SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AUGUSTANA) — The voyage through 2024 began on a high note as the Augustana football team knocked off UMary 35-13 on Thursday night in Bismarck, N.D.
In the first extended action of his career, Gunnar Hensley threw for 220 yards on 15 of 19 passing, tossing three touchdowns and rushing for one while the defense recorded six sacks and held the Marauders to just two yards rushing on 26 carries in the victory.
Augustana racked up 336 yards of offense while holding the Marauders to 242. The Vikings threw for 236 yards while rushing for 100 and UMary threw for 240. Eight different Vikings caught a pass, led by six receptions from Isaiah Huber. In his first game with Augustana, Max Grand found the end zone twice, once on the ground and once on a long catch and run.
Three Viking defensive linemen accounted for the six sacks as Myles Taylor, Will Davis, Christian Connelly each collected a pair. Kade Lynott led the team with six tackles and Alex Belongia had five solo tackles. Six different Vikings recorded a pass breakup as well.
Augustana opened the scoring on their third drive of the night with a five yard touchdown scamper from Hensley for his first career touchdown. He was sharp on the drive, throwing for 53 yards and running for another 13 to get the offense in gear.
Following a UMary field goal, Hensley picked up right where he left off. A 37-yard strike to Matt Francis and 28-yard dart to Jack Fisher as part of a five play, 71-yard touchdown drive that was capped by a touch pass to Canyon Bauer, giving the Vikings a lead at 14-3.
The Marauders survived sacks from Taylor and Davis in the closing drive of the first half, connecting on a field goal to bring their deficit to 14-6 at the break. Davis had a pair of sacks in the first half while Hensley went 10 for 12 with 144 yards and the two touchdowns.
The defense held strong to open the second half, forcing a three-and-out. The Vikings marched down the field in their first drive of the half, putting together a methodical 11 play, 63-yard drive led by Thomas Scholten before a Hensley passing touchdown to Jack Fisher extended the AU lead to 21-6 with 7:25 left in the third quarter.
The next three drives resulted in three-and-outs before Max Grand broke out, capping off a three-play drive with a 56-yard touchdown off a screen pass from Hensley to grow the lead to 28-6 with just under three minutes left in the third.
The teams exchanged five play drives and punts before a breakdown allowed the Marauders to strike for a 66-yard touchdown pass to get within 28-13 with 11:01 to play.
Defenses stood tall from there, forcing a punt battle before a fourth down sack by Connelly gave the Vikings the ball in the red zone. Three plays later, Max Grand scored on a six yard run to round out the scoring.
Augustana takes a step out of conference action for the second time in the regular season since 2011 when the Vikings take on defending FCS National Champion South Dakota State for a 6 p.m. (CDT) contest in Brookings, South Dakota. Live coverage of the game can be followed at GoAugie.com/Live.
