BOX SCORE FAYETTE, Iowa – Senior quarterback
Trey Heid passed for a season-high 466 yards and six touchdowns while rushing for 87 and a score to lead Augustana University to a 54-35 win over Upper Iowa University (2-6, 1-3 NSIC South) in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference South Division play on Saturday. Augustana improves to 5-3 on the season following the win, including 2-2 in the South Division.
The six passing touchdowns by Heid tied his career-high which he set on Oct. 18, 2014 when he threw six touchdown passes at Wayne State. Heid finished the game completing 30 of 48 passes for 466 yards and six touchdowns. He also ran 14 times to lead the Vikings with 87 yards on the ground and a rushing touchdown.
Heid has thrown 30 touchdowns this season which puts him just two shy of the single season record set by Josh Hanson in 2012. The six touchdown passes gives him 94 for his career.
Charlie Hayes put up over 200 receiving yards for the second straight game (third career) for the Vikings. Hayes hauled in 11 passes for a season-high 232 yards.
Matt Heller went over 100 receiving yards on the day catching 10 passes for 147 yards while tying his career-high with three touchdown receptions.
This marks the first time Augustana has had two receivers with 100-plus receiving yards in the same game since the duo did so against Concordia-St. Paul in the regular season finale last year on Nov. 14, 2015.
Nathan Merriman caught three passes for a career-high 81 yards and a touchdown while
Nate Winter caught a two-yard touchdown pass for his first career receiving touchdown.
Augustana finished the game with a season-high 652 yards of total offense, marking its first performance with 600-plus yards of total offense since putting up 650 at Upper Iowa on Oct. 13, 2012. The Vikings passed for 513 yards, its highest total since passing for 545 against Concordia-St. Paul on Nov. 14, 2015.
Upper Iowa finished with 540 yards of offense, including 383 yards through the air and 157 on the ground. Dimitri Morales passed for 312 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 54 and a score for the Peacocks.
Joe Schiller and
Kirby Hora led the Viking defense with seven tackles each on the night. The seven tackles for Schiller is a new career-high. Schiller also added a sack for the Vikings. Augustana finished with three sacks, including one from
Bryson Hamilton which gives him a team-high 5.0 on the season.
John Waters intercepted his second pass of the season to go along with two tackles for the Vikings.
The Vikings opened up a 21-0 lead in the first quarter getting its first score of the contest following a turnover on special teams. Upper Iowa received the opening kickoff and Augustana's
Michael Kloza forced and recovered a fumble to give the Vikings the ball at the UIU 11-yard line. Augustana needed just one play to score the game's first points when Heid found Merriman for an 11-yard touchdown that gave Augustana a 7-0 lead after the
Lucas Wainman extra point just 17 seconds into the contest.
Augustana was forced to punt on its second possession of the game but the Viking defense forced Upper Iowa to punt on its first two putting the ball back into their offense's explosive hands. On Augustana's third possession of the game, Heid found Heller for a 30-yard touchdown pass on the third play of the drive that gave the Vikings a 14-0 lead with 9:39 remaining in the first quarter.
After another three-and-out by the Viking defense, Augustana went 72 yards on 10 plays before taking a 21-0 lead on a two-yard touchdown catch by Winter with 4:08 to go in the first quarter.
The Vikings added to the lead with 10:50 remaining in the second quarter after a 5-yard touchdown catch by
Jake Welsheimer. The extra-point attempt failed and the Vikings carried a 27-0 lead over the Peacocks. Upper Iowa made it 27-7 on its next possession but the Vikings answered right back extending their lead to 30-7 following a 28-yard field goal by Wainman, his first of two on the day.
The Vikings wouldn't stop there as another three-and-out gave Augustana the ball back with 2:23 left in the first half. Heid needed just five plays to lead the offense 71 yards ending with an 8-yard touchdown catch by Heller that stretched Augustana's lead to 37-7. Upper Iowa got the ball back with 1:03 to play in the half and was able to score on a 24-yard touchdown catch by David Esswein with three seconds to go to make the score 37-14 at the half.
The Vikings got the ball first to start the second half and wasted no time extending their lead. After picking up a first down with 17-yard carry to the UIU 1-yard line, Heid plunged into the end zone for a score and the Vikings went ahead 44-14 after the Wainman extra point.
Upper Iowa would score on its next two possessions to make the score 44-28 before Wainman drilled his second field goal of the game, a 43-yarder that extended the Vikings' lead to 47-28 with 49 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
Each team would score once in the fourth quarter but Heid's sixth touchdown pass of the game gave Augustana a 54-28 lead with just under nine minutes to play. Upper Iowa made it 54-35 after a seven-yard touchdown run by Morales but Heid and the Viking offense proved to be too much for Upper Iowa.
Augustana returns to Kirkeby-Over Stadium next weekend for the final home game of the 2016 season. The Vikings will host Winona State on Senior Day Saturday, Oct. 29 at 1 p.m.
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