ROCK ISLAND -- The Augustana Vikings football team will be back at home on Saturday, September 30 when they welcome in the undefeated Carroll Pioneers in a battle of two of the top three offenses in the CCIW.

Augustana currently sits at 2-1 on the season and 1-1 in the CCIW, most recently falling on the road by a single possession at No. 10 Wheaton. It was a back-and-forth battle last Saturday, with Wheaton grabbing the first touchdown of the game set up by a long opening-kickoff return. The Vikings answered with a long return from Breyden Smith that resulted from three points from Sidney Maroon to cut the deficit in half. A defensive stop gave the Vikings the ball back and they quickly found themselves back in the Wheaton red zone after Tyler Rivelli's 72 yard run to begin the drive. Augie reached the end zone for the first time two plays later as Rivelli dove in from a yard out. The Vikings led 10-6 after 15 minutes of action, but two second-quarter touchdowns from the Thunder saw a halftime advantage of 20-13 in favor of the home team.

The two teams traded touchdowns in the third to keep the differential at seven, but the Vikings ran all over the Thunder to begin the fourth, using a eight-play drive that saw six rushes and a game-tying touchdown run from 14 yards out from Mike DiGioia. With the game evened at 27, Wheaton strung together back-to-back touchdown-scoring drives to put the game out of reach for the time being. A late touchdown pass from Cole Bhardwaj to Nolin Hulett gave Augie a small window, but the ensuing onside kick was recovered by the Thunder to end the game at its 41-34 final.

Wheaton out-gained Augustana 537-446, but the Vikings held a big advantage on the ground, out-rushing the Thunder by over 100 yards. Rivelli led the ground attack with 169 yards and two touchdowns, followed by DiGioia's 78. Bhardwaj finished with 198 yards through the air, while Nate Henry was the top pass catcher with four receptions for 82 yards. On defense, Darren Oregon was the team leader in tackles with 11, followed by eight apiece from Johnny Breeden and Ronde Worrels. Chase Tatum added two tackles for loss and a sack, while Dakota Straight contributed six tackles and a fumble recovery from the secondary.

Rivelli currently ranks second in the CCIW in rushing at 115 yard per game.

Carroll enters Saturday's matchup with a perfect 3-0 record so far this season. The Pioneers rank second in the CCIW at 54 points per contest, less than two points ahead of Augustana's 52.3 points per game mark. Carroll is coming off a 70-23 win over Illinois Wesleyan last week, making it three wins on the year all by double figures. The Pioneers put up back-to-back 21-point quarters to take a 42-3 into halftime and out-gained Illinois Wesleyan 581-435, giving up 426 of those through the air while holding the Titans to just nine rushing yards. The Pioneers saw 400 yards in their passing attack and 181 on the ground. 

Quarterback Josh Raby is the CCIW's leader in passing as the only player averaging over 300 yards per outing.

Augustana leads the all-time series 24-16-2 over Carroll. The Pioneers have won the last two meetings, both in overtime, including a double overtime thriller in Waukesha last season that ended in a 44-41 final. Carroll won the last encounter in Rock Island in 2021 in overtime by a score of 29-26.

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