ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Augustana moved to 2-0 on the season this past Saturday, pasting Elmhurst 55-13 at Lindberg Stadium in the CCIW opener for both teams. The Vikings scored touchdowns on their first six possessions and led 45-6 at the half. This week Coach
Steve Bell's team travels to Bloomington, Illinois to face an Illinois Wesleyan outfit that was ranked 15th in the nation in the D3football preseason Top 25.
Augustana has been dominant on both sides of the ball in its first two games. The Vikings are averaging 48.0 points and 448.5 total yards (202.5 rushing and 246.0 passing) per contest while limiting the opposition to respective figures of 8.0 and 237.0 (102.0 rushing and 135.0 passing).
Senior quarterback
Zachary Fuller (St. Patrick HS, Schiller Park, Ill.) has completed 33 of 44 (75%) passes for 432 yards and eight touchdowns against just one interception.
Tom Dolis (Notre Dame HS, Chicago, Ill.),
Max Uranich (La Salle-Peru HS, La Salle, Ill.) and
Ethan Jennings (Notre Dame HS, Chicago, Ill.) have been his top targets. Dolis has seven catches for 134 yards and three touchdowns, with Uranich (7-92-1) and Jennings (6-83-2) not far behind. Senior
Bobby Jarosz (Prospect HS, Mount Prospect, Ill.) has rushed for 221 yards and two touchdowns on 35 carries, averaging 6.3 yards per attempt.
Senior linebacker
Luke Sawicki (Neuqua Valley HS, Naperville, Ill.) leads Augustana in solo (nine), assisted (10) and total (19) tackles, as well as tackles for loss (four). He also has one of the Vikings' seven interceptions. Safety
John Kappel (Wheeling HS, Wheeling, Ill.), who is second on the team with 14 tackles, has picked off three opposition passes and corner
Luke Phelan (Joliet Catholic HS, Shorewood, Ill.) a pair. Freshman
Chase Tatum (Princeton HS, Princeton, Ill.) is the sack leader with two.
The kicking game has performed well. Junior
Owen Ennis (Evanston HS, Evanston, Ill.) is 11-for-11 on PATs and converted his lone field goal try from 33 yards. Sophomore
Justin Wehr (Bettendorf HS, Bettendorf, Iowa) has averaged 39.8 yards on nine punts.
Saturday's opponent, Illinois Wesleyan, is 0-2 overall and 0-1 in the league, but their two losses have both come on the road to UW-La Crosse (33-27 in OT) and Wheaton (24-10), currently ranked 16th and 11th in the nation, respectively. Ranked 15th in the preseason, the Titans are still receiving votes in the poll.
Coach Norm Eash's club returns six All-CCIW performers from last year's 8-2 conference co-champion. The offense is led by senior quarterback Brandon Bauer (55.6%, 477 yds, 2 TD, 6 int), a second team all-league selection in 2018. Bauer has a pair of All-CCIW receivers to throw to in first-team Jack Healy (12 rec, 143 yds, 2 TD) and second-team Zach Walsh (8-94-0). Center Jake Buhe and tackle Michael Norwood were respective first and second team all-conference picks a year ago as well. Newcomer Hamid Bullie has rushed for 209 yards in IWU's first two games.
IWU's defense is led by second team All-CCIW linebacker Ryan Swift. Swift shares the Titan lead in solo (13) and total (17) tackles with cornerback Trevor Koepke. Koepke also has an interception and fumble recovery. Defensive tackle Mike Murphy leads in tackles for loss (three) and sacks (two).
IWU leads the all-time series 46-37-1 and won last year's contest 41-24 at Lindberg Stadium.
09/07/19—AUGUSTANA 55, ELMHURST 13
Augustana hammers Elmhurst 55-13
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Senior
Zachary Fuller (St. Patrick HS, Schiller Park, Ill.) threw for four touchdowns and ran for another in little more than a half of action Saturday, as Augustana scored a 55-13 Family Weekend victory over Elmhurst at Lindberg Stadium. The Vikings improved to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the CCIW heading into their first road contest on Saturday, September 28 at preseason #15 Illinois Wesleyan. The visiting Bluejays dropped to 0-2 on the season and 0-1 in the league.
Fuller led Coach
Steve Bell's club to touchdowns on its first six possessions of the contest. After an Elmhurst three-and-out to start the game, he completed five straight passes before senior
Bobby Jarosz (Prospect HS, Mount Prospect, Ill.) finished off an eight-play, 59-yard drive with two rushes for 12 yards, going in from the three for the touchdown.
Owen Ennis (Evanston HS, Evanston, Ill.) added the point after to make it 7-0.
Jarosz carried five times for 54 on Augustana's next possession and Fuller capped it off with an eight-yard scoring strike to senior
Tom Dolis (Notre Dame HS, Chicago, Ill.). Senior
Luke Phelan (Joliet Catholic HS, Shorewood, Ill.) beat an Elmhurst defender to the left-side pylon for the two-point conversion and a 15-0 lead.
It took just 2:33 for the Bluejays to go 77 yards in six plays for their first score. Quarterback Jake Tahaney hit Logan Techentin for 44 yards and Ben Fridrich for 29 before finishing the drive with a four-yard touchdown run. Junior
David Lane (Civic Memorial HS, Bethalto, Ill.) immediately swung the momentum back in the Vikings' favor though, blocking Matt Burns' PAT attempt, then scooping it up and returning it 90 yards for two points to make it 17-6.
Fuller connected on four of five passes for 51 yards on Augustana's next drive, including a seven-yard scoring pass to classmate
Ethan Jennings (Notre Dame HS, Chicago, Ill.). Ennis' kick put the hosts up 24-6 early in the second quarter.
Jarosz added a 13-yard TD reception and a 19-yard scoring run in the period and Fuller hit freshman
Craig Shelton (Oak Park River Forest HS, Oak Park, Ill.) in the back right corner of the end zone for his fourth touchdown pass of the half. Ennis converted after all three and the Vikings led 45-6 at intermission.
Fuller played only the first series of the second half and led his team on a 10-play, 73-yard touchdown march. Senior
Antonio Cannon (Oak Park River Forest HS, River Forest, Ill.) rushed four times for 30 yards and Fuller connected twice with Dolis for a total of 33 yards before finishing off the drive with a one-yard touchdown run.
Bell went deep into his bench the rest of the way. Ennis' 33-yard field goal with 1:28 left in the third completing Augustana's scoring for the evening. Elmhurst scored on a 19-yard Noah Henkel-to-Dimitri Valcourt touchdown pass with 30 seconds left in the game and Burns' PAT accounted for the final.
It was the second straight game that Fuller passed for four scores and ran for one. He finished the night 17 of 20 for 194 yards. Junior
Max Uranich (La Salle-Peru HS, La Salle, Ill.) had five catches for 61 yards and Dolis four for 48. Despite playing only the first half, Jarosz led the ground game with 108 yards and two scores on 14 carries. Junior
Travor Spicer (North Lawndale HS, Chicago, Ill.) carried eight times for 54 yards and Cannon had 11 carries for 50.
Senior
Luke Sawicki (Neuqua Valley HS, Naperville, Ill.) again led the Vikings in tackles with four solo and four assisted. Freshmen
Chase Tatum (Princeton HS, Princeton, Ill.) and
Tim Swaney (Anderson HS, Cincinnati, Ohio) each had five stops, including a pair of sacks for Tatum. Junior
John Kappel (Wheeling HS, Wheeling, Ill.) also had five tackles, along with his second and third interceptions of the season. Senior
J.J. Cervino (Libertyville HS, Libertyville, Ill.) also had a pick.
A balanced Augustana attack produced 221 rushing yards on 46 carries and 227 yards on 27 pass attempts. The defense limited the Bluejays to 281 yards—96 on the ground and 185 through the air.
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 29 |
Illinois Wesleyan* |
|
Bloomington, Ill. |
1:00 p.m. |
| October 5 |
Millikin* |
Homecoming |
HOME |
1:00 p.m. |
| October 12 |
North Central* |
|
Naperville, Ill. |
1:00 p.m. |
| October 19 |
North Park* |
|
HOME |
1:00 p.m. |
| October 26 |
Wheaton* |
|
Wheaton, Ill. |
1:00 p.m. |
| 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 |
| AUGUSTANA |
1-0 |
2-0 |
| Millikin |
1-0 |
2-0 |
| North Central |
1-0 |
2-0 |
| Wheaton |
1-0 |
2-0 |
| Carthage |
1-0 |
1-1 |
| Carroll |
0-1 |
1-1 |
| Washington U. |
0-1 |
1-1 |
| Elmhurst |
0-1 |
0-2 |
| Illinois Wesleyan |
0-1 |
0-2 |
| North Park |
0-1 |
0-2 |
North Central 46, Washington U. 13
Washington U. at Carthage 12:00 pm
was introduced as the 19th head coach in the storied history of Augustana football on January 9, 2015. In 15 seasons as the head football coach at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois, Bell fashioned a 112-44 (.718) overall record. During his tenure at Monmouth, his teams won four Midwest Conference championships (2005, 2008, 2009, 2011) and finished second six times. Augustana has gone 12-28 during Bell's first four seasons. He is a 1992 graduate of Bemidji State University with a degree in physical education.
