SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Despite the gloomy and rainy Saturday on Viking Days, the Vikings faithful left Kirkeby-Over Stadium happy, as Augustana snapped its three-game skid with a 30-8 win over Southwest Minnesota State.
 
The Vikings improve to 3-4 overall and to 1-2 in the NSIC South, while the Mustangs fourth straight loss drops them to 2-5 overall and to 0-3 in NSIC South play.
 
The Vikings opened the scoring on their third drive of the game, an eight play, 72 yard drive, highlighted by a Ryan Rubley 42 yard run on third down and 17, and capped by a Ryan Bradberry nine yard scamper on the next play. SMSU blocked the PAT to keep the lead at 6-0 with under two minutes left in the opening quarter.
 
Following a 3-and-out on the ensuing Mustangs drive, the Vikings pieced together a six play, 48-yard drive to get 27-yard Jeff Glassburner field goal to increase their lead to
9-0 early in the second quarter, a score that would stand-up for the rest of the first half.
 
After a defensively-dominated third quarter that yielded no scores, the Vikings bucked the trend with a Matt Wagner pick-six. Pinned deep in their own end and facing third and 19 from their own three yard line, Wagner stepped in front of the Connor Wilkie pass at the seven yard line and returned it for the score and a 16-0 Augustana lead.
 
The Mustangs fired right back on the ensuing drive, capitalizing on a great kickoff return with an eight play, 58 yard drive, capped by a WIlkie to Nate Huot 18-yard touchdown. Wilkie then caught the two-point try on a pass from Quadri Busari to half the Vikings lead to 16-8.
 
The Vikings responded quickly with a seven play, 67 yard drive that ended with a Rubley to Nathan Merriman five-yard touchdown strike to push the Augustana lead to 23-8 with 6 minutes 49 seconds left in the game.
 
Bradberry dashed any thoughts of a Mustang comeback with a 42-yard touchdown dash with 1:45 on the clock to give the Vikings a 30-8 lead. He accounted for all of the yards of the drive, with runs of 12, 20 and the 42 yard touchdown, giving him a game-high 121 yards on the day.
 
Rubley led the Vikings passing attack, completing 16 of his 23 passes for 163 yards and a touchdown. He also ran the ball 12 times for 95 yards in the win.
 
Trevor Naasz led the defense with 10 tackles, 9 solo, adding a pass breakup and a tackle for loss. Along with his pick-six, Wagner added eight tackles and a quarterback hurry. Kirby Hora also finished with eight tackles, 1.5 of them for a loss.
 
Augustana looks to start another winning streak on Saturday, when the Vikings host Upper Iowa at Kirkeby-Over Stadium at 1 p.m.  
 
NOTES: Augustana leads the all-time series 19-3, with wins in each of the last four meetings … the Vikings improve to 34-16 all-time record at Kirkeby-Over Stadium, where 3,451 fans turned out on a rainy Viking Days … head coach Jerry Olszewski earned his 30th win as the Vikings head coach … Wagner joins Jordan Determan as the only two Vikings to return an interception for a touchdown this season … Determan got a pick-six on Sept. 9, at Minot State … Trevor DeSchepper rushed the ball for the first time in his career, a 17-yard gain on Augustanta's first offensive play of the game … redshirt freshman Like Fritsch saw his first action of the season with a pair of punt returns