ROCK ISLAND -- The Augustana Vikings football team cruised to a Homecoming victory over the Millikin Big Blue on Saturday, winning by a score of 42-3 to stay undefeated at home this season.

The Big Blue got on the board first on Saturday after an opening drive ended in a successful field goal attempt. The two teams traded empty possessions through the rest of the first quarter to keep the 3-0 score intact after 15 minutes of action. Nick Harper intercepted a ball at the one-yard line on the second Millikin drive to keep them at three points.

Both defenses continued to keep one another out of the end zone to begin the second until the Vikings connected on points for the first time around the five-minute mark. A nine-play drive that saw eight rushes resulted in a one-yard run from Tyler Rivelli to give Augie the lead at 7-3. This began a string for the Vikings of three straight possessions with a touchdown to close the half, with the next score set up from a first-play interception from Darren Oregon on the ensuing Millikin drive. After four runs and one pass, Augie saw their second touchdown come from the arm of Cole Bhardwaj, connecting with Breyden Smith from 15 yards out to make it 14-3. Three straight incompletions from the Big Blue gave the ball right back to the Vikings and a 48-yard punt return from Bobby Inserra put Augustana deep in the red zone with under two minutes to go. On the first play from scrimmage, Augie made it 21-3 heading into half thanks to a 12-yard touchdown pass to Inserra. 

The stretch of touchdowns continued from the Vikings to begin the third, utilizing a nine-play, 72-yard march down the field that resulted in a six-yard scamper from Mike DiGioia. Later in the quarter, Rivelli secured his second score of the day, this time bulldozing in from two yards out to bring the differential to 35-3 heading into the final frame. DiGioia snagged his second of the game early in the fourth, pushing the score to 42-3 after his plunge into the end zone from a yard out.

Following Millikin's opening 61-yard drive down the field, the Augie defense did not allow a single drive over 50 yards and only two over 40 the rest of the way. The Vikings out-gained the Big Blue 418-242 in the contest, with 276 of those yards coming on the ground. Rivelli led the balanced attack on offense with 109 yards rushing the ball, followed by Ben Ludlum with 90 yards and DiGioia with 56. Through the air, Bhardwaj completed 13 of his 19 attempts for 142 yards and two scores. Smith was the top pass-catcher with five receptions for 70 yards.

In the second quarter, Inserra snagged his 122nd career reception, putting him No. 1 in the record books for most in a career. He breaks the previous record of 121 set by Ryan Hennessy from 2015-18 and ended the game with four catches to give him 125 for the time being. He also is now third all-time in receiving yards and tied for fourth all-time in receiving touchdowns. 

On defense, the Vikings forced four turnovers, three coming via interceptions. Oregon picked off the Big Blue twice, while Harper was second on the team in tackles with six to go with his interception. Tim Swaney led all tacklers with 10.

With the victory, Augustana moves to 4-1 on the season overall and 3-1 in the CCIW. The team will be back in action next Saturday when they hit the road to take on the Washington-St. Louis Bears.