WAYNE, Neb. - The Augustana football team saw their regular season come to a close on Saturday afternoon, falling 38-31 against Wayne State at the Memorial Coliseum.
The Vikings, entering the week at No. 8 in the Central Region rankings, now await their fate with the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday at 5 p.m. Augustana concludes the regular season 9-2 overall and 8-2 in the NSIC while the Wildcats close their season 7-4, 7-3.
Isaiah Huber led the offense with six catches for 78 yards and two touchdowns.
Rich Lucero Jr. went 21 of 35 with three touchdowns and two interceptions while
Breylon Blount added 64 yards on the ground. Defensively,
Ashton Toll racked up a team and career-high 15 tackles while Brady Shuss and
Brock Salm had 12 tackles apiece.
The Wildcats scored on their first two possessions to take a 14-0 lead into the second quarter. After forcing a shanked punt set the Vikings up at the WSC27, the offense got on the board. A sack and seven-yard Blount rush put the Vikings in a third-and-six situation and Lucero fired a dot to Huber in the back of the end zone to cut the Wildcat lead in half at 14-7.
A pair of punts gave WSC the ball with a lead but
Zachary Richardson scooped up a fumble to give the Vikings another short field at the WSC39. Five plays later, Lucero connected with Huber again, this time for a 20-yard touchdown strike, to even the scoring at 14-14 with 4:29 remaining. A late interception and touchdown by the Wildcats gave them a 21-14 lead into the locker room.
The defense started the second half forcing a punt that got a Viking bounce back to the WSC 46. After the offense gained six yards,
Jake Pecina boomed a program-record 57-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 21-17.
Pecina's field goal would be the lone score of the quarter and a Wildcat field goal with 14:14 to play extended the WSC lead to 24-17. The game saw four touchdowns scored between 7:41 and 3:11 in the fourth quarter, with the Wildcats punching in a fourth down and following that with a pick-six and Lucero finding
Neal May for a 38-yard touchdown before Molander powered in from a yard out to get back within seven points. The Wildcats were able to run out the final 3:11 with a couple first downs to secure their share of the South Division crown.
