ELMHURST, Ill. -- Tyler Rivelli found the end zone four times on Saturday as the Augustana Vikings moved their record to 2-0 on the year following a 34-16 road victory over the Elmhurst Bluejays.
Augustana put points on the board on their opening drive, a 12-play march down the field that resulted in a Rivelli one-yard run. On the ensuing Elmhurst possession, a sack and forced fumble from
Chase Tatum gave the Vikings the ball back inside the Bluejays' five-yard line, ending in another one-yard touchdown run from Rivelli to make it 13-0.
The Vikings held their 13-point lead through the first quarter, but added onto it shortly into the second due to another short field set up by a long punt return from
Bobby Inserra. At the 12:23 mark of the second quarter, Rivelli notched his third one-yard touchdown rush of the game to put the Vikings up 20. The three combined scoring drives of the Vikings in the first half lasted just under seven minutes as the defensive and special teams units kept the field-possession game in Augie's favor en route to the 20-0 halftime advantage.
Less than three minutes in to the third quarter, the Vikings got their first and only touchdown through the air as
Thomas Hall connected with
Ian Gorken for a 29-yard strike. Elmhurst secured their first points of the season six minutes later and Augustana took their 27-3 lead into the final frame.
The Bluejays cut the margin to 17 with an early-fourth quarter touchdown run, but the Vikings answered on the very next drive, going 67 yards in just six plays, capped off with a 43-yard touchdown scamper from Rivelli. The home team added one more score around the five-minute mark, but Augie ran the clock out nearly to the end with a five-minute drive of their own to close out the contest with the 18-point victory.
Augustana out-gained Elmhurst 433-350 in the game, seeing 205 of those yards coming on the ground. Rivelli finished his outing with 75 yards to go with his four touchdowns.
Jacob Brooks posted a team-best 79 yards running the ball. Hall completed 21 of 34 passes in his first start of the season, finishing with 228 yards, a touchdown, and no interceptions. Inserra tallied a game-high nine catches and 79 yards.
On defense,
Hugh Keany led a balanced group with six tackles, followed by three others with five. Tatum and
Cole Romano each added a sack for the Augie defense, while
Nick Harper joined Tatum as the other member to force a fumble.
With the win, Augustana improves to 2-0 for the first time since 2019 and has now collected five straight wins over Elmhurst. The team will return home for their next game on Saturday, September 24 when they host the No. 10 ranked Wheaton Thunder on Family Weekend. Start time is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. from Lindberg Stadium.
