CHICAGO, Ill. – Ryan Pitra (Geneseo HS, Geneseo, Ill.) rushed for 226 yards and three touchdowns Saturday, as Augustana spoiled North Park's Homecoming with a 41-7 win at the Holmgren Athletic

Complex. Coach Steve Bell's Vikings evened their record at 3-3 on the year and improved to 2-3 in CCIW play, while the hosts dropped to 1-5 overall and 0-5 in the conference.
 
After forcing an NPU punt on the game's first possession, Augustana scored on its first drive for the fifth consecutive game. Pinned at their own five-yard line to start, the Vikings got a 52-yard rush from sophomore Alek Jacobs (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) on their very first play from scrimmage. Pitra's first touchdown of the day—a second-effort burst from four yards out—eventually capped a six-play, 95-yard drive.
 
Midway through the first quarter, after recovering a muffed punt at midfield, North Park drove to the Augustana 20-yard line. However, Malik Powell's catch of a Grant Borsch pass on fourth-and-seven was ruled out of the end zone and the Vikings took over.
 
A penalty and a fumble derailed Augustana's next two drives and while the defense continued to get stops, the offense struggled to put much together until an eight-play 67-yard scoring march that started with 8:32 left in the half. A 27-yard Zachary Fuller (St. Patrick HS, Schiller Park, Ill.)-to-Max Uranich (La Salle-Peru HS, La Salle, Ill.) completion was the key play and Pitra, who carried three times for 24 yards, finished off the drive with a three-yard touchdown run. Senior Ryan Ganson (Geneseo HS, Geneseo, Ill.) converted his second extra point of the day and the visitors took the 14-0 lead to intermission.
 
The Vikings were stopped on downs in North Park territory on the opening possession of the second half and the hosts responded by driving to the Augustana 27-yard line. On third-and-12, sophomore John Kappel (Wheeling HS, Wheeling, Ill.) made an acrobatic interception of Borsch, although his nifty 44-yard return was nullified by an illegal block. The penalty only slowed the Vikings temporarily, as Fuller hit Uranich for 22 yards and Ryan Hennessy (Oswego HS, Oswego, Ill.) and Ethan Jennings (Notre Dame HS, Chicago, Ill.) for 14 yards each. Junior Bobby Jarosz (Prospect HS, Mt. Prospect, Ill.) capped the drive with a one-yard touchdown run. North Park blocked Ganson's point after try to keep the score 20-0.
 
The visitors broke things open with touchdowns on three consecutive possessions in the fourth quarter.
 
They made it 27-0 with 13:16 to play. Pitra had a 40-yard run and Jarosz covered the final 40 yards of an 83-yard drive on four straight carries, going in from five yards out for the touchdown. Pitra carried five times for 47 yards on a six-play, 52-yard march and scored from the three with 8:33 remaining to make it 34-0 with Ganson's kick. J.J. Cervino's (Libertyville HS, Libertyville, Ill.) interception and 39-yard return set up Augustana's final touchdown drive. Jacobs and junior Antonio Cannon (Oak Park-River Forest HS, Oak Park, Ill.) handled the load, covering 27 yards on six carries, with Cannon scoring from five yards out.
 
North Park backup quarterback Jason McGovern spoiled the shutout when he connected with Hunter Hinkel on a 50-yard touchdown bomb with 1:51 to play.
 
The Vikings rushed 55 times for 394 yards, with Jacobs (nine carries, 89 yards), Jarosz (7-52, two touchdowns) and Cannon (6-30-1) complimenting Pitra's big day (28-226-3). Fuller finished 11 of 25 passing for 143 yards, with six of those completions going to Uranich for 93 yards.
 
Junior linebacker Luke Sawicki (Neuqua Valley HS, Naperville, Ill.) again led the defense, with nine solo tackles, four for loss and one sack among his 12 total stops.
 
On Saturday, October 20, the Vikings welcome Wheaton—ranked 12th in this week's D3football.com Top 25—to Lindberg Stadium for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff.