Box Score

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Augustana University scored a pair of late fourth quarter touchdowns to hold off Southwest Minnesota State and earn a 30-8 victory in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference football on Saturday at Kirkeby-Over Stadium.
 
Augustana, which snapped a three-game losing streak, improves to 3-4 overall, 1-2 NSIC South. The Vikings rushed for 300 yards in the game and finished with 456 yards of total offense. Ryan Bradberry led the team with 121 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 15 attempts.
 
SMSU dropped its fourth straight and is now 2-5 overall, 0-3 NSIC South. SMSU closed the game with 335 yard of offense, but recorded just 90 yards rushing on 30 attempts. The Mustangs struggled on third down, converting just 2 of 17 and was also 1 of 7 on fourth down conversions.
 
Connor Wilkie started at quarterback for SMSU and finished completing 26 of 44 attempts for 213 yards and one touchdown with one interception. Boyer Bouman made his collegiate debut at quarterback and finished 6 of 11 for 32 yards.
 
Nate Huot caught a game-high eight passes for 72 yards and one touchdown to lead the Mustangs. Huot now has 28 career touchdown receptions moving into a tied for fourth in team history with Wayne Hawkins (1989-91).
 
Ashanti Payne finished with a team-high 51 yards on 10 carries to pace the Mustang rushing attack.
 
Ryan Rubley, who has missed several games because of injury for Augustana, started at quarterback and completed 16 of 23 for 163 yards and one touchdown. He also rushed for 95 yards on 12 carries.
 
SMSU received the opening kickoff and on its first drive of the game moved 67 yards on eight plays, but was stopped on fourth-and-2 from the AU 15-yard line. The highlight of the drive was a Wilkie 37-yard completion to Vernel Wingate.
 
Augustana opened the game's scoring on its third drive of the game with a 9-yard touchdown run by Bradberry with 1:41 left in the first quarter. The key play of the drive was a 42-yard rush on third-and-17 by Rubley to keep the drive alive.
 
Following a Mustang three-and-out, the Vikings added to the lead early in the second quarter on a 27-yard field goal by Jeff Glassburner.
 
Both offensive units struggled in the third quarter, but the Vikings defense came through with a big play early in the fourth quarter. Facing third-and-19 from the SMSU 3-yard line, Wilkie was intercepted by AU's Matt Wagner who returned the ball seven yards for a touchdown and extend the lead to 16-0.
 
SMSU finally broke through on its ensuing drive to snap a 10-quarter streak without scoring a touchdown. Wilkie completed six passes on the eight-play, 58-yard drive, including an 18-yard scoring strike to Huot for make the score 16-6. On the two-point conversion, Quadri Busari lofted a perfect pass to Wilkie to cut the deficit 16-8 with 9:40 left in the game.
 
Augustana answered with a huge drive pushing the lead to 23-8 less than three minutes later. A couple of big passes by Rubley helped moved the ball down inside the SMSU 10-yard line. Rubley finally closed the drive with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Nathan Merriman at the 6:49 mark to push the lead to 15 points.
 
SMSU put together a solid drive following the touchdown, moving inside the AU 20-yard line. But the Mustangs came up short as Wilkie's pass to Huot on fourth-and-two from the 11-yard line fell incomplete.  
 
Bradberry completed the scoring with a late 42-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 30-8.
 
Zack Majka finished with a career-high nine tackles for the Mustangs including one for loss and one fumble recovery. Shane Ratkovich also added nine tackles while Alex Ney recorded eight tackles and forced one fumble.
 
Southwest Minnesota State returns home for its next game on Thursday, Oct. 19, facing No. 4-ranked Minnesota State starting at 7:05 p.m. The game is the NSIC Thursday Night Game of the Week and will air live on Midco Sports Network.