Augustana College

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Augustana College head football coach Brad Salem announced Wednesday that 28 high school standouts have signed national letters of intent or written offers of admission and financial aid from Augustana to play football for the Vikings this fall.

“Each year you try to grow the team athletically, and we we have done that with this recruiting class,” Salem said. “You are always trying to fill holes two or three years down the road.

“I want to thank my staff and everyone associated with the recruiting process here at Augustana College,” Salem added. “They put in a lot of tireless hours into this process and it has paid off.”

The 2010 class has a distinct Midwestern feel to it. Eight of the signees are from South Dakota, with an additional eight signees coming from Minnesota. The Vikings also had success in Nebraska, signing five players. Rounding out the class are five players from Iowa and one player each from Wisconsin and North Dakota.

According to Salem, size was the theme of this year’s class. Eight of the 28 signees have experience playing on the offensive or defensive lines. Out of this group, four weigh at least 275 pounds.

“The theme of this class is size,” Salem said. “We feel we got some very good lineman up front. But at the same time, we got some very good players at the skill positions. We think this is a solid all-around class.”

Salem and his staff continued its recent trend of signing the top players in the Sioux Falls area. Six members of this year’s class are from Sioux Falls. The group includes Matt Gerry and Jordan Knight of 2009 Class 11AA state champion Washington High School. Also from Sioux Falls are Roosevelt teammates Jacob Huchtmeier and Connor Potas, Tony Viger of O’Gorman High School and Nate Kirby of Tri-Valley High School.

“You always want to recruit kids locally,” Salem said. “We’ve been very fortunate to sign some of the top Sioux Falls area athletes. It’s helped us build our program and create additional excitement in the community.”

This year’s class consists of two other sets of high school teammates - Karl Inoferio and Andy Jirik of Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield, Minn., along with Dajon Newell and Ben Skelly of Lakeville (Minn.) North High School.

Augustana posted an 8-4 overall record and a 7-3 record in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. It was the Vikings’ second-straight 8-4 season and tied the school record for wins in a season. The Vikings tied for third place in the NSIC overall standings and were second in the NSIC Southern Division. Augustana capped its season by appearing in the Mineral Water Bowl for the second consecutive season.

2010 Augustana Football Recruiting Class