Augustana’s football team traveled to Elmhurst on Saturday, Oct. 12, and hoped to extend its winning streak to three games. The 1-3 Blue Jays stood in their way, however, and looked to build off of a close loss to the Vikings from last year. After a close first quarter, the Vikings took control of the game, took care of the ball and scored with ease as they cruised to a 48-7 win.
With the win, Augustana moved to 4-1 overall, with a 3-1 record in College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) play. They also notched their eighth straight win against the Blue Jays, a streak dating back to the 2016 season.
Last week, the team fended off a tough North Park University squad 24-21, extending the all-time series between Augustana and North Park to 58-5, with Augustana having the advantage. Just like that series, the Vikings and Blue Jays’ all-time series was lopsided, with the Vikings holding a 59-8-1 edge heading into the game.
However, Head Coach Steve Bell did not want to focus on any statistics like that. After all, the Vikings lost in double overtime last year to North Park, despite leading the all-time series, so all focus was on the field this season and improving from it going into Elmhurst.
“I don’t pay attention to that stuff,” Bell said. “Having lost to [North Park] the year before, we felt that we had something to prove to ourselves. It was a little tighter than I would want it to be, knowing the level of players that we have that have the ability to make that a two or three-score game.”
Steady play was being worked on from the Vikings, but one of the positions that has remained consistent so far came from the wide receivers. Going into Elmhurst, the Vikings had three receivers in the top 11 in receiving yards, with junior Sean Schlanser totalling 292 yards, senior Breyden Smith with 249 yards and junior Ethan Vrabec reeling in 194 yards.
While it may seem like another stat that does not affect the game, having multiple guys capable of putting up numbers puts stress on opposing defenses and makes it easier for receivers like Vrabec to make space.
“When we got three guys on [our] team in that top 11, it shows the consistency and just the ability to not only rely on one guy, which is really important,” Vrabec said. “It definitely opens up our offense and makes it a lot easier for us to spread the ball around.”
Augustana struck first in the matchup against Elmhurst when Makuh found senior running back Ben Ludlum for a 26-yard touchdown; however, Elmhurst answered with a game-tying score. Unphased, the Vikings drove 63 yards down the field and reclaimed the lead, a lead they would not look back from.
Four Makuh touchdowns and two field goals later, the Vikings took home a 48-7 win. Makuh completed 25 of his 27 pass attempts, throwing for 319 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions. However, it was not just the offense rolling. The defense got involved, too. Sophomore Travis Kenzevich pulled down two interceptions while the defense sacked Elmhurst quarterback John Odom five times.
A big part of this success could be attributed to the focus on shutting down Odom, who leads the conference in interceptions. For senior defensive end Ronde Worrels, the team took note of this and tried to plan for Odom to turn the ball over.
“He’s a good runner,” Worrels said. “We focused this week on trying to coop him in, get some hands up, maybe block some balls down, but also just try not to let him be able to get out of the pocket and run around all over us, too.”
One part of the Vikings’ 4-1 start is due to Makuh’s play at quarterback. The Augie signal caller has thrown for 1304 yards, a 73.1% completion percentage and a 260.8 passing yards per game average, all of which lead the conference to this point. He also has a chance to break a drought for Augustana quarterbacks not finishing in the top three in conference passing yards, something that has not happened since the 2015 season.
His 260.8 passing yards per game average also puts him on pace to total 2,608 passing yards this season, a total which would set the program record for passing yards in a single season. But the record is not what he is focusing on; something more important holds that spot.
“I honestly didn’t even know that,” Makuh said. “That’s cool, but I just want to win football games, whatever it takes for us to win. That’s all I really care about.”
Sitting at 4-1 overall, the Vikings come back home following the win to take on the 2-3 Carroll Pioneers at Charles D. Lindberg Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 18, at 11 a.m.
