SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Augustana) — Gunnar Hensley found Jack Fisher in the end zone with 56 seconds to play and the final play of regulation fell incomplete in the end zone as the Augustana football team claimed a Viking Days victory over Minnesota Duluth, 28-24, on Saturday afternoon at Kirkeby-Over Stadium.
With the win, the Vikings move to 3-2 overall and 3-1 in the NSIC while the Bulldogs fall to 3-2, 2-2.
Hensley finished the game 22 of 27 for 291 yards and a pair of touchdowns without turning the ball over. Fisher had his third consecutive game over 100 yards receiving, catching eight passes for 148 yards and the game-winning touchdown. Peyton Buckley was all over the field defensively, making eight tackles, including a tackle for loss, and had a pair of pass breakups.
Isaiah Huber had another great all-purpose performance with 70 receiving yards and 46 punt return yards while catching a touchdown pass. Kade Lynott picked up a sack and tied for a team-high with 10 tackles and Isaiah Ryan also added 10 tackles and had two pass breakups.
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The Bulldogs opened the game by forcing a punt and striking for a three-play touchdown drive to take a 7-0 lead within the first four minutes of game time. The Vikings countered with a touchdown drive of their own, muscling its way down the field to tie the score.
Facing a third and 12 at the AU 23, Hensley had a pass tipped at the line but Huber swooped in to make a play, taking it 14 yards to move the chains. Fisher followed with a 13 yard catch and run. On third on five, Grand had a six yard carry to move the sticks again. The Vikings continued to chip away and capped off a 15-play drive with an eight yard rushing touchdown from Grand to cap the eight minute, 10 second drive with 3:12 to go in the first quarter.
That score held through the first quarter and each team had a drive that ended with a punt to open the second quarter. The Vikings took over at their own 1-yard line with 11 minutes left and marched down for their first lead of the game.
Huber had a 10 yard reception and Jarod Epperson added four on the ground before a 60-yard completion to Fisher got them to the UMD 25. Epperson took the next two carries for 11 yards to get inside the redzone and a Hensley 12-yard rush brought the Vikings down to the one. A false start backed AU up to the six but Epperson got all six on the next to plays to give the Vikings a 14-7 lead with 6:10 to go in the half.
The Bulldogs possessed the ball to close the half, getting down to the AU 6-yard line with 23 seconds left in the half. Gradee Sherman and Haden Wallace each had a stop at the line of scrimmage to put an end to the momentum, holding the Bulldogs to a field goal to bring the halftime score to 14-10 in favor of Augustana.
Fisher closed the half with 74 yards on three receptions while Epperson had 40 yards on 11 carries. Henlsey was an efficient 9 for 12 half with 11 yards. Kade Lynott and Wallace combined for 12 tackles to lead the defense.
It took UMD eight plays to score a touchdown on their first second half drive to reclaim a lead at 17-14. That would be the only score of the third quarter as the defenses dug their nose in and battled.
The first play of the fourth quarter was a UMD punt that put the Vikings at their own 15 yard line. Epperson ran for a pair of yards before a 35-yard connection from Hensley to Huber got the Vikings past midfield. UMD went on to force a third and 17 with 10:28 to play.
In what was one of the biggest plays of the game, Evan Bearth entered for a play after Hensley lost his helmet and found Ryan Kenny out of the backfield for nine yards to give the Vikings a manageable fourth down. Hensley stepped up in a big way from there after reentering, finding Austin Johnston for 20 yards and a first down before finding Huber in the end zone two plays later to retake the lead at 21-17 with 8:39 to play.
10 seconds later, UMD struck for a touchdown of their own to lead 24-21. The Vikings went right back down to knock on the door but the Bulldogs forced a fumble into the end zone and recovered to hold the lead and get a touchback with 4:46 remaining.
The game looked to be slipping away as UMD picked up a pair of first downs and got to a 3rd and 4 with a chance to run the clock to the two-minute timeout. A costly false start forced them to run a play and Myles Taylor forced the issue, picking up an 11-yard sack on 3rd and 9 to force a punt and get the ball back after the timeout.
Huber nearly canceled out a 52-yard punt with a 47-yard return to put the Vikings in business. Henlsey found Johnston for a first down and Epperson ran for four yards to set up the would-be game-winning touchdown from Fisher.
The Bulldogs had 53 seconds left to operate while trailing 28-24 from their own 47. UMD picked up a couple medium gains to get down to the nine yard line with seven seconds left. Two shots to the end zone fell incomplete as time expired, first on a breakup from Buckley and the other falling off the fingertips of a UMD receiver.
The Vikings make the long trip to Minot, N.D., next weekend for a 1 p.m., Saturday matchup against Minot State.
