Augustana's offense produced season highs of 394 rushing and 537 total yards last Saturday, while the defense limited North Park to a season-low 258 total yards in a 41-7 victory in Chicago, Illinois. The Vikings evened their record for the year at 3-3 and improved to 2-3 in CCIW play and welcome Wheaton (4-2, 3-2) to Lindberg Stadium on Saturday, October 20. The Thunder are ranked 23rd in the most recent D3football.com Top 25.
 
Senior running back Ryan Pitra (Geneseo HS, Geneseo, Ill.) ran for career highs of 226 yards and three touchdowns on 28 carries at North Park. His rushing yardage equaled the sixth-best single-game mark in school history. Joe Thompson (300, 275 and 226) and Brad Price (261) are the only Augustana running backs ever to match or surpass Pitra's total. Quarterbacks Matt Roe (342) and Sam Frasco (312) hold the top two marks in school history.
 
On the season, Pitra leads a Viking ground game that ranks first in the CCIW with averages of 217.8 yards per game and 5.7 per carry in league play. He has 594 yards and five touchdowns on 109 carries, an average of 5.4 per attempt. His backup, junior Bobby Jarosz (Prospect HS, Mt. Prospect, Ill.), has 212 yards and five touchdowns on 36 totes (5.9 per carry) and backup quarterback Alek Jacobs (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) has 326 yards and two touchdowns on 45 attempts for a team-best 7.2 average.
 
Quarterback Zachary Fuller (St. Patrick HS, Schiller Park, Ill.) has completed 118 of 187 attempts (63.1 percent) for 1,325 yards and six touchdowns. He's been intercepted three times. Sophomore Max Uranich (La Salle-Peru HS, La Salle, Ill.) and junior Ethan Jennings (Notre Dame HS, Chicago, Ill.) have been Fuller's most frequent targets, with 31 and 20 catches, respectively. Uranich's have gone for 415 yards and a touchdown and Jennings' for 301 yards and two scores.
 
Junior linebacker Luke Sawicki (Neuqua Valley HS, Naperville, Ill.) leads the defense with 35 solo, 21 assisted and 56 total tackles. He also has a team-highs of 11 tackles for loss and shares the interception lead (two) with sophomore safety John Kappel (Wheeling HS, Wheeling, Ill.). Junior end Daniel Tjaden (Assumption HS, Bettendorf, Iowa) is the team leader with four sacks.
 
Coach Mike Swider's Wheaton outfit was ranked 12th in last week's D3football.com Top 25, but suffered a 17-10 loss to Washington University last Saturday.
 
The Thunder offense, which averages 37.7 points and 465.8 total yards per game, has been led by quarterback Curtis McWilliams. McWilliams has thrown for 1,552 yards and 15 touchdowns on 109-of-157 (69.4 percent) passing this year. However, he was injured in the Washington University loss, with Jesse Furrow (29 of 44, 345 yards and three touchdowns on the year) filling in. Phillip Nichols, a first team All-CCIW selection last year, is the Thunder's leading receiver, with 45 catches for 633 yards and two touchdowns. Jacob Cretin leads Wheaton in rushing with 402 yards and two touchdowns on 55 carries. He runs behind a line that includes 2017 All-CCIW first teamer Andrew Jones.
 
The Thunder defense welcomes back linebacker Eric Stevenson, first team All-CCIW a year ago, and end Patrick O'Connell, who was a second team all-conference pick. Stevenson is the team's leading tackler with 48 total stops and 24 assisted tackles. Corner Tyler Sigler has a team-best 30 solo stops. O'Connell leads in tackles for loss (11½) and sacks (4½). Wheaton has allowed just 14.0 points and 278.8 total yards per game and leads the CCIW in scoring defense.
 
 
10/13/18— AUGUSTANA 41, NORTH PARK 7                                             
 
Augustana a 41-7 victor at North Park
 
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 HGS, 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 Lindbergh Stadium for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff.
 
 
2018 AUGUSTANA VIKINGS FOOTBALL SCHEDULE/RESULTS

DATE	OPPONENT		SITE	TIME/SCORE
September 1	Coe		Cedar Rapids, Iowa	W, 26-7
September 15	Elmhurst*		Elmhurst, Ill.	W, 35-0
September 22	Illinois Wesleyan*	Family Weekend	HOME	L, 24-41
September 29	Millikin*		Decatur, Ill.	L, 27-28
October 6	North Central*	Homecoming	HOME	L, 10-48
October 13	North Park*		Chicago, Ill.	W, 41-7
October 20	Wheaton*		HOME	1:00 p.m.
October 27	Washington-St. Louis*		HOME	1:00 p.m.
November 3	Carroll*		Waukesha, Wisc.	1:00 p.m.
November 10	Carthage*	Senior Day	HOME	1:00 p.m.

* - College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin game
 

2018 CCIW STANDINGS

School	CCIW	Overall
Illinois Wesleyan	5-0	5-1
Millikin	4-1	5-1
North Central	4-1	5-1
Washington U.	4-1	5-1
Wheaton	3-2	4-2
AUGUSTANA	2-3	3-3
Carthage	2-3	2-4
Carroll	1-4	2-4
Elmhurst	0-5	1-5
North Park	0-5	1-5