SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana University football team (8-2, 5-1 NSIC South) will close-out the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 14, hosting Concordia-St. Paul (1-9, 0-6 NSIC South) at Kirkeby-Over Stadium. The Vikings, ranked fifth in the latest NCAA Super Region Three rankings, will celebrate senior day on Saturday with kickoff set for 1 p.m.
Prior to kickoff on Saturday, seniors
Jason Greenway,
Jackson Rynda,
Justin Brown,
Justin Greenway,
Logan Ferrozzo,
Chad Curry,
Garrett Earl,
CJ Ham,
Steven Miller,
Brandon Mohr,
Brian Long,
Cole Snyder and
Jamal Samaha will be recognized.
At 8-2 on the season, including 5-1 in the NSIC South Division, Augustana enters the final regular season game in second place in the overall standings and tied for first in the South Division. A win on Saturday would give the Vikings a share of the NSIC South Division Championship.
The Vikings cracked the D2football.com Top 25 Poll yesterday, entering the national rankings at No. 22.
Last weekend at Winona State, Augustana marched down the field with less than two minutes to play and scored as time expired on a six-yard touchdown pass from
Trey Heid to
Charlie Hayes that tied the game at 34-34.
Lucas Wainman drilled the extra-point to give the Vikings a 35-34 win and keep the playoff hopes alive.
Senior running back
CJ Ham enters Saturday's game just 41 rushing yards shy of his first career 1,000-yard season. Ham has rushed for 959 yards and a league-high 14 touchdowns on 203 carries in 2015. He is 27 carries, three rushing touchdowns and 156 rushing yards away from setting new single-season marks at Augustana. His 14 rushing touchdowns this season is the most since
Dajon Newell rushed for 11 in 2012.
After setting an Augustana single-season record with 5,124 yards of total offense in 2014, Augustana enters Saturday's game just 627 yards shy of last year's total. The Vikings enter the weekend ranked sixth in the NSIC and 38th in the country averaging 449.7 yards of total offense per game.
Augustana has secured its second straight winning season under head coach
Jerry Olszewski. A win on Saturday will likely ensure an NCAA Playoff berth for the Vikings, marking its fourth overall and first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2010.
The top seven teams in Super Region Three will earn a bid to the NCAA Playoffs. The field will be announced on the NCAA Division II Football Selection Show on NCAA.com at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 15.
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