SUN PRAIRIE, Wis. -- The Augustana Vikings football team will head north this weekend to compete in the third annual Culver's Isthmus Bowl against the UW-Platteville Pioneers.

Augustana wrapped up its regular season last Saturday at home, falling to No. 1 ranked North Central by a score of 61-17. Augustana's defense put the pressure on early, setting the Cardinals up in a 4th-and-12 situation on their first drive. The visitors successfully converted the fourth-down attempt and eventually tallied the game's first points to make it 6-0 in their favor. The Vikings responded with a march down the field of their own, utilizing a 13-yard drive that resulted in a 25-yard field goal from Sidney Maroon to cut the deficit in half. The Cardinals added a touchdown with a minute remaining in the opening frame to bring the score to 13-3 after 15 minutes of action.

North Central broke away in the second, using a 28-0 period to take a 41-3 lead into halftime. Augie came out of the halftime break with its first touchdown of the afternoon, securing a 10-yard pass hookup from Cole Bhardwaj to Jake Miller. The touchdown drive for the Vikings took 10 plays and ate up nearly five minutes of clock. After a score from the Cardinals, the Vikings added another touchdown to win the third quarter, using another 10-play march down the field. Bharwaj notched his second touchdown pass of the day after finding Ben Ludlum from six yards out. North Central added two more touchdowns in the fourth to complete the 61-17 victory.

Bhardwaj ended his Senior Day with 15 completions for 150 yards and two scores, while Tyler Rivelli added 56 yards on the ground. Rivelli became the 16th player in Augustana history on Saturday to eclipse 2,000 career rushing yards. Eight different Vikings caught at least one pass, led by four from Miller. On defense, Dakota Straight boasted a team-high 10 tackles, followed closely by Rukkus Hunkins with nine. As a team, Augie racked up three sacks, with one apiece coming from Tim Swaney and Cole Romano.

The Vikings ended the regular season with an 8-2 record overall and 7-2 mark in the CCIW, good for third place. With both North Central and Wheaton qualifying for the NCAA DIII playoffs, this season's Isthmus Bowl bid was awarded to Augustana. The Vikings will be the second CCIW school to make an appearance in the game after Wash U participated in it the last two seasons.

Eight members of Vikings' team were named CCIW All-Conference on Monday, led by Swaney's First Team selection. Chase Tatum, Nick Harper, and Darren Oregon earned Second Team honors on defense, while Rivelli, Bobby Inserra, Brayden Macdonald, and Cain Johnson were recognized on Second Team offense. 

UW-Platteville finished 6-4 overall this season and 4-3 in the WIAC. The Pioneers are riding a two-game winning streak after defeating UW-Oshkosh and UW-Stout. The wins moved them into a tie for third place in the conference, ultimately earning the bowl game bid due to tiebreaker over UW-Oshkosh and UW-River Falls. Platteville is averaging 35.2 points per game this season and allowing just over 31. The team puts up 425 yards of offense per outing, with just 290 of that total coming through the air. Junior quarterback Michael Priami is completing 67 percent of his attempts this year and has 17 touchdowns to go with seven interceptions.

In their most recent outing, the Pioneers defeated UW-Stout at home by a score of 41-24. Platteville led 7-0 after 15 minutes of play before a 20-points second quarter allowed them to pull away for good. The Pioneers forced three fumbles, recovering one, and had two interceptions on the defensive side.

Saturday will be the 14th all-time meeting between the two programs, with Augustana holding a 9-4 record in the series. The last encounter came back in 2009, a 31-12 victory for the Vikings. 

The 2023 Isthmus Bowl will serve as the first bowl game appearance for Augustana in program history outside of the NCAA DIII Playoffs/Stagg Bowl. It will also be the first postseason contest for Augie since making the playoffs back in 2005. 

Kickoff is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. from Bank of Sun Prairie Stadium. Live coverage and ticket information can be found here.