SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — The Augustana and Northern State football teams have met 41 times, dating back more than 101 years, when the two teams played on September 1, 1923. Now, the two are set to renew the in-state matchup in Sioux Falls.
Augustana has won 14 straight games against the Wolves. Augie is 18-1-1 as the home team, with their lone loss coming in 1926, meaning the Vikings have won 15 straight home games vs. Northern State.
“You know what you’re getting with this football team. You know what you’re getting with this football program. You know what you’re getting because they have a great coaching staff, great kids and great people around them,” Northern State head coach Mike Schmidt said.
Northern State enters the contest with an 0-3 record, following a narrow loss at Minot State. Hank Kraft is a sophomore running back from Timber Lake and he’ll present challenges, averaging more than five yards per carry.
“He’s a really good football player and he’s hard to find behind their offensive line. They have a very, very big offensive line, especially at tackle,” Augustana head coach Jerry Olszewski said. “We’ll have to make sure our fits are right defensively.”
Augustana used two quarterbacks in game one. Gunnar Hensley was unavailable against SDSU and two other quarterbacks got hurt. This week, Hensley is day-to-day, while Thomas Scholten is ‘likely out this week’ according to coach Olszewski.
“I think that we have a plan on how we’re going to attack each guy at each position. At the same time, their offense is, what their offense is,” Schmidt said. “It’s not necessarily about that. It’s about how we’re going to execute and how sound we’re going to be.”
That internal focus will be key for both the Wolves and Vikings come Saturday.
“This game for us is not about Augie or what they’re trying to do. Again, there’s no secrets on what they’re doing. This game is about our execution,” Schmidt said.
“Until we are our best, we have no business worrying about how good somebody else is and that was last Saturday too,” Olszewski said. “We didn’t play our best game and against a team like South Dakota State, you’ve got to be your best. Until we hit that mark, we’re going to be hungry for improvement.”
The Vikings and Wolves will cross paths on Saturday and you can watch with KELOLAND Sports.
The game will air live on KELOXTRA and livestream on KELOLAND.com. Pregame begins at 1 p.m., with kick-off set for 1:05. Play-by-play will be provided by Grant Sweeter and Jordan DeSmet.
