Box Score
The Augustana football team had its playoff chances dampened as Wayne State handed the Vikings a 28-7 defeat in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action Saturday afternoon at Howard Wood Field.
Augustana, which entered the game ranked sixth in the Super Regional 3 rankings, slipped to 6-3 overall and 6-2 in the NSIC. Wayne State, which was ninth in the region, improved to 7-2 overall and 6-2 in the NSIC.
Playing in their final home game at Howard Wood Field, the Vikings were victimized by turnovers on Saturday. Augustana came into the game plus-9 on the season in turnovers, but the Vikings committed four turnovers against the Wildcats. Wayne State converted the first three turnovers into touchdowns.
After receiving the opening kickoff, Augustana began a drive at its own 30. However, on the second play from scrimmage, WSC's Reno Blomquist intercepted a
Luke Butler pass and returned it 40 yards to the Augie 4-yard line, On the next play, Travis Rhone scored the first of three touchdowns with a 4-yard run with 14:04 left in the first quarter.
Augustana settled down and appeared to be heading to a game-tying score midway through the second quarter. Taking over at their own 32, the Vikings methodically moved the ball down the field to the WSC 2. But on second-and-goal,
Joe Clark fumbled the exchange from Butler and Wayne State's Robert Manuel recovered the ball at the Wildcat 3 with 6:10 to play in the half.
The Wildcats then marched 97 yards in 5:20 to take a 14-0 lead with 50 seconds left in the half. Silas Fluellen tossed a 4-yard scoring pass to Brian Chapman for the touchdown.
Midway through the third quarter, Wayne State forced another turnover. Butler dropped back to pass but was sacked by Tyler Krueger, fumbling in the process. Wayne State recovered the ball at the Augie 16 and four plays later, Rhone scored from1 yard out to make the score 21-0.
Rhone put the game away with 2:00 to play when he rambled 65 yards for a touchdown to make the score 28-0.
The Vikings, who completed just 1 of 11 passes for 11 yards in the first three quarters, drove 65 yards in 1:47 to avoid the shutout. Butler plunged into the end zone with 2 seconds remaining.
Augustana finished with 266 total yards, including 178 yards on the ground. Clark led the Vikings with 67 yards, while Huber had 48 yards and
Tyler Schulte 46. Butler completed 11 of 21 passes for 88 yards.
Joe Klumper hauled in 4 receptions for 33 yards.
Defensively,
Andrew Keel had a team-high 12 tackles, while
Brian Baumgartner chipped in with 10.
Eric Bergman recorded 2 of the Vikings' 3 sacks on the afternoon.
For Wayne State, Fluellen passed for 149 yards and rushed for 110 yards. Rhone added 112 yards on the ground.
Augustana closes out the regular season with back-to-back road games. The Vikings travel to Winona, Minn., next week to take on Winona State in a 1 p.m. contest.
