Tommy Wilson (66), Jack Asquini (7), Frank Kalble (21), Danny Lattner (84)
and Brandon Price (1) are five of 20 Augustana seniors who will be
honored Saturday when the Vikings take on 12th-ranked Wheaton in
the 2016 season finale.
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Augustana took down North Park 13-7 on the road this past Saturday to improve to 3-6 overall and 2-5 in the CCIW. The Vikings will wrap up the 2016 season on Saturday, November 5 against 12th-ranked Wheaton at Lindberg Stadium. The contest will mark Senior Day, with Augustana honoring 20 Vikings in their final collegiate game.
Statistical leaders for Coach
Steve Bell's squad include
Jack Asquini (Buffalo Grove HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.). The senior middle linebacker has divided his 102 tackles evenly between solo stops and assists. He leads the team in each of those categories, as well as with 12½ tackles for loss and five sacks. Senior safety
Frank Kalble (Hersey HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.) is second with 41 solo, 32 assisted and 73 total tackles. Junior linebacker
Grant Burke (Hersey HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.) leads Augustana with two forced fumbles and is second with eight tackles for loss and four sacks.
Sophomore safety
John Asquini (Buffalo Grove HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.) snared his team-leading fourth interception of the season this past Saturday and senior corner
Daniel Watson (Peoria HS, Peoria, Ill.) has team bests of two fumble recoveries and nine pass breakups.
Offensively, sophomore
Luke Bleyer (Williamsville HS, Springfield, Ill.) moved into the starting quarterback role three games ago and has completed 73 of 121 passes for 808 yards. He's thrown four touchdown passes and has been intercepted three times. Classmate
Zachary Fuller (St. Patrick HS, Schiller Park, Ill.) started the Vikings' first six games. He's 115 of 232 (49.4%) for 1,450 yards with nine touchdowns and five interceptions.
Sophomore
Ryan Pitra (Geneseo HS, Geneseo, Ill.) ran for a season-high 85 yards Saturday and is Augustana's leading rusher this year with 425 yards and four touchdowns on 129 carries.
With a game to play, wide receivers
Danny Lattner (Fenwick HS, Riverside, Ill.) and
Ryan Hennessy (Oswego HS, Oswego, Ill.) already figure prominently on the school's single-season receiving lists. They're currently fifth and fourth in receptions with 49 and 47, respectively. In addition, Lattner—with 799 yards—needs 82 in his final game to break Paul Ander's school record of 880 set in 1968. For his career, Lattner currently ranks fifth all-time in receptions (95) and third in receiving yards (1,500).
Junior kicker
Jacob Stytz (Minooka HS, Channahon, Ill.) has been solid all season. Not only has he converted 60 consecutive extra point attempts (20 this season), he's nine of 12 on field goals with a long of 46 yards. He's taken over punting duties recently as well and has averaged 41.7 yards on 10 kicks, forcing five fair catches and placing three inside the opponents' 20-yard line.
This week's opponent, Wheaton, comes into Saturday's contest with an 7-1 overall mark and a 5-1 ledger in the CCIW. Coach Mike Swider's team is currently in second place in the league—a game back of North Central—and ranked 12th in the nation.
The Thunder is outscoring its opponents by an average of 35.4 to 14.8 per game. Wheaton's 435.4 yards of total offense per contest come 271.1 through the air and 164.2 via the ground. The Wheaton defense is allowing just 55.5 rushing yards per game and only 1.7 per carry. Opponents have completed 54.0% of their passes for 212.6 yards per game.
Individually, quarterback Andrew Bowers has completed 125 of 202 (61.9%) pass attempts for 1,731 yards. He's thrown for 18 touchdowns and been intercepted just four times. Bowers has spread the ball around. Zach Lindquist (29), Chase White (27), Phillip Nichols (24) and Trey Hanley (24) all have at least two dozen catches. Hanley has a team-high six touchdown receptions.
Sola Olateju paces the Thunder rushing attack with 530 yards and four touchdowns on 87 carries. Stone Watson has rushed for 316 yards and two scores on 54 totes.
Defensive leaders for Wheaton include middle linebacker Eric Stevenson, who has team highs of 37 solo, 25 assisted and 62 total tackles. Defensive end Chase Greenlee leads with 13½ tackles for loss and 10 sacks. Corners Marcus Smith and Mason Ohendalski share the interception lead with two and Smith has a team-best nine pass breakups.
LAST WEEK...
10/29/16—AUGUSTANA 13, NORTH PARK 7
Augustana wins battle of Vikings 13-7
CHICAGO, Ill. – Augustana scored its only touchdown just three plays into Saturday's game at North Park, but added a pair of field goals later and held on for a 13-7 win at the Holmgren Athletics Complex. The Vikings from Rock Island improved to 3-6 on the year and 2-5 in the CCIW, while the Chicago Vikings dropped to 1-7 overall and 0-6 in the league.
After North Park won the toss and elected to receive,
John Asquini (Buffalo Grove HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.) picked off a T.D. Conway pass on the first play from scrimmage, returning it seven yards and setting up Coach
Steve Bell's squad at the North Park 20-yard line. It was the sophomore safety's team-high fourth interception of the season.
It took just two plays for the visitors to find pay dirt. Sophomore quarterback
Luke Bleyer (Williamsville HS, Springfield, Ill.) connected with senior
Andrew Garcia (West Leyden HS, Melrose Park, Ill.) for 19 yards and sophomore running back
Ryan Pitra (Geneseo HS, Geneseo, Ill.) took it in from a yard out on the next play.
Jacob Stytz's
(Minooka HS, Channahon, Ill.) 60th consecutive successful extra point attempt made it 7-0.
Each team missed a scoring opportunity later in the period. North Park drove from its own 18-yard line to the Augustana 26 before being stopped on downs. The Vikings responded with a 13-play, 63-yard march that came up empty when Stytz's 28-yard field goal attempt went wide right.
A
Travon Aldridge (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) interception and 37-yard return set up Augustana's second score, a 35-yard Stytz field goal that made it 10-0 with 7:18 left in the half.
North Park responded quickly, going 80 yards in four plays for its only score of the game. Conway hit Devin Childress with a 35-yard completion before finding him again one play later for 38 yards and a touchdown. Childress, a first team All-CCIW pick a year ago, was seeing his first action of the season following an injury.
With 48 seconds left in the half, Augustana took over at its own 26 following a North Park punt. Bleyer led the Vikings on a 62-yard, six-play drive that culminated with another Stytz field goal—this one from 29 yards with two seconds left—that gave the visitors a 13-7 halftime lead. Bleyer completed three straight passes to three different receivers for 57 yards to start the drive.
Midway through the third period, it looked like Augustana would extend its lead. After a 27-yard
Devin Haxby (Geneseo HS, Colona, Ill.) punt return, the Vikings drove to the North Park six-yard line before Pitra was dropped for a two-yard loss on fourth-and-one. The hosts answered with a 57-yard drive that reached Augustana's 35-yard line, but senior safety
Frank Kalble (Hersey HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.) picked off a Conway offering inside the 10 to end that threat.
The only other serious scoring opportunity for either team came when Stytz's 24-yard field goal attempt went wide left with 6:09 to play. Inside the two-minute mark, Bleyer completed third-down passes of six yards to sophomore
Justin Pope (Whale Branch HS, Beaufort, S.C.) and 13 yards to Pitra. Each kept Augustana's final drive going and allowed the Vikings to eventually run out the clock.
Pitra churned out a tough 85 yards on 26 carries. Bleyer completed 21 of 32 passes for 276 yards and was intercepted once. Senior
Danny Lattner (Fenwick HS, Riverside, Ill.) was Bleyer's top target, snaring six passes for 106 yards. Senior linebacker
Jack Asquini (Buffalo Grove HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.) led the defense with 11 tackles, including a pair of sacks. Augustana limited its hosts to just 63 yards on 28 rushes and 10 completions in 28 pass attempts for 202 yards.
Bell's outfit returns to Lindberg Stadium on Saturday, November 5, hosting 12th-ranked Wheaton in a 1:00 p.m. contest. It will be Senior Day at Augustana and the game will wrap up the 2016 season.
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. |
W, 13-7 |
| November 5 |
*Wheaton (Senior Day) |
HOME |
1:00 pm |
* - College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin game
2016 CCIW STANDINGS
| School |
CCIW |
Overall |
| North Central |
6-0 |
8-0 |
| Wheaton |
5-1 |
7-1 |
| Illinois Wesleyan |
5-2 |
6-2 |
| Carthage |
4-2 |
6-2 |
| Elmhurst |
3-3 |
4-4 |
| Millikin |
3-3 |
4-4 |
| Augustana |
2-5 |
3-6 |
| North Park |
0-6 |
1-7 |
| Carroll |
0-6 |
0-8 |
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.
