ELMHURST, Ill. – The Augustana Vikings football team delivered a dominant 48–7 victory over the Elmhurst Bluejays on Saturday night at Langhorst Field, improving to 4–1 overall and 3–1 in CCIW play.
The Vikings came out firing on their first drive of the night. Quarterback Jimmy Makuh led a balanced seven play, 55-yard march, finding Ben Ludlum out of the backfield for a 26-yard touchdown to put Augustana on top early. Elmhurst answered with a score of their own, but Augie quickly reclaimed control with a methodical 63-yard drive capped by a one-yard Ludlum plunge to make it 14–7.
The defense set the tone on the next series as a tackle for loss by Owen Keany and pass break-up by Toby Splitt kept the pressure on until Travis Kenzevich came down with an interception to stop the Bluejays' momentum. Makuh and the offense capitalized on the takeaway, connecting with Mikey Brosnan and Sean Schlanser on first-down strikes to end the first quarter driving again.
To open the second, Makuh aimed right and hit tight end Jake Miller on a 33-yard strike to the two-yard line, setting up his own one-yard keeper for a touchdown. After a quick three-and-out defensive stop, Ludlum broke loose on a 34-yard run to create another short field, and after Makuh found Schlanser for the first down, Ludlum would finish the drive by catching a 10-yard touchdown pass from Makuh. After the Vikings defense forced the Blue Jays to punt with 1:11 left on the clock, the Vikings marched 52 yards in the final minute, capped by a booming 47-yard field goal from Jacob Garbett as time expired, sending Augie into the break up 32–7.
Augustana stayed hot after halftime. Defense came up big as Harry Majerus would have a clutch 3rd & 2 pass break-up. With the offense taking over, Makuh would find his running back again for a gain of 21 yards. Makuh would stay hot and hit Vrabec down the seam for a 46-yard touchdown on the opening possession of the third quarter. After the Augie defnese would come up with another forced 3-and-out, JJ Gamlin would join the big play party with a 29-yard punt return. Makuh would pick up where he left off finding Brosnan on back-to-back connections. Makuh then delivered a 16-yard connection to AJ Zweeres for his fourth passing score of the night. The Bluejays would test the Vikings secondary once more and Kenzevich would once again snag a pick for the Vikings. Later in the frame, Garbett added a 38-yard field goal to round out the Vikings' scoring, extending the lead to 48–7 heading into the fourth. David Finfer would check-in for the Vikings and showed some promising minutes in the fourth. The endzones would stay empty in the final frame and the Vikings would hold on to the 48-7 victory.
Makuh posted another stellar outing, completing 25 of 27 passes for 319 yards and four touchdowns while also rushing for a score. Ludlum totaled 146 yards with two touchdowns through the air and one on the ground. Vrabec added 91 yards and a touchdown, Schlanser notched six catches for 71 yards, and Brosnan hauled in seven passes for 41 yards. On the ground, Ludlum led with 83 yards on eight carries, Finfer chipped in 34 yards on the ground and 16 through the air, and Josh Lim added 14 yards.
Defensively, Splitt anchored the group with 10 tackles and a pass breakup, while Dino Hunt tallied seven stops and two tackles for loss. Shiloh Jones and Ryan Gustafsson each recorded 1.5 sacks, Keany added a sack and two tackles for loss, and Kenzevich intercepted two passes to pace a Viking defense that finished with 13 tackles for loss and five sacks.
Garbett went 2-for-2 on field goals and 4-for-5 on PATs, while Gamlin sparked special teams with a 29-yard punt return.
With the win, Augustana improves to 4–1 and completes their Chicagoland trip undefeated. The Vikings will return home on Saturday, Oct. 18, to host Carroll.
