BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- The Augustana Vikings football team earned its fifth straight win on Saturday, defeating the Illinois Wesleyan Titans on the road by a score of 44-14.
After a quick three-and-out forced by the Augie defense, the Vikings quickly put points on the board on a 39-yard touchdown rush from
Tyler Rivelli on their third play from scrimmage. The Augustana defense again earned the ball back quickly for the offense on another punt, this time setting up another touchdown for the Vikings to make it 14-0. Following a couple of completed passes to put them just outside the Illinois Wesleyan red zone, three straight rushes brought the ball inside the 10 before a six-yard touchdown connection from
Cole Bhardwaj and
Mike DiGioia extended the lead. Bhardwaj continued to utilize his running backs in the passing game, tallying the third score of the opening quarter on a two-yard toss to Rivelli exactly three minutes later. Augie led 21-0 after 15 minutes of action.
Less than 90 seconds into the second quarter, the Vikings added three more points to their cushion on a 36-yard field goal from
Sidney Maroon. The team continued to pour it on five minutes later thanks to another passing touchdown between Bhardwaj and an Augie running back, this time from seven yards out to
Ben Ludlum. The Titans added a score with five minutes remaining in the half to bring the score to 31-7 in favor of Augustana heading into the halftime break. The Vikings ended the first two quarters with points on each of their first five drives.
Nearly 13 minutes of scoreless play went by to begin the second half until the Vikings added more points, capping off a nine-play, 65-yard march with a one-yard plunge from
Jason Grimes. The Titans returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown to bring the score to 37-14 entering into the final quarter.
On the Vikings' first possession of the fourth quarter, the team contributed the final points of the game a touchdown pass from Bhardwaj to
Jake Miller from 18 yards out. The Augie defense held the Titans without a point the rest of the way to complete the 30-point victory, the Vikings' third straight over Illinois Wesleyan.
Augustana boasted its best offensive game of the season with 539 yards of total offense, while also holding the Titans to 172 yards, the fewest allowed by the Vikings this season. Bhardwaj ended his afternoon with 25 completions on 33 attempts for 281 yards to go along with his four scores, while DiGioia led a balanced rushing attack with 93 yards. Three different Vikings tallied 79 or more yards on the ground. Eight different members of the team caught a pass, led by
Bobby Inserra's six catches for 67 yards.
On defense,
David Vaynerman and
Darren Oregon led the way with five tackles apiece, followed by
Nick Harper and
Dylan Burton with four. Harper had two interceptions in the game to bring his season total to six.
With the win, Augustana improves to 7-1 on the season and 6-1 in the CCIW. It is the first time since 2008 the team has reached seven wins and the best start through eight games since the 2005 season.
The team will remain on the road for their next contest on Saturday, November 4 when they visit Carthage.
