ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Augustana fell 40-0 at fifth-ranked Wheaton this past Saturday to move to 4-3 on the season and 3-3 in the CCIW. The Vikings are back on the road this week, traveling to St. Louis, Missouri to take on Washington University. Kickoff at Francis Olympic Field is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
 
Defensive statistical leaders through seven games for Coach Steve Bell's outfit include senior linebacker Luke Sawicki (Neuqua Valley HS, Naperville, Ill.), who is tops on the team with 41 solo and 65 total tackles. Senior end Xavier Holley (Bettendorf HS, Davenport, Iowa) leads with 13½ tackles for loss (tied for the CCIW lead), eight sacks and two forced fumbles. Junior safety John Kappel (Wheeling HS, Wheeling, Ill.), senior corner Luke Phelan (Joliet Catholic HS, Shorewood, Ill.) and senior linebacker J.J. Cervino (Libertyville HS, Libertyville, Ill.) rank first, second and third in the conference in interceptions with five, four and three, respectively.
 
As a team, Augustana is fourth in the CCIW in rushing (99.4 ypg), passing (198.1 ypg), and total (297.6 ypg) defense and fifth in scoring defense (19.0 ppg).
 
On offense, senior quarterback Zachary Fuller (St. Patrick HS, Schiller Park, Ill.) has completed 103 of 174 passes (59.2%) for 1,340 yards and 15 touchdowns. He's thrown just one interception and is third in the league in passing efficiency with a rating of 151.18. His streak of pass attempts without an interception sits at 171. With three games to play, Fuller is five away from Ken Anderson's single-season record for touchdown passes and 754 yards away from Anderson's career passing mark of 6,131 .
 
Senior Tom Dolis (Notre Dame HS, Chicago, Ill.) has been Fuller's top target, with team bests of 25 catches for 452 yards and six touchdowns. An additional four Vikings have snared at least 17 passes.
 
Senior Bobby Jarosz (Prospect HS, Mt. Prospect, Ill.) has rushed for 601 yards and six touchdowns on 132 carries, an average of 4.6 yards per attempt.
 
Augustana ranks third the conference in rushing (163.0 ypg) and scoring (34.0 ppg) offense, fourth in total offense (385.0 ypg) and fifth in passing offense (222.0 ypg).
 
WashU is 5-2 overall and 4-2 in the CCIW in Larry Kindbom's 31st and final year as the Bears' head coach.
 
Quarterback Johnny Davidson, a second team All-CCIW pick in 2018, leads the WashU offense. He's completed 151 of 238 throws for 1,565 yards and 13 touchdowns against four interceptions. Mitchel Groen and Tim Matthiessen have been his top receivers with 37 and 29 catches, respectively. John Fisher has rushed for 285 yards and two touchdowns on 58 carries.
 
Linebacker Jeff Marek is the Bears' leading tackler with 27 solo, 18 assisted and 45 total stops. Tackle Jeff Schumacher has three sacks and defensive back Will Hurley two interceptions. End Peter Pigatti and linebacker Jeff Gurley were respective first and second team All-CCIW selections a year ago.
 
WashU won the first-ever meeting between the schools 38-24 at Lindberg Stadium in 2018.
 
 
10/26/19—WHEATON 40, AUGUSTANA 0
 
Vikings fall at fifth ranked Wheaton
 
WHEATON, Ill. – Augustana struggled to generate any offense against the nation's top-rated defense Saturday and suffered a 40-0 setback at Wheaton. The Vikings dropped to 4-3 on the season and 3-3 in the CCIW, while the fifth-ranked Thunder improved to 7-0 overall and 6-0 in the conference.
 
Senior Luke Phelan (Joliet Catholic HS, Shorewood, Ill.) got Augustana off to a great start, intercepting Wheaton's Luke Anthony at midfield on the game's first play from scrimmage. The interception was Phelan's fourth of the season and just the second off Anthony, the nation's 10th-rated passer, all year. The Vikings couldn't capitalize and the teams swapped punts on the next three series.
 
The hosts got on the board with 5:53 left in the first quarter. Taking over at the Augustana 49, Wheaton drove to the Viking 18 before stalling. Griffin Bowes came on and booted a 35-yard field goal to put the Thunder up 3-0.
 
A Bobby Jarosz (Prospect HS, Mt. Prospect, Ill.) blocked punt set Augustana up at the Wheaton 26-yard line late in the first, but three plays netted minus-one yard and Owen Ennis' (Evanston HS, Evanston, Ill.) 44-yard field goal attempt hit the right upright, keeping the Vikings off the board. The miss was Ennis' first in 31 placements this year.
 
Coach Steve Bell's defense continued to stop the Thunder, forcing consecutive three-and-outs, but with 11:55 left in the second quarter, the Wheaton defense got into the scoring act. River Shindledecker sacked Zachary Fuller (St. Patrick HS, Schiller Park, Ill.) in the end zone for a safety that made it 5-0.
 
The Thunder broke the game open with touchdowns on their next three possessions. Jeremiah Tucker's two-yard run capped a six-play, 65-yard drive and Bowes' kick made it 12-0 Wheaton. Anthony connected with Adam Terrini on a 57-yard scoring strike and then hit Nate Magnusson for 32 yards and a score to finish off a four-play 69-yard march. Bowes added both extra points and the Thunder took a 26-0 advantage to the halftime break.
 
Augustana failed to get past its own 36-yard line in the second half and Wheaton added fourth-quarter touchdown runs of two yards by Kyle Carter and 15 yards by Jack Allen to account for the final.
 
Behind 14 tackles each by senior linebacker Luke Sawicki (Neuqua Valley HS, Naperville, Ill.) and junior safety John Kappel (Wheeling HS, Wheeling, Ill.), the Viking defense held the nation's eighth-ranked offense to 341 total yards, well below its 509.7-yard average. Augustana limited Anthony, the CCIW's top rated passer, to 12 completions in 23 throws for 186 yards and sacked him three times. The league's top rusher, T.J. Williams, was held to 45 yards on eight carries. Four of Sawicki's stops came behind the line of scrimmage and senior end Daniel Tjaden (Assumption HS Bettendorf, Iowa) had a pair of sacks.
 
The Viking offense produced just 115 yards of total offense and four first downs on the day. The ground game netted just 39 yards on 37 attempts. Alek Jacobs (Rock Island HS, Rock Island, Ill.) led the way with 45 yards on eight carries, although 40 of those came on a second-quarter burst. Fuller, the league's third-most efficient passer, was held to eight completions in 18 attempts for 66 yards. Senior Ethan Jennings (Notre Dame HS, Chicago, Ill.) had two receptions for 36 yards.
 
On Saturday, November 2, Augustana will take on Washington University is St. Louis, Missouri, with kickoff scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
 
 
2019 AUGUSTANA VIKINGS FOOTBALL SCHEDULE/RESULTS

DATE	OPPONENT		SITE	TIME/SCORE
September 7	Coe	Knowlton Kickoff Classic	HOME	W, 41-3
September 21	Elmhurst*	Family Weekend	HOME	W, 55-13
September 28	Illinois Wesleyan*		Bloomington, Ill.	L, 17-21
October 5	Millikin*	Homecoming	HOME	W, 40-14
October 12	North Central*		Naperville, Ill.	L, 14-42
October 19	North Park*		HOME	W, 71-0
October 26	Wheaton*		Wheaton, Ill.	L, 0-40
November 2	Washington U.*		St. Louis, Mo.	1:00 p.m.
November 9	Carroll*	Senior Day	HOME	1:00 p.m.
November 16	Carthage*		Kenosha, Wis.	1:00 p.m.

* - College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin game
 
 
2019 CCIW STANDINGS

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