SIOUX FALLS, S.D. --  In front of more than 6,000 fans on a sun-splashed afternoon at Kirkeby-Over Stadium, the Augustana Vikings dropped a cross-town showdown to the University of Sioux Falls 51-13.  The loss drops the Vikings to 2-2 (2-2 NSIC). 

Augustana head coach Jerry Olszewski was proud of the way his team competed for 60 minutes, but he knows there's plenty of work that needs to be done this week. "This is a great opportunity for us to get better, and there's a lot of areas that need to improve," Olszewski said. "We have to play better football. I was proud of the way the defense played after the 5th series, but ultimately, we have to play four quarters of great football to win."


The Vikings won the toss and deferred to the second half, allowing the Cougars to start with the ball. Junior college transfer quarterback Caden Walters drove downfield, but it was the Augie defense that came up with a red zone third down stop. After a 37-yard field goal, USF took a 3-0 lead early in the 1st.  On the cougars next possession, Gabe Watson found the edge for a 33-yard touchdown run, making it a 10-0 USF lead.

Augustana looked to get the offense going but was forced to punt for the second time in as many series. USF got the ball back, and the Cougars took the lead with a touchdown run, making it 17-0.  Later in the half, the Augustana offense started to cook as they went back to their bread and butter, the run game. Led once again by Rudy Sinflorant, the reigning NSIC player of the week started running rough and bulldozing Cougars, picking up 32 yards on back-to-back carries. After the clock changed over to the second quarter, Luis Guarita knocked home a 28-yard field goal, and the Vikings were on the board trailing 17-3. On the day, Sinflorant finished with 107 yards on 18 carries. It's the third time in four games the sophomore has eclipsed the century mark, while also giving him 528 rushing yards on the year.

But the Cougar offense and combination of Walters and Watson continued to rack up yards and points. The QB started a perfect 7-7 for 100+ yards, and Watson couldn't be contained in the half. A second 33-yard touchdown gave him 113 yards and 4 TDs, and the Cougars built a 24-3 lead. 

Late in the 1st half, the Augustana offense looked to get going. Quarterback Kyle Saddler found both Drew Reinschmidt and Sinflorant for big gains over the middle, and then moments later, Saddler rolled out and hit Brett Shepley for a three-yard touchdown. Shepley, a Junior from Burnsville, Minn, gave the Vikings their first touchdown of the day and made it 30-10 in the 2nd quarter. Shepley finished with a career-best 7 grabs for 91 yards. 

The Vikings started with the ball in the 2nd half and were looking to stay alive. Although both teams traded possessions early in the 3rd, Saddler started to find his rhythm. The Sophomore hit Sean Engel for 37 yards down the sideline, and then Chet Peerenboom for another first down. However, the Vikings drive stalled on downs and turned the ball over on an incompletion on 4th down. With the Vikings trailing big, the game plan quickly shifted for Augustana. Saddler went on to throw the rock 61 times (31 completions) for a total of 378 yards and one touchdown. The 61 attempts are one away from the all-time school record, which was set in Oct. of 1995 by Pat Graham (62 vs. Minnesota State). Saddler becomes the first Viking to surpass 50 plus attempts since QB Josh Hanson had 53 attempts at U-Mary (Sept. 2012). Sioux Falls native Nickel Meyers also continued his strong season, finishing with a career-best 131 receiving yards on 10 grabs. Defensively, Kirby Hora led the team with 10 tackles, and now has 36 on the year.

From there, Augustana continued to play well, but it just wasn't enough on Saturday afternoon. USF added another late score, and took home the win with a 51-13 final score. Augustana will now head back on the road as they get set to start NSIC North division play. The Vikings will travel to northern Minnesota Friday for a Saturday afternoon matchup with Minnesota, Crookston. The following week, the Vikings return to K.O. stadium for a contest with Minnesota-Duluth Oct. 6th.


Game Notes:

• Saturdays showdown between Augustana and the University of Sioux Falls was the 25th all-time meeting. The Vikings still lead the series 19-6.
• Reigning NSIC player of the week, Augustana running back Rudy Sinflorant, racked up 103 yards and has now gone over the century mark in three of four games.
• WR Brett Shepley finished with a career-best 7 grabs for 91 yards.
• Sophomore quarterback Kyle Saddler threw for 378 yards on 61 attempts. Saddler has now thrown for at least 300 yards in three games this year.
• Saddler's 61 attempts are one away from the all-time school record, which was set in Oct. of 1995 by Pat Graham (62 vs. Minnesota State).
• Saddler becomes the first Viking to surpass 50 plus attempts since QB Josh Hanson had 53 attempts at U-Mary (Sept. 2012).
• Sioux Falls native Nickel Meyers also continued his strong season, finishing with a career-best 131 receiving yards on 10 grabs.  
• The Vikings are second in the nation (DII) in total first downs, totaling 111 first downs on the season.
• After 10 more tackles on Saturday, Senior linebacker Kirby Hora leads Augustana with 36 tackles this season.
• The 521 yards of total offense in week two is the most the Vikings have had since Oct. 15, 2016 (576 vs. Minnesota State).
• The Vikings are 33-27 all-time under head coach Jerry Olszewski, with coach 'OJ' earning his first ever win as a Viking at MSU Moorhead in the 2013 season-opener, 41-28.