadium. The Vikings are 2-6 on the season and 1-4 in the CCIW heading into a road date at North Park on Saturday, October 29. Coach
Steve Bell's Vikings will square off against their Chicago namesakes with kickoff at the Holmgren Athletics Complex scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
Sophomore quarterback
Luke Bleyer (Williamsville HS, Springfield, Ill.) got his second start of the season against North Central and completed a season-high 22 passes. On the year, he's 52 of 89 (58.4%) for 532 yards and four touchdowns. He's been intercepted twice. Classmate
Zachary Fuller (St. Patrick HS, Schiller Park, Ill.) started Augustana's first six games this year and has seen action in the last two as well. He's completed 115 of 232 (49.4%) attempts for 1.450 yards with nine touchdowns and five interceptions.
The receiving corps has been led by sophomore
Ryan Hennessy (Oswego HS, Oswego, Ill.) and senior
Danny Lattner (Fenwick HS, Riverside, Ill.). Hennessy has a team-best 45 receptions for 421 yards and Lattner has snared 41 passes for a team-high 693 yards. Each has four touchdown catches.
Sophomore
Ryan Pitra (Geneseo HS, Geneseo, Ill.) and freshman
Bobby Jarosz (Prospect HS, Mt. Prospect, Ill.) have been the Vikings' top ground gainers. Pitra has rushed for 340 yards on 103 carries and Jarosz has 205 yards on 43 attempts. Each has three rushing touchdowns.
Defensive leaders include senior linebacker
Jack Asquini (Buffalo Grove HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.) with 45 solo tackles, 46 assists, 91 total stops and 11½ tackles for loss. He shares the team lead in sacks with junior linebacker
Grant Burke (Hersey HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.). Each has three. Sophomore safety
John Asquini (Buffalo Grove HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.) has a team-high three interceptions and senior corner
Daniel Watson (Peoria HS, Peoria, Ill.) leads with nine pass breakups and two fumble recoveries.
Coach Michael Conway's North Park outfit will bring a 1-6 overall record and a 0-5 league mark into Saturday's contest. After a season-opening 41-13 win over Anderson, the Vikings have dropped six in a row. They fell 60-7 this past Saturday at 12th-ranked Wheaton.
Senior quarterback T.D. Conway—a second team All-CCIW selection in 2015—runs the North Park offense. He's completed 108 of 226 passes (47.8%) this season for 1,246 yards and five touchdowns. He's been intercepted 11 times. His favorite target is freshman Kadarius Daniels, with 39 receptions for 532 yards and two touchdowns.
Sophomore Enrique Menendez is NPU's leading rusher, with 497 yards and seven touchdowns on 118 carries.
Coach Conway returns All-CCIW second teamers David Simmons and Chaun Maiava on defense. Maiava, a junior linebacker, leads North Park with 75 tackles, 7½ tackles for loss and 3½ sacks. Simmons, a sophomore corner, has 35 tackles and a team-high five pass breakups. Junior safety Matt DiFecchio leads NPU with three interceptions.
LAST WEEK...
09/03/16—NORTH CENTRAL 42, AUGUSTANA 21
Vikings fall 42-21 to 6th-ranked North Central
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Broc Rutter threw three first-half touchdown passes Saturday as sixth-ranked North Central remained unbeaten on the season with a 42-21 win over Augustana at Lindberg Stadium. The Cardinals improved to 7-0 overall and 5-0 in the league, while the Vikings dropped to 2-6 and 1-5, respectively.
North Central took the opening kickoff and drove 65 yards in eight plays for a touchdown. Facing fourth-and-six from the Augustana 32-yard line, Rutter dumped a short pass to Ryan Kuhl, who took it down the left sideline and into the end zone. Liam Crotty's point after made it 7-0 Cardinals.
The visitors extended their advantage to 14-0 with 3:54 left in the first quarter. After a 28-yard punt return by Pat Cravens, North Central went 51 yards in four plays for another touchdown. The last three plays were Austin Breunig rushes for 13, eight and 14 yards, with the latter reaching pay dirt.
Breunig's one-yard touchdown burst with 8:46 remaining in the half made it 21-0.
On the Cardinals' next possession, sophomore safety
John Asquini (Buffalo Grove HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.) picked off Rutter and the Vikings responded with a drive that eventually reached the North Central 14-yard line. However, a pair of sacks ended the Augustana threat and the Cardinals answered with a score. On third-and-six from his own 36, Rutter dropped a screen pass to Will Konneck, who took it 64 yards to the end zone. Crotty's PAT made it 28-0.
A Justin Stuursma interception of
Luke Bleyer (Williamsville HS, Springfield, Ill.) led to the final score of the half, a three-yard Rutter-to-Nolan Brannick touchdown pass with 31 seconds on the clock.
The Vikings opened the second half with a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. Bleyer started the march with a 14-yard keeper and finished it off with an 11-yard scoring strike to sophomore
Ryan Hennessy (Oswego HS, Oswego, Ill.).
Midway through the third, junior
Grant Burke (Hersey HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.) forced a North Central fumble which he recovered at the North Central 10-yard line. However, the Cardinals got the ball right back when Augustana mishandled an option pitch on its first play.
The Vikings did convert their next takeaway into a touchdown. With 4:28 eft in the third, North Central muffed a
Jacob Stytz (Minooka HS, Channahon, Ill.) punt and senior
Jack Asquini (Buffalo Grove HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.) fell on it at the Cardinal three. Sophomore
Ryan Pitra (Geneseo HS, Geneseo, Ill.) carried it in on the first play and Stytz's extra point made it 35-14.
Konneck's 38-yard return of the ensuing kickoff gave the visitors excellent field position and they capitalized. Backup quarterback Justin Hunniford's eight-yard touchdown pass to Dylan Warden capped a 41-yard, eight-play drive that put North Central up 42-14 late in the third.
The game's final touchdown was set up with a 29-yard pass from
Jack Copher (Immaculate Conception HS, Northlake, Ill.) to senior
Andrew Garcia (West Leyden HS, Melrose Park, Ill.) off a double reverse. That put Augustana at the North Central four and sophomore
Zachary Fuller (St. Patrick HS, Schiller Park, Ill.) capped a two-play drive with a touchdown pass to Hennessy on the next play.
The Vikings recovered the onside kick and drove to the Cardinal 22 before being stopped on downs. Augustana's final drive lasted 14 plays and went 66 yards to the North Central two-yard line with a Fuller toss falling incomplete as time expired.
The Vikings attempted 57 passes, with Bleyer completing 22 of 37 for 203 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Freshman
Bobby Jarosz (Prospect HS, Mt. Prospect, Ill.) was Augustana's leading ground gainer with 51 yards on nine carries. Senior
Danny Lattner caught nine balls for 95 yards.
Jack Asquini was credited with a game-high 12 tackles, including two for loss. Sophomore linebacker
Cassin Wolfe (Bettendorf HS, Bettendorf, Iowa) was in on nine stops in addition to breaking up three passes.
On Saturday, October 29, the Vikings visit Chicago, Illinois to face their namesakes from North Park. Kickoff at Holmgren
Athletic Complex is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
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 |
*Milikin |
Decatur, Ill |
L, 35-43 |
October 22 |
*North Central |
HOME |
L, 21-42 |
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 |
North Central |
5-0 |
7-0 |
Wheaton |
5-1 |
7-1 |
Illinois Wesleyan |
4-2 |
5-2 |
Carthage |
3-2 |
5-2 |
Elmhurst |
3-2 |
4-3 |
Millikin |
3-2 |
4-3 |
AUGUSTANA |
1-5 |
2-6 |
North Park |
0-5 |
1-6 |
Carroll |
0-5 |
0-7 |
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.