MARSHALL, MN (KELO.com) — It was all Augustana in the season-finale for the Viking football team in a 49-0 win Saturday at Southwest Minnesota State. The Vikings scored six offensive touchdowns and one defensive touchdown in the win that saw the AU defense hold SMSU to just 140 yards of total offense, 87 through the air and 53 on the ground.
Augustana finishes the season 7-4 overall while Southwest Minnesota State’s season concludes its bounce-back year with a 4-7 mark.
Among the defensive highlights, Peyton Buckley and Eli Weber each recorded interceptions while Buckley recorded a sack and touchdown. T.J. Liggett led the way with 10 tackles, seven solo.
It was 7-0 Augustana after its opening drive of the game as the Vikings used nine plays to march 48 yards for an Isaiah Huber 3-yard touchdown. The touchdown was the third rushing of the year for the wide receiver turned running back.
Peyton Buckley then pushed AU’s lead to two touchdowns as he intercepted Marcus Martin’s pass and ran 40-yards into the end zone for his second pick-six of 2022. Kade Lynott assisted on the interception as it was his tip that allowed Buckley to get under the pass.
The score continued to increase with a 25-yard David Addo rushing touchdown and a 44-yard connection from Casey Bauman to Devon Jones, making it 28-0 at halftime.
The Jones touchdown came after he made the catch at about the 8-yard line, and made a move to the 2-yard line before three Mustangs tried holding him back from the goal line. However, Logan Uttecht and Riley Zuhde joined the pile and the Vikings’ side won, pushing Jones the final two yards into the end zone.
Uttecht got his own touchdown reception early in the third quarter when Bauman hit him with a 38-yard touchdown pass, capping a 5-play, 50-yard drive spanning 1:54.
A second touchdown by Jones made it 42-0 with 9:58 remaining in the game. This time it was a 20-yard touchdown pass from Bauman.
The final score of the game came courtesy of a Kyle Graham 3-yard run for the 49-0 win.
Bauman’s final line read as 228 yards passing and three touchdowns with a long pass of 44 yards. He also rushed for 84 yards to lead AU’s rushing efforts. Addo concluded with 51 yards rushing. Jones tallied his first-career 100-yard receiving performance with 117 yards on five receptions and two touchdowns. Uttecht ended with 44 yards on three receptions.
Augustana ends its season with 16 seniors playing their final game in the Navy and Gold. Amongst those seniors is Grayson Diepenbrock adding another sack to his Augustana career record of 26 sacks and his single-season record of 10.5 sacks. His 42.5 tackles for loss over his four-year career rank second all-time at Augustana.
