KENOSHA, Wis. -- The Augustana Vikings football team will be back in action on Saturday, November 4 when they visit the Carthage Firebirds for their final road game of the regular season.

Augustana currently sits at 7-1 overall and 6-1 in the CCIW following a 44-14 road victory over the Illinois Wesleyan Titans last Saturday. A big first quarter helped propel the Vikings to the dominant win, seeing 21 points through the first 15 minutes, including a 39-yard run from Tyler Rivelli on just the third play on offense. Cole Bhardwaj notched two of his four touchdowns through the air in the opening frame, seeing one to Mike DiGioia and the other to Rivelli. Bhardwaj continued to utilize his running backs through the air halfway through the second quarter, connecting with Ben Ludlum for another score to push the Vikings' lead to 31-0. The Titans added their first points on a kickoff return to bring the margin to 31-7 at the half.

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.

Carthage enters Saturday with a 2-6 overall record and 2-5 mark in conference play. The Firebirds are coming off a 30-27 win over Carroll on Saturday, erasing a 14-0 deficit to steal the win. A touchdown with 90 seconds remaining proved to be the deciding factor as they earned their second win of the season. Both of Carthage's victories on the year have come on its own field, with the other occurring back on September 30 in a 27-20 win over Elmhurst. The Firebirds average just under 16 points per outing this year and are allowing around 40 to their opponents. The team sees most of its offensive production through the air, putting up 248 yards passing per outing compared to just 45 yards on the ground. 

The Vikings lead the all-time series 67-19-4 over the Firebirds, but have dropped five of the last seven meetings in the series. Carthage won a thriller last season in Rock Island by a final of 37-30. Augie has won the last two encounters in Kenosha.

Start time is scheduled for 1 p.m. Live coverage can be found here.