Box Score
Luke Butler threw for a career-high five touchdowns to lead the Viking football team to an opening-game victory over the St. Cloud State (SCSU) Huskies, 38-16, Thursday night in St. Cloud, Minn.
Last season, the Vikings opened the year with a 13-10 overtime victory over SCSU. In this opener, the Vikings exceeded last year's point total midway through the 2nd quarter.
The Vikings outgained the Huskies, 362 to 296 yards, with 209 coming through the air. Though the ground game struggled early, Augie was still able to finish with 153 yards on 34 carries for a 4.5 yard-per-carry average.
After an early exchange of field goals, Tom Vanasek blocked an SCSU punt and set up Augie at the SCSU 22-yard line. Three plays later, Butler found
Tyler Schulte from 12 yards out to put the Vikings up, 10-3, with 7:39 remaining in the opening quarter.
After a SCSU touchdown run by Mitch Watkins cut the lead to 10-9, Butler found
Sam Holsen, who had a career-high three touchdown catches and 140 receiving yards, for a 61-yard touchdown to push the lead out to 17-9 with 6:27 remaining in the second quarter. A penalty on a short SCSU punt gave Augie the ball at the SCSU 36, and one play later, Butler found Holsen again for a 36-yard score that put the Vikings up 24-9 right before halftime.
SCSU scored its final points of the evening when Tyler Allery caught a 12-yard pass from Watkins to cut the lead back to eight in the third quarter at 24-16, but Holsen got open to score again, when Butler hooked up with him for a 28-yard score at the 4:58 mark. With 10:52 in the fourth, Butler again found Schulte from 21 yards out to ice the game and move Augie to 1-0. Butler finished the night 12-of-19 for 209 yards. He also rushed eight times for 20 yards.
Joe Clark finished the night with 17 carries for 75 yards. SCSU did a good job containing Clark early, as Clark rushed for -8 yards on his first five carries. However, in the second half, the Augie offense was able to wear down the SCSU defense and Clark gained 83 yards on 12 carries.
Defensively, the Viking linebacker corps let the way.
Chris Janisch had a game-high 16 tackles, including one for loss,
Andrew Keel tallied 10 stops, including one for loss, and
Brandon McMichael, who returned to the lineup after sitting out the 2008 season with an injury, had six tackles, two for sacks.
Nick Weber also had nine tackles. In all, the Viking defense held the Huskies to negative yardage on 10 of 76 plays, blocked a punt, and created two turnovers.
Penalties was one of the few dim spots in an otherwise bright performance. Augie amassed 76 yards on nine penalties, and had several others declined by the Huskies
The Vikings will play their next game on Saturday, September 5, and their first on campus in 51 years in the new confines of Kirkeby-Over Stadium. The Vikings will host Emporia State and the kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
