CROOKSTON, MN -- On a cold, windy day at Ed Widseth Field the Augustana Vikings (3-2, 3-2 NSIC) scored on all six first half possessions en route to a 48-3 win at Minnesota Crookston (1-4, 1-4 NSIC).
Kyle Saddler led another explosive day on offense for Augustana, throwing for 282 yards and 5 touchdowns. The Vikings defense held the Golden Eagles to 131 total yards and Augustana is now 3-0 on the road in 2018.
"I'm proud of our guys, we did what we had to do early," Augustana head coach
Jerry Olszewski said following the win. "Defense set the tone, I think we made them punt every possession in the first half and I thought our kids played really well today."
The Vikings got the scoring started on their first drive of the game with redshirt freshman
Shahan Ameen punching it in from 2 yards out to take a 7-0 lead. Two touchdown catches by
Sean Engel and a 61 yard td catch by
Nickel Meyers were part of a 378 yard first half for the Augustana offense.
Luis Guarita capped the first half scoring with a 30 yard field goal as time expired.
Saddler and Meyers picked up where they left off to start the second half. Following a 79 yard kickoff return by
Luke Fritsch, Saddler found Meyers for an 11 yard touchdown pass and the Vikings never looked back up 45-0. The Vikings finished the day with 248 yards rushing with Ameen leading the way totaling 114 yards on the ground.
"We had a bunch of different people out there today, got a chance to play some depth," said Olszewski. "A good day for the Vikings."
Augustana improves to 8-0 all-time vs the Golden Eagles and returns home next Saturday (10/6) for a 1pm kickoff vs 8
th ranked Minnesota-Duluth. Purchase tickets in advance at
GoAugie.com/tickets.
Game notes:
* The Viking defense held Crookston to just 73 yards rushing
*
Kirby Hora and
Kyle Theis led the way on defense with 9 tackles apiece
*
Shahan Ameen scored his first career touchdown on a 2 yd carry in first quarter and finished the day with 114 yards
* With leading rusher
Rudolh Sinflorant out, freshman
Braiden Petersen got the start at running back and later left the game in the first half with an injury
* Saddler's 5 touchdown passes are the most for a Vikings QB since
Trey Heid in 2016 vs Concordia, St. Paul
* Saddler has now thrown 13 touchdown passes on the season
* QB
Zach Masoli saw his first extensive action of the season and finished 5-9 for 44 yards passing
* Ameen was the Vikings leading receiver in receptions with 5 catches for 34 yards;
Nickel Meyers led in yards with 3 catches for 80 yards and 2 touchdowns
