WHEATON, Ill. -- The Augustana Vikings football team suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday, falling to the No. 18 ranked Wheaton Thunder by a score of 42-3.
The Thunder controlled the time of possession in the opening quarter, holding the ball for 11 minutes on their way to a 7-0 lead after 15 minutes of action. Wheaton added another touchdown early in the second before moving its lead out to 21-0 with just over two minutes remaining.
In the third, Wheaton took the opening drive in for a score and later added another touchdown to make it a 35-0 advantage heading into the fourth. Augustana saw its best drive of the game occur in the frame, going 72 yards on 11 plays, but came up short as the march down the field ended on downs on the Wheaton 3-yard line.
Joren Clem got the Vikings on the board with a 34-yard field goal five minutes into the fourth.
Cole Bhardwaj threw for 137 yards through the air in the game, while
Breyden Smith caught four passes for a team-best 86 yards.
Mike DiGioia finished with 64 yards on the ground on 11 attempts. Defensively,
Dylan Burton led the unit with 10 tackles, followed by
Dakota Straight with six, and
Toby Splitt and
Rukkus Hunkins each with five apiece.
Luke Willis and
Hugh Keany both contributed one sack.
With the loss, Augustana drops to 1-1 overall and 0-1 in the CCIW. The team will be back in action next Saturday at Millikin.
