BOX SCORE
BEMIDJI, Minn. - Augustana held Bemidji State to 106 yards of total offense--including just nine yards rushing--to pick up a 10-0 victory in both teams' Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference openers Saturday afternoon in Bemidji, Minn.
The defensive effort marks the least yards of total offense allowed by Augustana since Sept. 11, 2004, when the Vikings held Minnesota, Crookston to just 79 yards. It also marks the least rushing yards allowed since Oct. 11, 2008, when Augustana held Southwest Minnesota State to negative 13 yards rushing.
The win moves Augustana to 2-0; BSU drops to 1-1. The Vikings have yet to lose a conference opener since joing the NSIC in 2008.
This marks the first time BSU has been shut-out since Nov. 8, 1997.
Ben Wardell anchored the stellar defensive performance on behalf of the Vikings. The junior finished with a team-high 11 tackles, including two sacks. Chris Jansich and
Andrew Keel each added seven stops. Four of
Eric Bergman's tackles were sacks.
Augustana got interceptions from
Zac Kallas and
Diego Oquendo.
Sophomore quarterback
Josh Hanson built on his solid outing last week against St. Cloud State by completing 25 of 43 passes for 252 yards and one touchdown.
Hanson's touchdown pass found the hands of
Tyler Schulte, who grabbed three balls for 48 yards. The air attack, though, was led largely by
Eric Ellingworth, who caught nine passes for 91 yards--both career highs.
Sam Holsen caught his first pass of the season and finished with three catches for 42 yards.
The Augustana rushing attack was relatively quiet on the day, netting just 63 yards.
Joe Clark led all rushers with 39 yards. Hanson added 32 yards on 14 attempts.
Augustana looked poised to jump out to a 3-0 lead on its first possession. The Vikings worked themselves to the BSU 35-yard line, held up there by a fourth-and-six opportunity.
Drew Behrens set up for a 42-yard field goal but was blocked by the Beavers' Jake Zimmerman.
The Beavers, however, mustered just seven yards on their ensuing possession and put the Vikings on their own 28-yard line.
The Vikings opened scoring on that second series, needing four minutes and 12 plays to cover 63 yards. Hanson rushed for 20 of those yards before Augustana had to settle on a 26-yard field goal from Behrens on a fourth-and-four situation. The Vikings nearly had six on the possession, but a pass to Schulte in the left corner of the endzone was ruled incomplete.
The next five series resulted in a trio of three-and-outs by BSU; the Vikings took their fifth drive of the game and capped it with a 37-yard pass to Schulte and point after by Behrens to push their lead to 10-0.
Augustana carried that lead into the half, having held the Beavers to just nine yards on the ground in the first half.
The second half saw sputtering offenses for both squads. The deepest BSU advanced in the third quarter was on to its own 43-yard line.
The Beavers had a chance to shift some momentum early in the fourth quarter after Chris Bellinger picked off a Hanson toss. Kallas answered with his interception on the next BSU possession.
Sporting a 10-0 lead, Augustana worked conservatively, punting on its next three possessions--the last resulting in a bad snap that gave BSU the ball on their own 49-yard line with 28 seconds left.
But on the next play, Oquendo intercepted Derek Edholm to effectively end the game.
Lance Rongstad's 16 yards rushing led the Beavers, while Edholm passed for 97 yards.
Andrew Eagan and Cory Crosby each finished with 12 tackles for the Beavers.
The Vikings return home next Saturday when they host U-Mary at 1 p.m. in an NSIC contest.
