SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Augustana University football jumped out to a 28-7 halftime lead and never looked back picking up a 41-17 win over Minot State University (0-4) in front of 3,341 fans at Kirkeby-Over Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Justin Greenway had a big day for the Vikings (3-1) picking up 211 all-purpose yards, including 82 rushing and 76 receiving yards while scoring two touchdowns.


 
Trey Heid registered his second 300-plus passing game of the season (sixth career) finishing 23 of 36 for 329 yards and three touchdowns. Heid spread the ball around to eight different receivers in the game and tossed two of his three touchdown passes to Matt Heller.
 
Heller finished with four catches for 61 yards and two touchdowns, matching his career-high for most in a game. Heller has caught two touchdown passes in a game three times in his career.
 
CJ Ham added 81 rushing yards and a score on 15 carries while also catching a team-high five passes for 65 yards and a touchdown. Ham has had two or more touchdowns in three games this season (six career).
 
For the fourth straight game, Augustana held its opponent to under 100 yards rushing. The Vikings held Minot State, who entered today's game averaging 101.3 rushing yards per game, to just 73 yards on the ground. Minot State finished the game with 363 yards of total offense while the Vikings surpassed 500-yards of total offense for the second time this season finishing with 520.
 
Augustana was led defensively by Brandon Mohr and Jackson Rynda. Mohr finished with nine tackles (six solo) while Rynda finished with seven. Nevin Andreas and Steven Miller each pitched in with six tackles for the Vikings.
 
The Vikings quickly jumped out to a 14-0 lead after two long drives to open the first quarter. After the opening kickoff, Augustana marched down the field and scored on a 16-yard touchdown catch by Ham that capped-off an 11-play, 71-yard drive to give Augustana a 7-0 lead after the Lucas Wainman extra-point.
 
The defense forced Minot to go three-and-out on their first offensive series and the Vikings put together another 11-play drive that took up over five minutes of the game clock and ended with a 22-yard touchdown catch by Heller.
 
Augustana and Minot State each missed a field goal attempt in the opening minutes of the second quarter and the Vikings took advantage of the Minot miss going 80 yards on eight plays for another score to go in front 21-0. The Vikings overcame a 15-yard penalty for intentional grounding penalty and got deep into Minot State territory after a 55-yard completion to Justin Greenway. Three plays later, Ham plunged into the end zone for his second score of the game.
 
Minot State made it 21-7 with 1:58 remaining in the first half after a three-yard touchdown catch by Porter Sturm but that would be plenty of time for the Vikings to answer as Heid led the offense on an 8-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a diving 11-yard touchdown catch by Heller in the back of the end zone that put Augustana in front 28-7 with 36 seconds remaining in the first half.
 
Both teams punted on their first possessions of the second half and Minot State quickly cut Augustana's lead to 14 after an 86-yard touchdown catch by Sturm that made the score 28-14 with 11:40 left in the third quarter.
 
The Vikings answered right back when six plays later Justin Greenway made his way into the end zone on a 15-yard score to push Augustana's lead to 35-14. That is where the score would stay until the beginning of the fourth quarter when Justin Greenway found the end zone again, this time from nine-yards out to extend the lead to 41-14.
 
Augustana would hold Minot State to a field goal on its next possession and go on to defeat the Beavers 41-17 to conclude cross-divisional play for the 2015 season. Augustana finished 3-1 against the North Division this season, improving its record to 12-8 against the North Division since divisional play was introduced in 2011.
 
The Vikings will open South Division play next Saturday hosting Southwest Minnesota State at 1 p.m.