ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Augustana fell 20-17 to North Park on Senior Day at Lindberg Stadium this past Saturday. The Vikings are now 1-8 on the year and 1-6 in the CCIW and will play their season finale on Saturday, November 4 at 24th-ranked Wheaton.
 
One of 17 seniors honored Saturday, kicker Jacob Stytz (Minooka HS, Channahon, Ill.) set a new single-season school record with his 11th field goal. His 26 career field goals are tied with Barry Reade (1987-90) for second in school history. Mike Clark—whose season record Stytz took down Saturday—is Augustana's career record holder with 31 field goals from 2001-04. In addition, Stytz extended his string of successful extra point attempts to 78 in a row—also a school record.
 
Heading into the final week, sophomore Devin Haxby (Geneseo HS, Colona, Ill.) is the Vikings' leading tackler with 44 solo and 60 total stops. Senior end Grant Burke (Hersey HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.) has a team-high 10 tackles for loss and sophomore Daniel Tjaden (Assumption HS, Bettendorf, Iowa) leads with 3½ sacks.
 
On offense, freshman quarterback Alek Jacobs (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) is Augustana's second-leading rusher with 423 yards and five touchdowns on 107 carries. He's completed 35 of 68 passes (51.5%) for 286 yards and one touchdown with three interceptions. Junior Luke Bleyer (Williamsville HS, Springfield, Ill.) is 56 of 104 (53.8%) through the air for 641 yards and five touchdowns with seven interceptions. Junior Ryan Pitra (Geneseo HS, Geneseo, Ill.), who missed the North Park game, is the team's leading rusher with 541 yards and six touchdowns on 133 carries.
 
Four Vikings have at least 20 receptions this year, led by junior Ryan Hennessy's (Oswego HS, Oswego, Ill.) 24 catches for 251 yards and two touchdowns. Senior Riley Donald (Morton HS, Morton, Ill.) is next with 21 grabs for 222 yards. He had the first touchdown reception of his career against North Park. Sophomore Ethan Jennings (Notre Dame HS, Chicago, Ill.) has 20 catches for a team-high 337 yards and two scores.
 
Coach Mike Swider's Wheaton outfit is 6-2 overall and 4-2 in CCIW play. The 24th-ranked Thunder were idle this past week. They're averaging 41.4 points per game this year, while allowing an average of just 14.8.
 
Quarterback Curtis McWilliams guides the Wheaton offense. He's completed 112 of 176 pass (63.6%) for 1,525 yards and 14 touchdowns with seven interceptions. Sola Olateju, a first team All-CCIW pick in 2016, is the Thunder's leading rusher with 803 yards and seven touchdowns on 126 carries. Phillip Nichols leads the team with 33 catches, 389 receiving yards and six touchdown grabs. Tight end Zach Linquist (19-196-3) and wide receiver Trey Hanley (17-343-3) were first and second team All-CCIW, respectively, last year.
 
Defensive end Chase Greenlee, a first team all-conference pick a year ago, leads Wheaton with 14½ tackles for loss and 10 sacks. Middle linebacker Eric Stevenson is the team's leading tackler with 37 solo and 69 total stops. Swider can also count on 2016 All-CCIW second teamers Marcus Smith at cornerback and Patrick O'Connell at defensive end.
 
 
10/28/17—NORTH PARK 20, AUGUSTANA 17
 
Vikings fall to North Park on Senior Day
                        
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Alexis Santillan booted a 33-yard field goal with 4.7 seconds remaining Saturday to lift North park to a 20-17 win over Augustana at Lindberg Stadium. Santillo's kick spoiled a chilly Senior Day for the homestanding Vikings, who dropped to 1-8 on the season and 1-6 in the CCIW. The visitors improved to 2-6 overall and 1-5 in the league.
 
Jacob Stytz (Minooka HS, Channahon, Ill.)—one of 17 seniors honored by Augustana before the game—tied the contest at 17-17 with a 39-yard field goal with 3:21 to play. The kick gave Stytz a new single-season school record for field goals with 11, breaking the previous mark of 10 set by Mike Clark in 2001.
 
North Park took the ensuing kickoff and drove 60 yards in 13 plays for the winning score. One of the key plays on the march was a 10-yard Grant Borsch-to-Denton Delgado pass that first went through the hands of an Augustana defender—one of at least three such plays during the game. Borsch completed two more passes as well, eventually getting his team to the Augustana 16-yard line before the drive stalled. Santillan came on and, after being iced by two timeouts, squeaked a line drive just inside the left upright to give NPU a 20-17 lead with less than five seconds remaining.
 
Augustana attempted several laterals on the final kickoff, but North Park eventually recovered to end the game.
 
The hosts led from the 6:52 mark of the first quarter until a NPU touchdown with 8:23 to play in the game. Junior Luke Bleyer (Williamsville HS, Springfield, Ill.) hit senior Riley Donald (Morton HS, Morton, Ill.) with a 9-yard touchdown pass to start the scoring. The touchdown grab was the first of Donald's career and capped a nine-play, 77-yard drive highlighted by a 42-yard Bleyer-to-Ethan Jennings (Notre Dame HS, Chicago, Ill.) pass.
 
A 37-yard Santillan field goal early in the second quarter drew North Park to with 7-3, but two possessions later, Augustana drove 76 yards in 11 plays to go up 14-3. Freshman quarterback Alek Jacobs (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) carried on the final five plays, covering 43 yards, including the final two for the touchdown. Stytz's point after gave the hosts a 14-3 lead and that's the way the half ended.
 
Late in the third quarter, Borsch took North Park on a nine-play, 68-yard drive and finished it off with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Woodrow Corey. Santillan's extra point drew NPU to within 14-10.
 
The visitors took their first lead midway through the fourth. Following their second blocked punt of the afternoon, they went 37 yards in five plays with Borsch and Corey hooking up again for a touchdown, this time on third-and-goal from the three. Santillan's kick gave NPU a 17-14 lead. The ensuing Augustana possession ended with Stytz's game-tying field goal.
 
Jacobs finished the day with 101 rushing yards on 18 carries. Sophomore Bobby Jarosz (Prospect HS, Mt. Prospect, Ill.), filling in for injured starter Ryan Pitra (Geneseo HS, Geneseo, Ill.), added 63 yards on 16 carries. Through the air, Jacobs was 13 of 20 for 99 yards and Bleyer connected on six of 11 throws for 97 yards. Each was intercepted once. Jarosz had five catches for 31 yards and Jennings four for 67, but Augustana receivers suffered several key drops on the afternoon.
 
The Augustana defense, led by leading tacklers John Asquini (Buffalo Grove HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.) and Luke Sawicki (Neuqua Valley HS, Naperville, Ill.) (seven each), held North Park to just 46 yards on 28 rushing attempts, but Borsch—coming off the bench in relief of starter Nick DiNardo—hit on 14 of 29 throws for 184 yards and two scores. Delgado finished with four catches for 50 yards.
 
On Saturday, November 4, Coach Steve Bell's team will close out the 2017 season with a contest at 23rd-ranked Wheaton. The Vikings and Thunder are scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff.
 
 
2017 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.	L, 2-54
October 28	North Park	Senior Day	HOME	L, 17-20
November 4	Wheaton		Wheaton, Ill.	1:00 p.m.

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

School	CCIW	Overall
Illinois Wesleyan	6-1	8-1
North Central	5-1	7-1
Carthage	4-2	6-2
Millikin	4-2	6-2
Wheaton	4-2	6-2
Elmhurst	2-4	2-6
North Park	1-5	2-6
Carroll	1-5	1-7
Augustana	1-6	1-8

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