ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Augustana came up on the short end of one of the strangest games in program history this past Saturday, as Millikin kick a field goal with 54 seconds left—and more than six hours after the opening kickoff—to defeat the Vikings 28-27 on Homecoming at Lindberg Stadium. Now 1-6 overall and 1-4 in the league, Augustana travels to Naperville, Illinois to tangle with fourth-ranked North Central on Saturday, October 21. Kickoff at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
 
Freshman Alek Jacobs (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) and junior Luke Bleyer (Williamsville HS, Springfield, Ill.) continue to split time at quarterback for the Vikings. Jacobs is Augustana's second-leading rusher with 321 yards and four touchdowns on 77 carries. Through the air, he's 18 of 40 (45%) for 145 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Bleyer is 40 of 73 (54.8%) for 479 yards with four touchdowns and four interceptions.
 
Five Vikings have between 15 and 19 receptions, led by senior Riley Donald (Morton HS, Morton, Ill.) with 19 catches for 193 yards. Sophomore Ethan Jennings (Notre Dame HS, Chicago, Ill.) (16-270) and junior Ryan Hennessy (Oswego HS, Oswego, Ill.) (16-196) have two touchdown grabs apiece.
 
Junior Ryan Pitra (Geneseo HS, Geneseo, Ill.) is Augustana's leading rusher with 510 yards and six touchdowns on 129 carries.
 
Defensively, sophomore safety Devin Haxby (Geneseo HS, Colona, Ill.) and junior linebacker Cassin Wolfe (Bettendorf HS, Bettendorf, Iowa) are the leading tacklers with 54 and 52, respectively. Senior end Grant Burke (Hersey HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.) has a team-high eight tackles for loss and sophomore end Daniel Tjaden's (Assumption HS, Bettendorf, Iowa) 3½ sacks are a team high.
 
This week's opponent, North Central, is currently 5-1 overall and 3-1 in the CCIW and ranked fourth in the nation according to D3football.com. The Cardinals led 13-7 over Wheaton at halftime Saturday when their game was suspended due to inclement weather. The Thunder outscored the Cardinals 35-7 in the second half—played Monday night—to hand Coach Jeff Thorne's team its first loss.
 
Thorne returns last year's CCIW Offensive Player of the Year in sophomore quarterback Broc Rutter. Rutter entered Saturday's game having completed 96 of 148 passes (64.9%) for 1,338 yards and nine touchdowns with just two interceptions. Andrew Kamienski is his leading receiver with 26 catches for 400 yards and three touchdowns.
 
Austin Breunig, a second team all-conference selection in 2016, has rushed for 506 yards and two touchdowns on 103 carries. Backup Dominick Muoghalu has rushed for nine touchdowns. First team All-CCIW tackle Joe Fehrle anchors the North Central offensive line and center Alec Licar was second team all-league pick a year ago.
 
Defensively, first team All-CCIW linebacker Tom Sora leads the Cardinals in tackles with 39. Linebacker Derrek Warkenthien leads with 6½ tackles for loss and end Talha Ayhan has a team-high five sacks. First team all-conference corner Pat Cravens shares the team lead with two interceptions. Thorne also returns first team all-league end Billy Douds as well as safety Justin Stuursma, end Josh Leonhard and tackle Emonte Logam, all of whom were second team All-CCIW selections last year.
 
 
10/14/17—MILLIKIN 28, AUGUSTANA 27
 
Vikings drop Homecoming marathon to Millikin
                        
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – In a game that lasted more than six hours and included three lightning delays, Ben Spelman's first career field goal was the difference, as Millikin defeated Augustana 28-27 on Homecoming Saturday at Lindberg Stadium. The Big Blue improved to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in the CCIW, while the Vikings fell to 1-6 on the year and 1-4 in the league.
 
Augustana scored a touchdown on its opening possession for the fourth consecutive contest and led from the 9:07 mark of the first quarter until 1:01 remained in the game. That's when Spelman, a soccer player from Sligo, Ireland, booted a 27-yard field goal to cap an 11-play, 67-yard drive that had actually started nearly an hour earlier, before the final lightning delay. Spelman's kick put Millikin up 28-27.
 
The Vikings weren't done though. Taking over at his own 27-yard line with 54 seconds remaining, junior Luke Bleyer (Williamsville HS, Springfield, Ill.) completed four straight passes, including connections of 31 yards to freshman Max Uranich (La Salle-Peru HS, La Salle, Ill.) and 22 yards to senior Riley Donald (Morton HS, Morton, Ill.). Donald's reception gave Augustana the ball at the Big Blue five-yard line.
 
On the ensuing play, Bleyer spiked the ball to stop the clock with 14 seconds left and set up senior kicker Jacob Stytz (Minooka HS, Channahon, Ill.) for what would have been a chip shot game winner. However, after the spike, the Vikings were called for a personal foul, pushing the ball back to the Millikin 20. Bleyer was dropped for a three-yard loss on the next play, making Stytz's attempt come from 40 yards. His kick was wide and after taking a celebration penalty, the Big Blue took a knee to seal the win.
 
After forcing a three-and-out on Millikin's first possession of the game, Augustana went 62 yards in nine plays to take a 7-0 lead. Bleyer had a 20-yard rush and hit junior Ryan Hennessy (Oswego HS, Oswego, Ill.) from seven yards out for the score. Stytz added the point after.
 
Stytz's 26-yard field put the hosts up 10-7 early in the second quarter.
 
The Big Blue got on the board with 54 seconds left before halftime. Quarterback Nicco Stepina's one-yard touchdown run capped an 11-play, 65-yard drive. The key play was a third-and-four pass interference call on the Vikings. Spelman's point after sent the teams to halftime with Augustana on top 10-7.
 
Augustana took the second half kickoff and drove to the Millikin 11 before Stytz came on for a 28-yard field goal that put the Vikings up 13-7. On the next possession--which was interrupted by the first delay--sophomore Luke Phelan (Joliet Catholic HS, Shorewood, Ill.) blocked a Wyatt Fox punt and Austin Chausse (Nokomis HS, Nokomis, Ill.) collected the ball and raced 27 yards down the right sideline for a touchdown that put the hosts up 20-7 with Stytz's point after.
 
The Big Blue answered with two third-quarter touchdowns. Antoine Scott scored on a one-yard run and Tyrice Hines caught a 22-yard scoring strike from Stepina. However, bad snaps from center caused both points after to be missed and Augustana led 20-19 after three quarters.
 
A Ryan Pitra (Geneseo HS, Geneseo, Ill.) five-yard touchdown run put Coach Steve Bell's club up 27-19 with 9:43 left in the game. However, just before the eight-minute mark, lightning struck again and this time it would be two hours before the next snap was taken. On the second play after action resumed, Stepina connected with Jordan Smith on a 27-yard touchdown pass. A two-point conversion attempt that would've tied the game failed, leaving the score 27-25 with 7:33 left in the game.
 
The Vikings had a chance to extend the lead on their next possession. On Fourth-and-one from the Millikin 23, they eschewed a field goal attempt and Bleyer's pass fell incomplete. The Big Blue responded with the game-winning drive, which was interrupted by the third lightning delay, lasting about 40 minutes.
 
Bleyer completed 17 of 29 passes for 194 yards and a touchdown. Hennessy snared six passes for 72 yards and a score and Pitra led the ground game with 72 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries.
 
Next Saturday, October 21, Augustana travels to Naperville, Illinois to face fourth-ranked North Central with kickoff scheduled for 2:00 p.m.

 
2016 AUGUSTANA VIKINGS FOOTBALL SCHEDULE/RESULTS

DATE	OPPONENT		SITE	TIME/SCORE
September 2	Cortland State		Cortland, N.Y.	L, 32-34
September 9	Central		Pella, Iowa	L, 22-33
September 16	Carroll		Waukesha, Wis.	L, 25-28
September 23	Carthage	Family Weekend	HOME	L, 14-55
September 30	Elmhurst		Elmhurst, Ill.	W, 24-19
October 7	Illinois Wesleyan		HOME	L, 10-28
October 14	Millikin	Homecoming	HOME	L, 27-28
October 21	North Central		Naperville, Ill.	2:00 p.m.
October 28	North Park	Senior Day	HOME	1:00 p.m.
November 4	Wheaton		Wheaton, Ill.	1:00 p.m.

* - College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin game
 
 
2017 CCIW STANDINGS

School	CCIW	Overall
North Central	3-0	5-0
Illinois Wesleyan	4-1	6-1
Carthage	3-1	5-1
Millikin	3-1	5-1
Wheaton	2-2	4-2
Elmhurst	2-3	2-5
Carroll	1-3	1-5
Augustana	1-4	1-6
North Park	0-4	1-5

 
LAST WEEK'S GAMES