INDIANOLA, Iowa -- The Augustana Vikings football team secured a 42-41 victory in overtime for its season opener against the Simpson Storm. 

The Vikings got off to a fast start in the game, forcing a three-and-out, with a key sack from Nick Hogan and TJ Klein. On Augie's first offensive drive, Jimmy Makuh completed a pass to Sean Schlanser for a 25-yard touchdown. The Storm followed with a three-minute drive that resulted in a good field goal attempt to move the game to 7-3. Augie answered with a 32-yard pass by Makuh to Ethan Vrabec for another Viking touchdown in their second offensive play of the game. Both teams turned the ball over on downs in their next plays, and Simpson closed the quarter with an eight-play drive to keep the game at 14-3 after 15 minutes of play.

The second quarter started with a quick field goal attempt by the Storm to move the game to 14-6, and followed with another successful field goal in their next offensive show. Simpson recovered a fumbled ball to move them ahead 16-14 with 5:59 remaining in the half. The Vikings followed with a 13-play drive, resulting in a 19-yard field goal attempt by Jacob Garbett to regain the one-point lead with 47 seconds remaining. The Storm converted three plays, but was unable to move the ball to Augie's territory to end the first half with a 17-16 score in the Vikings' favor. 

Returning to the field, both teams showed strong offensive battles with neither team reaching the end zone until a deep throw by the Storm moved the game to 23-17 entering the final 15 minutes of action. 

Augie kicked off the high-scoring fourth quarter with a 50-yard pass by Makuh, and a successful attempt by Garbett regained the one-point advantage. Simpson immediately answered with a touchdown from the kickoff to move the score in the Storm's advantage at 29-24. The Vikings' following drive consisted of three plays before back-to-back 14-yard passes by Makuh moved Augie to the Storm's two-yard line. Makuh rushed the middle for another Viking touchdown. With 5:35 left on the clock, Simpson took the three-point lead, and Augie held possession for the remainder of the period and notched a 36-yard field goal attempt to tie the game at 35-35 and force overtime action. 

Augustana scored early in its overtime drive after a seven-yard pass to Schlanser moved the game to 42-35. With the pressure on Simpson, they were able to sneak in a three-yard touchdown with a two-point play set, but it was deflected by the Vikings' defense to allow Augie to conquer the matchup with a 42-41 final score. 

On offense, Makuh completed 31 passes for 375 yards, while Schlanser added 104 yards and two scores on the ground. Vrabec also hauled in eight catches for 105 yards and a touchdown. Defensively, the Vikings were led in tackles by Toby Splitt with 11, while Klein had one tackle for loss and half a sack.

With the win, Augie begins the season with a 1-0 record. The team will be back in action on Sept. 20 to host No. 17 Wheaton.