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This week
Augustana (4-3, 3-3 NSIC/3-0 NSIC South) seeks its fifth straight win Saturday in a meeting with cross-division neighbor MSU Moorhead (2-5, 1-5 NSIC/1-2 NSIC North). Kickoff from Kirkeby-Over Stadium is set for 1 p.m.
The series
Saturday is just the second meeting between Augustana and MSU Moorhead. The two teams faced off for the first time last season in Moorhead, Minn., where the Vikings registered a 47-17 win. In that contest, Augustana scored 40 unanswered points and rallied from a 17-7 deficit to complete a come-back victory. ?For more on the series, turn to page 13.
Last time out
Six takeaways by the Augustana defense helped the Vikings post their fourth straight win by outlasting Winona State 23-15 last Saturday afternoon at Kirkeby-Over Stadium. The visiting Warriors had one last opportunity to tie the contest when Augustana kicker
Drew Behrens' 31-yard field goal attempt bounced off the right upright with 2:15 left in the fourth quarter. With no time outs left, WSU kicked in its hurry-up offense but
Zac Kallas picked off an Alex Nelson pass to seal the verdict with 90 ticks left on the scoreboard clock.
Josh Hanson and
Sam Holsen hooked up for two touchdowns. Redshirt freshman running back
Dajon Newell had 21 carries for 121 yards. It was his third 100-plus yard effort since breaking into the lineup in the fourth game of the season.
Curt Truhe carried just three times, but produced 33 yards and a touchdown. Augustana totaled 411 yards total offense to 384 for the Warriors. The Vikings' ground game accounted for 240 yards. Hanson completed 16-of-28 passes for 171 yards and two scores. Dan O'Keefe had a monster day with 16 tackles.
Football forecast
Saturday's forecast for Sioux Falls, S.D., calls for a high of 61 degrees and a partly cloudy sky.
Pick City
Augustana had six interceptions on the season entering last Saturday's game against Winona State. The Vikings nearly matched that against the Warriors, tormenting WSU quarterback Alex Nelson with five picks in the Viking win. Cornerbacks
Zac Kallas (Lakeville, Minn.) and
Sean Kelly (Naperville, Ill.) each had two interceptions, while linebacker
Austin Luecke (Groton,?S.D.) registered the first swipe of his career. The trio returned the five interceptions for a total of 42 yards.
We'll take that
In addition to charting five interceptions last week against Winona State, the Viking defense also notched a fumble recovery when
Zac Kallas (Lakeville, Minn.) jumped on a loose ball that was the result of bad snap on a WSU field-goal attempt. That's the most turnovers Augustana has forced since its home meeting with Concordia University, St. Paul on Oct. 1 when the Golden Bears gave up the ball four times in a 37-13 Viking win.
Double up
Sam Holsen (Sioux Falls) found paydirt twice last week against Winona State--the sixth time the sure-handed senior wide out has had a multiple-touchdown game during his career and second time this season. The two scores were part of a six-catch, 95-yard performance by one of the most consistent receivers in the NSIC. Holsen leads the Vikings in receptions (38), receiving yards (607), receiving touchdowns (6) yards per catch (16.0) and receiving yards per game (75.9). In conference statistics, Holsen is tops in the league in receptions per game with 5.5 (conference games only).
And he runs
For the third time in the last four games,
Dajon Newell (Lakeville, Minn.) orchestrated a 100-yard rushing effort. Newell rushed 21 times for 116 yards last week against Winona State, brining his season total to team-best 432 yards. In last Saturday's meeting with the Warriors, the redshirt freshman averaged 5.5 yards per carry. ?He also caught two passes for 22 yards and finished the contest with a game-high 145 all-purpose yards. Newell is averaging 72.0 rushing yards per game.
A little comparison
When
Dajon Newell (Lakeville, Minn.) broke into the starting lineup on Sept. 24 against Southwest Minnesota State, he commenced his career as a starting back by ripping off 105 yards and one touchdown in a win over the Mustangs. As a redshirt freshman, it's hard not to draw the comparison to another shifty runner who haunted opposing defenses during his long career with the Vikings.
Joe Clark (Rochester, Minn.) finished his tenure (2007 to 2010) as Augustana's all-time rushing leader with 3,623 yards. Through seven games this season, Newell has rushed for 432 yards. As a true freshman in 2007, Clark netted 242 yards on the ground through seven games. The start to his career was a little slower than Newell's. In fact, Newell already has more rushing yards than Clark did as a freshman (429). Additionally, Clark had just one 100-yard rushing game during his freshman campaign (a 108 yard outing against Western Washington on Nov. 3, 2007). Newell has already logged three, including a 200-yard performance against Concordia University, St. Paul on Oct. 1. Newell, however, will have major work to do if he hopes to match Clark's career numbers as the latter rattled off three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons to close out his decorated career with the Vikings.
Get your Phil
Phil Uecker (Dassel, Minn.) compiled a career-high 28 rushing yards on a career-high six carries against Winona State last Saturday. He also scored his third touchdown of the season on a 7-yard rumble to give the Vikings a 13-0 advantage over the visiting Warriors. While his season numbers (11 carries for 35 yards) might not turn any heads, his play on short-yardage situations has been efficient, particularily in the red zone. In fact, Uecker has scored more than 27 percent of the time when carrying the ball.
For starters
Right guard
Tyler Lynch (Sioux Falls) will make his 45th career start on Saturday against MSU Moorhead, tying a school record. Lynch's career with the Vikings includes 44 appearances--all starts--on the offensive line. Bryan Mohr, who played center for Augustana from 1987 to 1990, made 45 starts during his tenure with the Vikings. Mohr went his entire career with a start in every game.
Closing in
Kicking specialist
Drew Behrens (Pleasant Hill, Iowa) is just two field goals shy of tying the all-time record at Augustana. ?With his 39-yard boot last week, Behrens nailed the 29th field goal of his career. The record of 31 career field goals is shared by Adam Brinkman (2000 to 2003) and Ryan Grossman (2005 to 2008). Behrens has a chance to create some space between himself and Brinkman and Grossman as he is just a junior in 2011.
The strive for five
A win by Augustana over MSU Moorhead on Saturday would give the Viking their fifth straight victory. The Vikings are familiar with winning streaks; they rattled of nine straight wins to open the 2010 season. But before last season, five straight was hard to come by. In the post World War II era, Augustana has strung together five straight wins just four times. The Vikings did it in 1959 under Bob Burns, in 1977 under Joel Swisher, in 1992 under Jim Heinitz and last season under Mike Aldrich.
What the coaches say
The NSIC coaches picked the Vikings third overall and first in the South Division in their preseason poll. Augustana received 145 points overall and 33 points and four first-place votes in the South Division edition of the rankings. Minnesota Duluth was the preseason favorite with 11 first-place votes and 167 points. The Bulldogs were also picked to win the North Division with five first-place votes and 35 points.
All-America nods
Defensive backs Dan O'Keefe (Aberdeen, S.D.) and
Zac Kallas (Eden Prairie, Minn.) accepted a total of four preseason All-America certificates prior to the start of this 2011 season. Consensus Draft Services picked O'Keefe for its team. D2football.com, Lindy's and Sporting News reserved a spot for Kallas.
We like Mike
Mike Aldrich commenced his career as a head coach in eventful style. He immediately rattled off nine wins and led the Vikings to their first playoff appearance in more than two decades. Aldrich also doubles as Augustana's defensive coordinator. The 2010 Region 5 Coach of the Year and a finalist for the Liberty Mutual?Coach of the Year, Aldrich owns a career record of 15-5.
History lesson
Augustana is in its 89th season of competition in 2011. The Vikings owns an all-time record of 369-438-15. The Vikings have posted 32 winning seasons, including the past three years.
Stay connected
It's easy to know the latest on Viking athletics. You can follow Augustana on its various social media outlets, including Twitter (twitter.com/GoAugie), Facebook (facebook.com/GoAugie) and YouTube (youtube.com/GoAugie). To learn more, visit GoAugie.com/stayconnected.
Augustana Sportscene
Augustana Sportscene is a 30-minute weekly television show highlighting Augustana athletics and is hosted by Director of Athletics Bill Gross. The show includes Viking highlights, interviews with various coaches and student-athletes and promotion of upcoming Augustana athletic events. Augustana Sportscene airs Monday's at 10:30 p.m. and Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. on Midco Sports Network and at various times on Mediacom's MC22.
Augustana Coaches' Show
Live from Rookies in Sioux Falls, The Augustana Coaches' Show airs On ESPN 99.1 each Monday at 5 p.m. Join Jeffy Fylling and Augustana head coaches as they discuss various topics surrounding Viking athletics. You can also stream the show live at www.ESPN991.com.
Video webcasts
The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and Penn Atlantic have again teamed up to webcast each conference football game in 2011. A complete broadcast schedule is available at www.northernsun.org.
On the radio
Veteran radio man Jeff Fylling is back as the “Voice of the Vikings” for 2011. Join Fylling and color anaylyst and former Augustana quarterback John Schultz for each week's broadcast on KIKN-FM 100.5. You can also stream the broadcast at kikn.com/stream.
