SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – It was all Augustana football on Saturday as the Vikings prevailed 43-17 over MSU Moorhead in Kirkeby-Over Stadium. The win pushes the Vikings home win streak to eight games, a streak that started the weekend as fifth-best in the nation.
 
Augustana, ranked No. 21 in the D2football.com Top-25, moves to 3-0 on the season, the best start since the 2016 season while MSU Moorhead falls to 1-2.
 
Augustana's defense not only limited but forced the MSUM rushing attack to -34 yards. In contrast, AU ran off 222 yards on the ground.  
 
Jarod Epperson had his second-straight 125+ yard rushing performance with 139 yards. Logan Uttecht hauled in two touchdowns while totaling 97 yards receiving. Sean Engel had a very efficient outing, with two receptions for two touchdowns and 58 yards.
 
The Vikings jumped out to a 7-0 lead as they traveled 70 yards over six plays on their opening possession. Kyle Saddler, who threw for 257 yards on the day, completed a 14-yard pass to Engel.
 
On the ensuing MSUM drive, the Dragons traveled 79 yards over five plays to score on a 40-yard touchdown pass to knot the game at 7.
 
With 5:46 left in the first quarter, Engel hauled in his second touchdown of the game, this time a 44-yard reception, to cap a quick 2-play, 52-yard drive and give the Vikings the lead back at 14-7.
 
The lead moved to 17-7 on a Luis Guarita 45-yard field goal with 45 seconds remaining in the opening quarter.
 
The lead started to take off as Uttecht hauled in a 13-yard touchdown with 10:52 remaining in the second quarter to give Augustana a 24-7 lead.
 
The Dragon however snagged some momentum and put 10-straight points on the scoreboard thanks to a 46-yard touchdown and 37-yard field goal as the squads entered intermission with AU leading 24-17.
 
The second half was all Augustana as it put 19 points put on the scoreboard, first a 10-yard touchdown pass from Saddler to Uttecht followed by a 25-yard rushing touchdown from David Addo. The final score of the game came on an eight-yard pass from Saddler to Devon Jones for the final score of 43-17.
 
Addo's touchdown came thanks to an interception by Bentley Boike, the first of his career. Boike snagged the bobbled pass, which was the third Vikings interception of the day, which put AU in position for Addo to tear off his 25-yard run.
 
The drive with Jones scoring the touchdown was started on a fumble recovery by Peyton Buckley. Buckley concluded the day with two interceptions, two pass breakups and the fumble recovery to go along with three tackles.
 
Andrew Henrich led the defense with five tackles including a sack and two tackles for a loss. Sacks also came courtesy of Eli Weber and Will Davis, who each concluded the day with four tackles.
 
The Augustana offense totaled 481 yards of total offense, 222 on the ground and 259 through the air. Saddler totaled five passing touchdowns. Behind Epperson's third-straight brilliant rushing performance, Addo ended the day with 71 yards on 15 carries.
 
Augustana hits the road for its next two games beginning with a trip to Bemidji State to conclude action against NSIC North foes on Saturday. Kickoff from Bemidji, Minnesota, is slated for 2 p.m.