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This week
Augustana (5-5, 5-4 NSIC/3-2 NSIC South) finishes the 2011 season on the road Saturday, traveling to West Union, Iowa, to face Upper Iowa (3-7, 2-7 NSIC/0-5 NSIC South) in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference South Division battle at North Fayette High School at 1 p.m.
The series
Saturday marks the fifth meeting between Augustana and Upper Iowa in a relatively new series that began in 2005. The Vikings have won all four contests with the Peacocks and posted a 32-0 victory last season in Sioux Falls. Augustana's smallest margin of victory against UIU is 20 points, while the largest difference is 48 points. In the series, the Vikings have outscored the Peacocks 167-34. Head coach Mike Aldrich is 1-0 against UIU. For more on the series, turn to page 13.
Last time out
Max Martin hit a 49-yard field goal with 13 seconds left to lift Wayne State to a 34-32 victory over Augustana last Saturday afternoon in Sioux Falls. Max's field goal erased a 32-31 late Viking lead. Augustana had scored with 1:06 remaining to go ahead, but the Wildcats went 39 yards before Max split the uprights with the wind to his back. The Vikings were stuffed on the only offensive play of their resulting possession. Bryce Hawthorne rushed for 167 yards and one touchdown in the Wildcat win. Nate Most threw for 152 yards and two scores.
Ben Parsley hauled in a career-high 10 catches for a career-high 135 yards and a touchdown.
Josh Hanson completed 33 of 52 passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns. The Viking run game struggled, netting just 58 yards.
Football forecast
Saturday's forecast for West Union, Iowa, calls for a high of 54 degrees and a party cloudy sky.
We're not in Fayette
Saturday's tilt with Upper Iowa will not be played on the Peacocks' normal home venue, Eischeid Stadium. Due to extensive renovations underway at the field, this week's game was moved to North Fayette High School in West Union, Iowa, a grass-surface facility that seats approximately 2,000. West Union is about 10 miles north of Fayette and is home to the North Fayette High School Hawks. UIU played Concordia University, St. Paul in?West Union last week and fell 20-19 to the Golden?Bears on a hail-mary pass as time expired, making the Peacocks 0-1 all-time at NFHS.
Close calls
Augustana has been involved in four games this season that have been decided by three or fewer points. On Oct. 10, the Vikings fell 30-27 to Bemidji State in overtime. The?Vikings then edged out a 27-24 victory over Northern State on Oct. 8. The past two weeks, however, have seen tight games fall in the opposition's favor. Minnesota State topped Augustana 27-26 on national television Oct. 27, and Wayne State used a late field goal to beat the Vikings 34-32 last week. Augustana is 1-3 in 2011 in games decided by three or fewer points.
Sure hands
Junior wide receiver
Ben Parsley (Flandreau,?S.D.) is developing into a fine playmaker. The 6-foot-3 Parsley has made a handful of spectacular catches this season, and he had the first 100-yard receiving game of his career last week against Wayne State. Parsley pulled in nine catches for 130 yards and one touchdown in the Viking loss. His long reception on the afternoon was 41 yards. Parsley has 25 catches for 330 yards and three touchdowns this season. He is also averaging 13.2 yards per reception.
Pair of picks
Defensive backs
Nick Andreas (Lakeville, Minn.) and
Zac Kallas (Eden?Prairie, Minn.) both had an intercpetion in last Saturday's game against Wayne State, bringing their season totals to four each. Andreas managed to turn his into a 25-yard return. As a team, the Vikings have swiped 14 passes this season and have had three games with two or more picks, including a five-interception outing on Oct. 15 at home against Winona State. The Vikings also had three picks against Concordia University, St. Paul on Oct. 1.
Finish strong
A win by Augustana on Saturday would secure the Vikings their fourth-straight winning season with a 6-5 record. The Vikings went 11-2 last season and 8-4 in 2008 and 2009. If Augustana were to fall to Upper Iowa Saturday, it would be the Vikings' first losing season since the 2007 campaign when they went 4-7 under Brad Salem
Through two seasons
Head coach Mike Aldrich has already guaranteed himself a winning record through his first two seasons as the leader of Viking football. He is currently 16-7 (.696) at Augustana. Only two other coaches in the program's history have had winning percentages better than .500 in their first two years. LA “Lefty?Olson” went 8-6 (.571) during his inaugural seasons at Augustana in 1931 and 1932. Joel?Swisher went 11-9 (.550) between 1977 and 1978.
Triple-figure season
Austin Luecke (Groton, S.D.) made his 100th tackle of the season last week against Wayne State, becoming the first Viking this season to hit the century mark. Luecke has made 42 solo stops this season and registered nine tackles for loss. The junior linebacker has also forced two fumbles in 2011.
Tommy boy
After missing a pair of games with an injury,
Tom Ries (Eden Prairie, Minn.) was inserted back in the starting lineup against?Wayne State last Saturday. With Ries out, the Vikings used
Nick Pappas (Mason City, Iowa) to man the center spot. ?The redshirt freshman made his first two career starts against MSU Moorhead and Minnesota State.
On the road and on grass
The Vikings' trip to West Union, Iowa, to face Upper Iowa will be just their second game on natural grass this season. ?Augustana fell to Minnesota State 27-26 Oct. 27 on grass and on the road. The Vikings are 2-2 overall during away games.
Wouldn't it be grand?
A big game by Dajon?Newell (Lakeville, Minn.) Saturday against Upper Iowa could get the redshirt freshman to 1,000 yards rushing for the season. Newell is at 832 yards for the year but has been known to rip off games near or past 200 yards on the ground. To put it into persepctive, Newell needs 168 yards to get to 1,000 for the season. He's had two efforts better than that this year, logging 203 yards against Concordia University, St. Paul on Oct. 1 and 189 yards at Minnesota State on Oct. 27. He would, however, have to better his 104.0 rushing yards per game average to get to a grand.
High-percentage back
Phil Uecker (Dassel, Minn.) is second on the team with five rushing touchdowns this season--despite only having 19 carries for 70 yards on the year. Uecker has bruised his way in on short-yardage situations a handful of times in 2011. In fact, the fullback scores about a quarter of the time when touching the ball.
Secondary goodbye
It's the final game for the anchors of one of the top defensive secondaries in the conference Saturday against Upper Iowa. Safeties Dan O'Keefe (Aberdeen, S.D.) and
Nick Andreas (Lakeville, Minn.) and cornerback
Zac Kallas (Eden?Prairie, Minn.) will suit up for the final time having left their mark on Viking football. Duirng their careers, the trio has combined for 34 interceptions and 505 tackles.
Making some room
Drew Behrens (Pleasant Hill, Iowa) continues to create himself some room in the record book for career field goals. Behrens became Augustana'a all-time leader when he drilled his 32nd career field goal against Minnesota State on Oct. 27, passing Adam Brinkman and Ryan Grossman. Behrens now has 34 for his career.
Senior moments
Twelve seniors will play the final game of their career Saturday against Upper Iowa.
Curt Truhe (Elk?Point, S.D.),
Sam Holsen (Sioux Falls),
Jordan Marshall (Ramsey, Minn.),
Nick Andreas (Lakeville, Minn.), Dan O'Keefe (Aberdeen, S.D.),
Zac Kallas (Eden Prairie, Minn.),
Ben Wardell (Sturgis, S.D.),
Louis Krabbenhoft (Sioux Falls),
Tyler Lynch (Sioux Falls),?
Aaron Esselink (Hills, Minn.),
Scott Verley (Blooming Prairie, Minn.) and
Anthony Shawd (Sioux Falls) are this year's seniors. The class has experienced a plethora of firsts during their careers. They were part of the first Viking football team to play in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. They played the first game in Kirkeby-Over Stadium. And they helped the Vikings to the most successful season in school history last year in which Augustana went 11-2 and hosted and won its first playoff game in school history.
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.
History lesson
Augustana is in its 89th season of competition in 2011. The Vikings own an all-time record of 370-439-15. The Vikings have posted 32 winning seasons, including the past three years.
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 16-7.
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 Jeff 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.
