SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Augustana) — A field goal split the uprights as time expired to help lift Minnesota State past the Augustana Vikings 20-19 in the first round of the DII NCAA Football Tournament on Saturday afternoon at Kirkeby-Over Stadium.
The loss concludes another step in the right direction for the Augustana football program. The Vikings won their second consecutive outright NSIC Championship and hosted a playoff game for the second consecutive season. Jarod Epperson became the program’s all-time leading rusher while head coach Jerry Olszewski became the program’s all-time winningest coach.
Gunnar Hensley went 26 of 40 for 258 yards under center while Isaiah Huber racked up eight catches for 89 yards. Jack Fisher added four catches for 83 yards and Jarod Epperson led the ground game with 66 yards on 21 carries while adding a touchdown.
Myles Taylor and Gradee Sherman each recorded a sack while Haden Wallace had eight tackles and an interception. Also recording eight tackles was Peyton Buckley, including seven solo tackles. Jake Pecina knocked in four of six field goals for the majority of the Viking scoring.
MSU opened the game with a punt before an 18-play AU drive resulted in a missed field goal to keep the game scoreless. Three straight punts followed, giving the Vikings the ball as the game entered the second quarter.
The Vikings had a drive begin in the final seconds of the first quarter and bleed into the second, where a 10-play, 51-yard drive was capped off by a 20-yard Pecina field goal to give AU the first lead of the day with 10:34 left in the half.
An MSU punt and Viking interception saw the Mavericks take over at the AU29 with 7:50 to go. Taylor picked up his sack and an incompletion on second down gave MSU a third and 21 that they converted on a 40-yard touchdown pass for a 7-3 lead.
Pecina made a field goal on the ensuing possession to get the Vikings within one. After a three-and-out from MSU, Pecina split the uprights once more as time expired in the half to give AU a 9-7 lead into the locker room.
Another AU interception opened the second half and the Mavericks marched inside the red zone before kicking a field goal for a 10-9 lead with 8:55 left in the third quarter.
A quick strike saw the score flip back in favor of the Vikings. A pair of pass interference penalties helped the Vikings down the field and after a six-yard rush from Jaxon Haynes, Hensley connected on a deep ball to Fisher to bring AU down to the one a play before Epperson punched in at the goal line. The Vikings carried that 16-10 lead into the fourth quarter.
With 3:11 left in the game, Pecina hit his fourth field goal of the game to stretch the lead to double digits at 19-10. That would be the final possession for the AU offense as a touchdown, onside kick recovery and walk-off field goal in the final 1:35 of game time gave the Mavericks the victory.
