BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- The Augustana Vikings football team was defeated in a close battle on the road on Saturday, falling to the Illinois Wesleyan Titans by a final of 29-21.
After a pair of defensive stops by both teams, the Vikings struck first with a successful eight-play drive that resulted in a 21-yard pass connection from
Liam Crawley to
Sean Schlanser for the game's first touchdown. The Titans answered with a score on their ensuing drive, but a defensive stand inside their own 20 by the Vikings forced a field goal. Augie led 7-3 after 15 minutes of action.
The Vikings' defense continued to make big plays, this time forcing a fumble in Titans territory to give the Augie offense the ball at the visiting 45-yard line. Eight plays later, the Vikings converted a third down from the 4-yard line to make it a 14-3 game after Crawley found
Breyden Smith in the end zone. Illinois Wesleyan moved closer with a field goal on the next drive before securing its first touchdown of the contest with just over a minute to go. A sack on the two-point try kept the Vikings out in front as they brought a 14-12 advantage into halftime.
Illinois Wesleyan found its first lead of the game with a field goal to begin the second half, the first of three lead changes in the third quarter alone. Facing a 3rd and 18 on the ensuing drive, the Vikings countered with another touchdown strike, posting a 48 yard pitch and catch between Crawley and Smith for their second time securing points. The Titans regained a one-point lead three minutes later to make it a 22-21 score entering the fourth.
The final period featured just two possessions apiece for each team. Both times with the ball for Augustana resulted in trips deep on Illinois Wesleyan's side of the field, but neither amounted to any points. The Titans added on to their lead with a long, seven-minute drive that went 80 yards and ended with seven more points. Trailing by eight, Augie saw an opportunity inside the red zone with under a minute remaining, but a sack on fourth down ended the threat and sealed the victory for the home team.
Crawley ended the afternoon with three touchdowns through the air to go with 255 yards. Schlanser grabbed a game-high 10 catches for 92 yards, followed by Smith with seven catches and
Ethan Vrabec with six.
Luke Willis led the defensive unit with nine tackles.
With the loss, Augustana drops to 3-5 overall and 2-5 in the CCIW. The team will host Carthage next Saturday for Senior Day.
