Vikings finish 4-6 overall and 3-6 in the CCIW; land four on all-conference team; Jacobs named Academic All-District
 
In 2018, Augustana posted a three-game overall improvement compared to the previous year. Coach Steve Bell's crew finished the season with a 4-6 record and a 3-6 mark in the CCIW, good for seventh place. Four Vikings were named to the all-conference team, including sophomore Alek Jacobs (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.), who also earned Google Cloud/CoSIDA Academic All-District honors.
 
Augustana had six takeaways in a 26-7 season-opening win over Coe and scored on its first four drives in a 35-0 victory at Elmhurst in week two. The Vikings' other two wins also came on the road, 41-7 at North Park and 24-14 at Carroll.
 
Jacobs was named to the All-CCIW first team as a return specialist, while senior running back Ryan Pitra (Geneseo HS, Geneseo, Ill.), junior defensive end Xavier Holley (Bettendorf HS, Davenport, Iowa) and junior linebacker Luke Sawicki (Neuqua Valley HS, Naperville, Ill.) were second team selections.
 
Pitra ran for 931 yards and seven touchdowns this year on 193 carries and was the CCIW's fourth-leading rusher (87.0 ypg). He finished his career 13th on Augustana's all-time rushing list with 2,232 yards. Jacobs carried 67 times for 403 yards and two touchdowns and junior Bobby Jarosz (Prospect HS, Mt. Prospect, Ill.) rushed for 353 yards and a team-high eight touchdowns on 61 carries. Jacobs also set single-season school records for kickoff returns (30) and kickoff return yards (733). He was the CCIW's leading kick returner (24.6) and ranked second in all-purpose yards (124.8 ypg).
 
Senior quarterback  Zachary Fuller (St. Patrick HS, Schiller Park, Ill.) finished the year 182 of 297 (61.3%) passing for 2,000 yards and eight touchdowns with 10 interceptions. His attempts and completions were both second-most in a single season for the Vikings, while his yardage total ranks third and his completion percentage sixth. He ranks third all-time at Augustana in career passing attempts (622) and yards (4,037) and fourth in completions (351).
 
Sophomore Max Uranich (La Salle-Peru HS, La Salle, Ill.) was Fuller's favorite target. He caught 44 passes for 619 yards, both of which rank eighth on the Vikings' single-season lists. Uranich also had three touchdown receptions. Senior Ryan Hennessy (Oswego HS, Oswego, Ill.) caught 22 passes this season and finished his career as Augustana's all-time reception leader with 121.
 
Sawicki was the team's leading tackler with 60 solo, 39 assisted and 99 total stops. His 18 tackles for loss also led the team and he tied for the team lead with two interceptions. He was the CCIW's second-leading tackler with an average of 10.2 per game. Holley and junior end Daniel Tjaden (Assumption HS, Bettendorf, Iowa) shared the team lead with 6½ sacks each. Sophomore safety John Kappel (Wheeling HS, Wheeling, Ill.) finished second on the team with 70 tackles, led the Vikings with two fumble recoveries and tied Sawicki and classmate David Lane (Civic Memorial HS, Bethalto, Ill.) for the interception lead.
 
Senior Ryan Ganson (Geneseo HS, Geneseo, Ill.) converted nine of 16 field goal attempts with a long of 43 yards and was 26 of 28 on extra points. Freshman John Sopko (York HS, Elmhurst, Ill.) averaged 37.5 yards per punt.
 
2018 CCIW STANDINGS

School	CCIW	Overall
North Central	8-1	10-2
Illinois Wesleyan	8-1	8-2
Washington U.	7-2	8-2
Wheaton	7-2	8-2
Millikin	5-4	6-4
Carthage	4-5	4-6
AUGUSTANA	3-6	4-6
Carroll	2-7	3-7
North Park	1-8	2-8
Elmhurst	0-9	1-9

 
2018 AUGUSTANA FOOTBALL SUPERLATIVES 
 
INDIVIDUAL AWARD WINNERS 
All-CCIW: Alek Jacobs, RS (1st team); Luke Sawicki, LB; Xavier Holley, DE; Ryan Pitra, RB (2nd team)
Google Cloud/CoSIDA Academic All-District 7: Alek Jacobs
CCIW Academic All-Conference: Bryson Adcock, Andrew Anderson, Luke Bleyer, Patrick Byrne, William Ingalls, Alek Jacobs, David Lane, Thomas McSorley, Hunter Menke, Matt Payton, Logan Pierard, Michael Riley, Luke Sawicki, Joseph Timm, Daniel Tjaden, Walker Whalen, Chaz Williams
 
SCHOOL RECORDS
Individual
Career pass receptions: 121, Ryan Hennessy
Single-season kickoff returns: 30, Alek Jacobs
Single-season kickoff return yards: 733, Alek Jacobs
 
Team
Kickoff return yards: 946
 
ADDITIONS TO AUGUSTANA'S TOP TEN LISTS
Career
Receptions: 121, Ryan Hennessy, 1st
Receptions per game: 3.78, Ryan Hennessy, 2nd
Passing yards: 4037, Zachary Fuller, 3rd
Passing yards per game:: 161.5, Zachary Fuller, 3rd
Pass attempts: 622, Zachary Fuller, 3rd; 267, Luke Bleyer, 10th
Kickoff return average: 24.4, Alek Jacobs, 3rd
Pass completions: 351, Zachary Fuller, 4th
Total offense: 4024, Zachary Fuller, 4th
Total offense per game: 161.0, Zachary Fuller, 4th
Blocked kicks: 2, Bobby Jarosz, 4th-T
Tackles: 247, Cassin Wolfe, 5th
Pass breakups: 18, Zach Stewart, 5th-T; 16, Cassin Wolfe, 9th-T
Completion percentage: 56.9, Luke Bleyer, 5th; 56.4, Zachary Fuller, 6th
Sacks: 13, Daniel Tjaden, 5th-T
Rushing attempts: 540, Ryan Pitra, 6th
Solo tackles: 123, Cassin Wolfe, 6th
All-purpose yards: 2955, Ryan Pitra, 8th
Receiving yards: 1235, Ryan Hennessy, 8th
Touchdown passes: 19, Zachary Fuller, 9th
All-purpose yards per game: 83.9, Alek Jacobs, 9th; 82.1, Ryan Pitra 10th
Kickoff return yards: 733, Alek Jacobs, 10th
 
Single Season
Kickoff returns: 30, Alek Jacobs, 1st
Kickoff return yards: 733, Alek Jacobs, 1st
Pass attempts: 297, Zachary Fuller, 2nd
Pass completions: 182, Zachary Fuller, 2nd
Tackles for loss: 18, Luke Sawicki, 2nd-T
Pass breakups: 10, Zach Stewart, 2nd-T
Blocked kicks: 2, Bobby Jarosz, 2nd-T
Passing yards: 2000, Zachary Fuller, 3rd
Field goals: 9, Ryan Ganson, 3rd-T
Passing yards per game: 200.0, Zachary Fuller, 4th
Yards from tackles for loss: 63, Xavier Holley, 4th
Yards from sacks: 53, Xavier Holley, 5th
Total offense: 2037, Zachary Fuller, 5th
Solo tackles: 60, Luke Sawicki, 5th
Completion percentage: 61.3, 6th
Receptions: 44, Max Uranich, 8th
Receiving yards: 619, Max Uranich, 8th
Receptions per game: 4.40, Max Uranich, 8th
Total offense per game: 203.7, Zachary Fuller, 8th
Interception return touchdowns: 1, Luke Sawicki, 8th-T
Kickoff return average: 24.4, Alek Jacobs, 10th
 
NCAA STATISTICAL RANKINGS TEAM – TOP 25 
Kickoff return defense: 11.4, 1st
Kickoff return average: 24.3, 11th
Fumbles lost: 4, 16th
 
NCAA STATISTICAL RANKINGS INDIVIDUAL – TOP 50
Kickoff return yards: 733, Alek Jacobs, 8th
Tackles for loss per game: 1.8, Luke Sawicki, 18th
Solo tackles per game: 6.0, Luke Sawicki, 25th
Blocked kicks: 2, Bobby Jarosz, 26th
Field goals per game: 0.90, Ryan Ganson, 27th
Kickoff return average: 24.4, Alek Jacobs, 40th
Completion percentage: 61.3, Zachary Fuller, 45th
Tackles per game: 9.9, Luke Sawicki, 47th
Fumble recoveries: 2, John Kappel 50th
 
CCIW STATISTICAL LEADERS – TEAM 
Kickoff return average: 24.4
Fewest sack allowed: 16
Net kickoff coverage: 44.3
 
CCIW STATISTICAL TOP FIVE – INDIVIDUAL 
Tackles for loss per game: 1.89, Luke Sawicki, 1st
Kickoff return average: 24.6, Alek Jacobs, 1st
Tackles per game: 10.2, Luke Sawicki, 2nd
All-purpose yards per game: 124.8, Alek Jacobs, 2nd
PAT percentage: .960, Ryan Ganson, 3rd
Rushing yards per game: 87.0, Ryan Pitra, 4th
Sacks per game: 0.81, Xavier Holley, 4th
Field goals per game: 0.78, Ryan Ganson, 4th
Total offense per game: 201.4, Zachary Fuller, 5th
Passes defended per game: 1.25, Zach Stewart, 5th-T
 
TEAM AWARDS 
MVP: Luke Sawicki
Defensive Player of the Year: Xavier Holley
Offensive Player of the Year: Ryan Pitra
Special Teams Player of the Year: Alek Jacobs
Jerry Freck Inspiration Award: William Ingalls