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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - A 164-yard, two-touchdown rushing effort by
Dajon Newell fueled a 35-3 Augustana win over MSU Moorhead Saturday afternoon in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference football at Kirkeby-Over Stadium in Sioux Falls.
The win, which was Augustana's fifth straight, pushes the Vikings to 5-3 (5-2 NSIC). MSU Moorhead falls to 2-6 (1-6 NSIC).
Newell registered his second-consecutive 100-yard rushing game and fourth this season. His performance came on 29 carries.
Josh Hanson completed 11 of 18 passes for 153 yards and three scores.
Grant Gebhardt grabbed five of those balls and turned them two into touchdowns. He finished with a game-high 87 receiving yards.
The Viking defense held the MSUM offense to just 203 yards of total offense--a season low by an Augustana opponent. The Dragons managed just 86 yards through the air.
Ross Peterson logged a game-high nine tackles,
Ben Wardell notched a sack for 9 yards and
Keith Newman had his first career interception.
Kevin Koch completed 13 of 31 passes for 86 yards for MSUM, which has lost in its only two meetings with Augustana. E'Boni Lucious West rushed for 58 yards.
Augustana scored the first 29 points of the game—filling the first quarter with 23 points thanks in large part to relentless running by Newell.
Newell scored on runs of 16 and 3 yards in the first quarter. A 32-yard field goal from
Drew Behrens between those two strikes accounted for a 17-0 lead with 2:15 left in the first quarter.
Thomas Vanasek set up another Viking score with his blocked punt a minute later. Hanson found Gebhardt from 27 yards out two plays later for a 23-0 Augustana advantage as Behrens missed the point after.
Augustana added a score with two minutes left in the first half when Hanson dropped in a 9-yard toss to tight end
Isaac Jorgensen. The Vikings were unsuccessful on a two-point conversion and entered halftime with a 29-0 lead.
Newell had 121 yards rushing and pair of touchdowns at the break.
The Dragons didn't have a single third-down conversion in the first half.
MSUM scored its only points of the game on a 37-yard field goal by Wes Kramer early in the third.
But Hanson and Gebhardt served up a rebuttal with 2:21 remaining in the third quarter on a 22-yard pass down the middle that resulted in paydirt. Behrens missed the point after, and the Vikings owned a decisive 35-3 lead.
Neither team scored in the fourth quarter.
Augustana gained more than 200 yards on the ground for the second week in a row, racking up 221.
The Vikings travel to Minnesota State on Thursday for a 7 p.m. NSIC South Division showdown. The game will be nationally telecast live by CBS Sports Network.
