ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Augustana won its 2016 CCIW opener this past Saturday 41-14 over Carroll. The game marked the Pioneers' return to the league after 25 seasons in the Midwest Conference. Coach
Steve Bell's Vikings are now 2-1 on the year and 1-0 in the conference heading into a date with Carthage in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Saturday, September 24.
Through three games, Augustana is averaging 26.3 points and 347.3 yards of total offense per contest.
Sophomore quarterback
Zachary Fuller (St. Patrick HS, Schiller Park, Ill.) has completed 55 of 101 passes (54.5%) for 768 yards and four touchdowns with just one interception. Classmate
Ryan Hennessy (Oswego HS, Oswego, Ill.) has been his most frequent target, with 22 receptions for 223 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Senior
Danny Lattner (Fenwick HS, Riverside, Ill.) and freshman
Ethan Jennings (Notre Dame HS, Chicago, Ill.) have provided threats downfield. Lattner has seven catches for 203 yards (29.0 yards per reception) and a touchdown, while Jennings has caught half a dozen balls for 152 yards (25.3 ypc).
Sophomore
Ryan Pitra (Geneseo HS, Geneseo, Ill.) is the Vikings' leading rusher with 41 carries for 141 yards and two scores. Senior
Brandon Price (Providence Catholic HS, Plainfield, Ill.) and freshman
Bobby Jarosz (Prospect HS, Mt. Prospect, Ill.) both provided a lift in the Carroll game. Price has rushed for 88 yards on 16 carries (5.5 ypc) this year and Jarosz 87 on 15 totes (5.8) with two touchdowns.
Senior middle linebacker
Jack Asquini (Buffalo Grove HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.) has spearheaded an Augustana defense that has allowed averages of 23.0 points and 336.7 total yards per game. Asquini leads the Vikings in solo tackles (19), assists (18), total tackles (37), tackles for loss (7½) and sacks (2½). Sophomore free safety
John Asquini (Buffalo Grove HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.) and senior strong safety
Frank Kalble (Hersey HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.) are next with 27 tackles each and junior linebacker
Danny Giffels (Prairie Ridge HS, Crystal Lake, Ill.) has been in on 25 stops.
Junior
Jacob Stytz (Minooka HS, Channahon, Ill.) and senior
Robert Martin (Strake Jesuit HS, Houston, Texas) have provided Bell with a strong kicking game. Stytz has converted all 10 of his point after attempts this year and has now made 50 in a row. He's also three-for-three on field goals with a long of 43 yards. Martin has averaged 41.3 yards on 18 punts with a long of 66 yards. He's placed four kicks inside the opponents' 20-yard line.
This Saturday's opponent, Carthage, is currently 2-1 overall and 0-1 in the CCIW. Coach Mike Yeager's Red Men posted non-conference wins over Aurora (51-11) and Bethel (40-34 in OT) before falling to seventh-ranked Wheaton 19-14 in their league opener Saturday.
Offensively, Carthage is averaging 403.7 total yards per game split fairly evenly between the ground (193.0) and the air (210.7). Freshman Jamel Davis leads the Red Men rushing attack with 296 yards (5.8 per carry) and five touchdowns. Senior London Townsend has carried 39 times for 178 yards (4.6) and one score. Senior quarterback Ethan Olles has connected on 44 of 90 throws (48.9%) for 622 yards and three touchdowns. He's been intercepted twice. Junior James Cobbs (10 catches, 164 yards, two touchdowns), sophomore Eddie Miklasz (8-106-0) and senior tight end Javier Rhodes (7-159-1)—a second team All-CCIW pick in 2015—are Carthage's leading receivers. Tackle Isaiah Trussell was a also second team all-league pick last year.
Defensively, Yeager returns all-conference performers K.J. Simpson (first team) and Greg Money (second team) at linebacker and Connor Calvert (second team) at cornerback. The Red Men have limited the opposition to averages of 68.0 rushing yards per game and just 1.9 yards per carry. Sophomore free safety Amani Dennis is the team's leading tackler with 14½ and has an interception and three pass breakups as well. Seniors Simpson and Money are next with 13 tackles each and Simpson's 4½ stops for loss are a team best. Calvert, a sophomore, has one interception and four pass breakups.
LAST WEEK...
09/17/16—AUGUSTANA 41, CARROLL 14
Vikings win CCIW opener 41-14 over Carroll
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Augustana scored three fourth-quarter touchdowns Saturday to break open a close game and win its 2016 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin opener 41-14 over Carroll at Lindberg Stadium. Coach
Steve Bell's Vikings improved to 2-1 on the season. The Pioneers, playing their first CCIW contest since leaving the league after the 1991 season, dropped to 0-2 overall and 0-1 in the conference.
The hosts led just 20-14 with 14:47 to play when they took over at the Carroll 48-yard line following a short Pioneer punt. On second down, senior
Brandon Price (Providence Catholic HS, Plainfield, Ill.) broke off a 44-yard run down the right side, setting up Augustana at the Carroll four. On the next play, sophomore quarterback
Zachary Fuller (St. Patrick HS, Schiller Park, Ill.) rolled right and found junior
Ryan Black (Jesuit HS, Tampa, Fla.) in the end zone. A successful two-point conversion was nullified when the Vikings were called for offensive pass interference. So instead, junior
Jacob Stytz (Minooka HS, Channahon, Ill.) came on to knock through the 35-yard point after for a 27-14 lead.
After a Pioneer three-and-out, Augustana took advantage of another short field, going 42 yards in three plays for another touchdown. Freshman
Bobby Jarosz (Prospect HS, Mt. Prospect, Ill.) handled all three carries, going for 32 and nine yards before capping the drive with a one-yard scoring run. Stytz'z PAT made it 34-14.
Augustana's final scoring drive started from its own 20 with 8:43 to play. Jarosz carried six times for 30 yards, eventually scoring on another one-yard burst. Fuller completed passes of 15 yards to sophomore
Ryan Hennessy (Oswego HS, Oswego, Ill.) and 32 yards to senior
Danny Lattner (Fenwick HS, Riverside, Ill.).
The Vikings took a 13-0 lead early in the contest. They received the opening kick and drove 42 yards in seven plays. Stytz drilled a 43-yard field goal and Augustana led 3-0 less than three minutes in. On the Vikings' next possession, a 48-yard Fuller-to-
Ethan Jennings (Notre Dame HS, Chicago, Ill.) completion led to the first touchdown of the game. Sophomore
Ryan Pitra's
(Geneseo HS, Geneseo, Ill.) one-yard plunge capped a six-play, 56-yard march.
Stytz's 35-yard field goal early in the second quarter put Augustana on top 13-0 before Carroll rallied to take the lead.
On the ensuing possession, Kyle Burlingame led the Pioneers on a 10-play, 75-yard drive. He capped it off with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Austin Piekarski, barely getting the throw away before the Viking pass rush reached him. On the next possession, Augustana lost a fumble at its own six-yard line and Carroll took advantage, with running back Bennett Kothe scoring from a yard out. Taylor Plehn's point-after put his team ahead 14-13.
It looked as though the half would end that way, with the Pioneers in possession as the clock ticked near one minute. However, senior Danny Watson
(Peoria HS, Peoria, Ill.) broke up a Burlingame pass near midfield and sophomore linebacker
Cassin Wolfe (Bettendorf HS, Bettendorf, Iowa) came away with the interception, returning it to the Carroll 41. Fuller hit Jennings for 36 yards on first down and Pitra took it in from five yards out on the next play. Stytz's PAT gave Augustana a 20-14 lead at the half.
Fuller finished 19 of 32 passing for 316 yards and a touchdown. Price (seven carries) and Jarosz (nine) each ran for 72 yards and Jarosz and Pitra each had a pair of rushing touchdowns. Hennessy caught eight passes for 86 yards and Jennings had four catches for 134 yards.
Senior linebacker
Jack Asquini (Buffalo Grove HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.) and senior safety
Frank Kalble (Hersey HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.) were credited with 12 and 10 tackles, respectively, to lead a Viking defense that limited the Pioneers to 221 yards of total offense. A pair of freshman ends had big games as well.
Daniel Tjaden (Assumption HS, Bettendorf, Iowa) had 3½ tackles for loss and two sacks and
Mark Isom (Rich East HS, Park Forest, Ill.) had a sack and a fumble recovery.
On Saturday, September 24, Augustana travels to Kenosha, Wisconsin to take on Carthage. Kickoff at Art Keller Field 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. |
1:00 pm |
| October 1 |
*Elmhurst (Homecoming) |
HOME |
1:00 pm |
| October 8 |
*Illinois Wesleyan |
Bloomington, Ill. |
1:00 pm |
| October 15 |
*Milikin |
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 |
| North Central |
1-0 |
3-0 |
| Wheaton |
1-0 |
3-0 |
| AUGUSTANA |
1-0 |
2-1 |
| Elmhurst |
1-0 |
2-1 |
| Millikin |
0-0 |
1-1 |
| Carthage |
0-1 |
2-1 |
| Illinois Wesleyan |
0-1 |
1-1 |
| North Park |
0-1 |
1-2 |
| Carroll |
0-1 |
0-2 |
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.
