MANKATO, Minn. – The No. 21/22 Augustana football team secured its fifth straight victory with a 16-play, 86-yard game-winning drive in the fourth quarter to take down previously-undefeated No. 3/4 Minnesota State, 31-30, on Saturday afternoon at Blakeslee Stadium.
AU improves to 8-2 overall this season with a 7-2 showing in conference action while MSU earned its first loss on the year, moving to 9-1 and 8-1.
Gunnar Hensley completed 32 of 47 passes for 306 yards and two touchdowns while adding 43 rushing yards.
Breylon Blount rushed for 63 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries and caught six passes for 16 yards.
Isaiah Lemmond finished with six receptions for 99 yards as
Klayton Sattler added five catches for 60 yards and a touchdown.
As a team, Augustana finished with 306 passing yards and 123 rushing yards while converting 8 of 15 third downs and 3 of 4 fourth downs. The Mavericks totaled 531 yards during the nationally-ranked afternoon affair but it was the visiting Vikings who scored on 5-of-6 trips to the red zone.
Augustana moved into Minnesota State's territory on the opening possession, with Blount's 24-yard run, Hensley's 11-yard keeper and
Max Carlson's 12-yard run helping reach the Mavericks 14, but Jack Hawkinson blocked
Jake Pecina's 28-yard field-goal attempt at 10:01. The Mavericks followed with the first quarter's only scoring drive, as a 34-yard field goal made it 3-0 at 6:00. The Vikings started their next series at their 30 after a holding penalty before driving to the MSU 6 with Blount's 16-yard run, a 17-yard Hensley completion to Sattler and
Brody Koberoski's 12-yard fourth-down run. But the quarter would end with the home team ahead 3-0.
A pass interference penalty moved AU to the MSU 2 early in the second quarter, and Blount scored from there at 14:48 before Pecina's kick put Augustana ahead 7-3. The Mavericks answered with a long drive that ended on a 16-yard touchdown run at 9:46, with the extra point making it 10-7. The Vikings put together a 70-yard response from their own 30, converting third down on Hensley's 11-yard run before he completed passes of 15 yards to
Cody Oswald, 22 yards to
DJ Page and 14 yards to
Zeke Strand for a touchdown that—with Pecina's kick—made it 14-10 at 5:57. MSU moved back in front on a 12-yard touchdown run at 1:52, and after an Augustana punt, a 37-yard field goal with one second left sent the Vikings into halftime trailing 20-14.
After Augustana's kickoff went out of bounds, the Mavericks started at their 35 and scored two plays later off a 66-yard touchdown at 14:14, with the ensuing PAT making it 27-14. The Vikings came back with a nine-play, 57-yard drive, converting fourth-and-1 on Hensley's run and an MSU personal foul before Hensley found Sattler for 32 yards, and Pecina finished the possession with a 28-yard field goal at 11:15 to make it 27-17.
The Mavericks drove from their 25 to the Augustana 21 on the next series, but two holding penalties slowed the possession before
Alex Belongia broke up a third-down pass and MSU missed a 38-yard field goal at 5:11. AU moved from its 21 to midfield before a personal foul pushed the drive back, and a fourth-down sack gave MSU the ball at the Augustana 36 before the quarter ended with the Mavericks ahead 27-17.
Fourth quarter action opened with the home team already in Augustana territory and, after a personal foul pushed the drive back from the 5-yard line, the Mavericks made a 30-yard field goal at 12:43 for a 30-17 lead. The Vikings answered with a 78-yard drive from their 22, highlighted by Hensley's 39-yard completion to Lemmond and a personal-foul penalty after a Page catch, before Hensley found Sattler for a 2-yard touchdown and Pecina's kick made it 30-24 at 8:55.
After MSU punted from the Augustana 46, AU took over at its 14 with 5:13 left and kept the drive alive on Oswald's 16-yard catch on third-and-16, Hensley's 13-yard run on fourth-and-9 and Page's 13-yard catch on third-and-10. Hensley completions to Lemmond for 12 and 25 yards moved Augustana to the 3, and Blount scored from the 1 at 00:31 before Pecina's extra point put the Vikings ahead 31-30.
One final drive in those final few dwindling seconds saw the Mavericks reach the Augustana 37 on a 39-yard pass, but the 55-yard field-goal attempt was no good at :00, securing the win for the Vikings and the loss for the undefeated Mavericks.
UP NEXT
Augustana returns home to Kirkeby-Over Stadium to host Wayne State at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14 for the regular season finale and Senior Day.
--GoAugie.com--
