SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana football team (4-2 overall, 4-1 NSIC) and Winona State (3-3, 3-2) meet for the 52nd annual Shrine Game, hosted by El Riad Shrine.
 
Complete action can be followed on GoAugie.com/Live and the GoAugie app, presented by The Original Pancake House. The app can be downloaded in the app store or Google Play.
 
About the Game
The Vikings and Warriors will meet for the 18th time in series history with the Vikings leading 10-7 in the series. The Vikings have won three of the last four meetings, including a 48-28 victory in Winona last season. Jarod Epperson ran for three touchdowns while Peyton Buckley had two sacks and an INT. Augustana is 5-2 all-time in Sioux Falls. 

Scouting the Enemy
The Warriors enter the week 3-3 overall and 3-2 in the NSIC after a 48-7 victory over UMary last weekend.

Cair'ron Hendred has powered the offense with 354 rushing yards and four touchdowns while Ty Gavin has complemented him with 261 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Cole Stenstrom has taken the majority of the snaps at quarterback, throwing for 978 yards and five touchdowns.

Kyjuan Vengrowsky has been one of the top pass rushers in the NSIC. He's tied for second in the conference with 4.5 sacks and has totaled 6.0 tackles for loss while ranking second on the team with 28 tackles. Brent Jeske has a team-high 31 tackles an has recorded a pair of sacks.

About the Vikings
Jarod Epperson returned for one final season and has a chance to cement his legacy. Epperson is up to 3,544 career rushing yards, a number that ranks second in program history, just 79 yards away from the program's all-time record and fifth-most among active DII running backs.

Epperson has also scored 27 rushing touchdowns, good for fifth. In all, he has 16 100-plus yard games. He has left his mark in the passing game through out his career as well as he is just 68 receiving yards away from being the second active player amongst all divisions to have over 3,500 rushing and 1,000 receiving yards.

After an emphatic start to his senior campaign, Peyton Buckley earned well earned recognition. The Rice Lake, Wisconsin native was named NSIC Defensive Player of the Week after racking up 10 tackles, including six tackles and 2.0 tackles for loss.

The honor was a long time coming for Buckley. He has continued his run as one of the best defensive players in the league, totaling 25 solo tackles, 38 total tackles, 4.0 tackles for loss, four pass breakups and an interseption, all ranking inside the team's top four. 

It has been quite the coming out party for sophomore signal caller Gunnar Hensley. The Carlsbad, California native earned NSIC Offensive Player of the Week honors after throwing for 358 yards and four passing touchdowns while adding a four-yard receiving touchdown in a 41-7 win over Northern State on Sept. 21. He accounted for all five of his touchdowns in the first half and completed 28 of 35 passes.

Hensley currently ranks third in the country in completion percentage at 72.9 percent, seventh with 9.56 yards per attempt, eighth with a 175.5 passing efficiency, 12th with 18.0 points responsible for and 18th with 254.4 passing yards per game. He has also thrown for 12 touchdowns, 31st most in the country. 

Special teams has, again, been a strength for this year's team as they average 13.00 yards per punt return, 27th in the country, and allow just 13.93 yards per kick return, fifth in DII. They've also had success on their own kick returns, ranking 12th in the country with 27.45 yards per kick return.

Offensively, the Vikings rank fourth with a 68.4 completion percentage, 28th in passing offense at 248.7 yards per game. They're also ninth in red zone offense, scoring at a 91.9 percent clip inside the 20. Even more impressive, the Vikings have scored on every red zone possession in DII play.

Defensively, it has been all about the front seven. The Vikings average 3.00 sacks per game, 12th in the country, and are 32nd in rushing defense allowing 100.3 rushing yards per game. The defense has also stood tall in the biggest moments, ranking 38th in opponent fourth down conversion percentage, allowing 36.4 percent.  

The Augustana defense has spent plenty of time in the backfield this season. The Vikings second in the NSIC with 7.0 tackles for loss per game and 3.00 sacks per game. Will Davis (4.5) Myles Taylor (3.5) and Kade Lynott (3.0) make the Vikings one of two teams in the NSIC with three players to have at least three total sacks in conference play. Nine Vikings have at least 0.5 sacks and 16 have at least 0.5 tackles for loss.

One Last Thing
Augustana head coach Jerry Olszewski sits at 78 career wins at Augustana, one off the all-time mark held by Jim Heinitz.