Box Score
Augustana's first game as a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference was a memorable one as the Vikings won a thriller, defeating St. Cloud State 13-10 in overtime Thursday night at Howard Wood Field.
The Vikings, sparked by several key plays by their defense, came away with the victory when Luke Butler found Tyler Schulte for a 23-yard touchdown pass on their second play from scrimmage in the overtime. The score came after the Augie defense held St. Cloud State to a 37-yard field goal by Brian Cristan on the Huskies' offensive series in overtime.
St. Cloud State nearly won the game late in regulation. Brian Kampa intercepted a Butler pass and gave the Huskies the ball at the Augie 19 with 1:10 to play in the game. SCSU ran the clock down to set up a last-second field goal. However, Cristan pushed his 34-yard field goal wide right with 18 seconds to play, forcing overtime.
In overtime, Augustana won the toss and elected to play defense first. The Vikings held the Huskies to 5 yards on three plays to set up Cristan's 37-yard field goal.
The Vikings then wasted little time to end the game on their possession. Jeremy Huber gained 2 yards on first down. Then on second down, Butler spotted Schulte as he broke free from single coverage and lobbed the ball toward the end zone where Schulte hauled it in at the back of the end zone.
The win was Augustana's first overtime victory since defeating South Dakota State 39-33 in triple overtime in the 2002 season.
Both defenses showed why they are among the top units in the NSIC as they held the offenses to a combined 7 of 32 on third down conversions.
Although St. Cloud State outgained Augustana 343 yards to 248 yards, it was the Viking defense that came up with big plays when it needed to.
Augustana's defense came up with a turnover and a key stop on fourth down to stop SCSU's first 2 drives. After that, the Vikings' offense came up with the game's first score. Starting at their own 26, the Vikings quickly marched 74 yards on 6 plays for a score. Butler, playing in his first game for Augie after transferring from Idaho State, found Schulte for a key 38-yard gain that put the ball on the St. Cloud State 5. On the next play, Huber took a pitch and rumbled 5 yards into the end zone with 1:20 left in the first quarter. Ryan Grossman's extra point gave the hosts a 7-0 lead.
Both teams were able to move the ball in the first half, but the defenses were able to keep the ball out of the end zone. St. Cloud State gained 203 total yards, but the Vikings came up with 2 interceptions, including a Matt Lien pick at the Augie 2 with 1:13 left in the first half. Augustana, meanwhile, amassed 149 yards in the first half.
After a scoreless third quarter, St. Cloud State tied the game early in the fourth period when Fred Williams caught a screen pass from Mitch Watkins and weaved his way to a 24-yard touchdown with 10:39 left in regulation. Cristan's PAT knotted the score at 7-7.
Butler finished the night completing 16 of 33 passes for 151 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Schulte hauled in 5 receptions for 85 yards and the game-winning score. Joe Clark paced the rushing attack with 53 yards on 15 carries.
Watkins passed for 193 yards after completing 23 of 40 passes with 1 TD and 2 interceptions. Williams was the top Husky receiver with 73 yards on 9 catches, while Michael Graham carried the ball 24 times for 100 yards.
Defensively, sophomore Chris Janisch collected a career-high 12 tackles in his first career start. Brian Baumgartner also reached double digits with 10 tackles and an interception. Three other players, Andrew Keel, Mike Vanasek and Lien all had 9 stops.
David Kamin paced SCSU with 8 tackles.
Augustana will step out of conference play next week as the Vikings travel to Emporia, Kan., to face Emporia State in a 1 p.m. contest.
