Box Score
Emporia State took advantage of a pair of Augustana turnovers to defeat the Vikings 27-14 Saturday afternoon in Emporia, Kan.
Playing in their only non-conference game of the season, Augustana (1-1) moved the ball effectively, gaining 330 yards of offense. But an interception and a fumble gave the host Hornets (2-0) a short field and they capitaized with touchdowns to gain the upper hand.
Augustana had the first scoring chance early in the first quarter. The Vikings drove to ESU 15, but Ryan Grossman missed a 32-yard field goal.
Augie quickly got the ball back and drove into Emporia State territory. However, ESU's Kaden Adams intercepted a Luke Butler pass at the Hornet 28 and returned it to the Augie 28. However, a personal foul penalty on the Hornets pushed the ball back to the Augie 43.
Emporia State then went on an 8-play scoring drive as Andre SloanEl connected with Danny McEvoy for a 5-yard touchdown pass with 1:24 left in the quarter to make the score 7-0.
ESU struck again midway through the second quarter. Augustana was faced with a 3rd-and-5 at its own 40, but a bad snap resulted in Emporia State recovering the ball at the Viking 11. The Viking defense stiffened and appeared to have forced the Hornets to settle for a field goal. But the Vikings were flagged for roughing ESU kicker Will Maxwell. The Hornets took the penalty and on the next play, Seville Ko scored from 6 yards out to make the score 14-0 with 5:36 to play in the half.
The Hornets gained some breathing room right before halftime when SloanEl rushed 8 yards for a touchdown with 24 seconds left in the half. The drive was aided by a 49-yard pass from SloanEl to Sean Partridge.
Augustana had a solid drive to open the second half, but again the Vikings were unable to score. Taking over at the Augie 49, the Vikings ran the ball 6 straight plays to get to the ESU 3. However, on fourth-and-goal, Joe Clark was stopped at the Hornet 2 with 8:55 to play in the third quarter.
But Augustana mounted a comeback in the fourth quarter. Trailing 27-0, the Vikings scored a pair of touchdowns in the final 15 minutes. On their first drive of the quarter, the Vikings went 71 yards in 9 plays. Tyler Schulte found Ryan Rank for a 13-yard touchdown to cap the drive and make the score 27-7 with 8:13 to play in the game.
Augustana struck again on its next drive. This time Schulte tossed a 19-yard touchdown pass to Sam Holsen with 5:03 to play in the game. The score capped a 6-play, 49-yard drive.
Schulte completed 9 of 17 passes for 124 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also rushed for 7 yards and caught 5 passes for 61 yards. Butler started at quarterback for Augie and completed 8 of 13 passes for 90 yards.
Holsen, a redshirt freshman, had a big afternoon in his first significant playing time for the Vikings. He hauled in 5 receptions for 64 yards and 1 score and added a 15-yard punt return.
Jeremy Huber led the Augie ground game with 79 yards on 11 carries, while Clark added 56 yards on 15 rushes.
Defensively, Chris Janisch collected a game-high 9 tackles (5 solo, 4 assists), including 0.5 sack for a loss of 4 yards. Mike Vanasek, Andrew Keel and Matt Lien all had 7 tackles. Lien also blocked an extra point.
Augustana will be on the road again next weekend when the Vikings travel to Crookston, Minn., to take on Minnesota, Crookston, in a 1 p.m. contest.