ROCK ISLAND -- The Augustana Vikings football team will remain home for the second of two straight games at Lindberg Stadium when they square off with the Elmhurst Bluejays on Saturday, October 12.

Augustana enters the new week with a 2-2 overall record and 1-2 mark in CCIW play, recently falling at home to North Park last Saturday in double overtime by a score of 30-27. After forcing a North Park punt to start the game, the Augustana offense struck first on its opening drive, capping off a 10-play, 89-yard drive with a four-yard touchdown run from Mike DiGioia. The score resulted in the only points of the first quarter as the Vikings brought a 7-0 lead into the second. Nearly 10 minutes of scoreless play kicked off the second until North Park notched its first touchdown of the game to make it a 7-7 deadlock. The two teams traded punts before Augustana connected on a Joren Clem 34-yard field goal with just seconds to spare. The Vikings led 10-7 at the break.

After zero points in the third, Augie kicked off a busy final quarter with another touchdown, this time a 35-yard connection through the air between Cole Bhardwaj and Breyden Smith. North Park bounced back with a long drive that resulted in a field goal, using 12 plays to go 64 yards and eat up over five minutes off the clock. Following a defensive stop, the visiting Vikings struck once more, finding the end zone with just over a minute remaining to even the score at 17 points apiece and force overtime. The two teams traded touchdowns to make it 24-24, but the visitors countered another Clem field goal in the second overtime with six points to steal the game by a score of 30-27.

Bhardwaj finished the game with 195 passing yards on 17 completions, while DiGioia ended with 113 yards on the ground. Smith led the receiving group with 10 catches for 135 yards, also posting 20 kick return yards to move him into the No. 1 all-time spot for kick return yards for a career. He passes Alek Jacobs' mark of 1,193 from 2017-20. On defense, Dylan Burton led with a game-high 11 tackles, followed by Rukkus Hunkins and Luke Willis each with seven.

Elmhurst enters this week's matchup riding a two-game winning streak and sits 2-2 overall and 2-1 in conference play. The Bluejays are coming off a 23-17 win at Carthage last Saturday after defeating North Park 28-21 the previous week. Against the Firebirds, the Bluejays used a 14-0 advantage in the second quarter to take a 17-6 lead into halftime. Following a scoreless third, Carthage got within three with a touchdown early in the fourth, but a score from the Bluejays put the game out of reach. Elmhurst was out-gained 347-266 in the win, but forced two Carthage turnovers. This season, the Bluejays are averaging just under 20 points per game and have seen success on the ground with 105 yards per outing. The team has seen a balanced rushing attack, with three players with over 25 attempts on the year. Defensively, Jace Zeffiro ranks first with 41 tackles.

Augustana is 58-8-1 all-time against Elmhurst and has won the last six meetings in the series. The Vikings opened conference play last season with a record-breaking 74-6 victory at home.

Start time is scheduled for 1 p.m.