ROCK ISLAND, Ill. -- The Augustana Vikings football team will hit the road this weekend for their second contest against a top five opponent this year when they face off against the No. 5 ranked Wheaton Thunder on Saturday, October 9th in another CCIW battle.
The Thunder have hovered around the top five all season and sport a 3-1 record so far, with their only loss coming in week three to No. 1 North Central by a score of 20-7. Outside of that game, Wheaton has outscored their opponents 154-37 with all of those producing at least 40 points on offense. The team is entering the new week fresh off of a 40-10 victory over Washington University in which they outgained them opponent 434-153. The offense was fueled by their rushing attack and spearheaded by running back Giovanni Weeks, who went for 188 yards on 24 carries. As a team, the Thunder put up 255 yards on the ground. On defense, they held Washington to just seven total yards running the ball. Wheaton currently holds a 2-1 record in conference play and holds one common opponent with Augustana in North Park this year, who they defeated 58-27.
Augustana is looking to make it two consecutive wins overall after defeating North Park last Saturday on homecoming weekend. Augie jumped out to 10-0 lead through two quarters, but withstood a pair of touchdown drives from North Park as their Viking counterparts took the lead in the third. A one-yard touchdown run from
Thomas Hall in the fourth quarter was the difference-maker and Augustana used timely defensive stops to hold on for the three-point victory to get them back to .500 on the season. Overall, Augustana out-gained North Park 294 yards to 193. Hall finished 11-23 with 93 yards through the air, while
Tyler Rivelli had a big game on the ground finishing with 109 yards on just eight carries.
Jordan Vesey led the team catching the ball, ending with 42 yards on four catches.
On defense,
Tim Swaney was the catalyst to a strong team effort with a game-high 14 tackles.
Jordan Geroulis was next in line with nine to go with a forced fumbled and an interception.
Chase Tatum had the lone sack for the Vikings.
Nick Harper also snagged his team-high third interception this year.
Head Augustana coach Stephen Bell is looking to keep the momentum going and build off the resiliency they showed late in the game versus North Park.
"It was great to see our team respond in that situation to having to make plays in that moment to get the win," he said. "Our defense and special teams were major players in that momentum swing in the fourth quarter."
Wheaton leads the all-time series between the two schools 33-29-2. Dating back to 2013, Augie is winless against the Thunder, with their last meeting coming in 2019 that resulted in a 40-0 triumph for Wheaton. The Thunder defense has seen success against Augie recently as they have held them to under 10 points per contest during that span.
Kickoff is slated for 1:00 p.m.
Game Coverage at Wheaton
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