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September 7, 2010

2010 Season - 2010 Central Preview

Junior quarterback David Lee completed 20 of 26 passes for 322 yards and three touchdowns in Augustana's 28-7 season-opening win over Greenville.

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. - After getting the 2010 season off to a successful start with a 28-7 road win over Greenville, Augustana will take a significant step up in competition this week, hosting the seventh-ranked Dutch of Central College. Kickoff for Saturday's game is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. at Ericson Field and it will be Family Weekend at Augustana.

On Friday night in Edwardsville, Illinois, Augustana opened the season with the win over Greenville. After the Viking defense forced a Panther three-and-out on the first series, quarterback David Lee (Springfield HS, Springfield, Ill.) wasted no time. He found Zach McCullough (St. Charles North HS, St. Charles, Ill.) behind the Greenville secondary for a 52-yard touchdown on the team's first offensive play of the year. Lee completed his first nine passes of the night as well as his final seven in a row. The last of those was an 80-yard bomb to McCullough that closed out the scoring.

The two juniors both had big nights, with Lee going 20-26 for 322 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions, and McCullough making three grabs for 166 yards and two scores. Another junior, Jordan Peart (Marian Central HS, Bull Valley, Ill.) snared 10 Lee passes for 111 yards. Unfortunately, running backs Robert Wood (Rockford Boylan HS, Loves Park, Ill.) (11 yards on five carries) and Nate Pena (Neuqua Valley HS, Bolingbrook, Ill.) (a team-high 73 yards and one TD on 12 carries) both sustained injuries and didn't return.

Defensively, the Vikings gave up just 179 total yards with 80 of those-all of Greenville's passing yards-coming on a broken play that saw Panther quarterback Joel Lira scramble and find Ryan Boezeman behind the Augustana secondary for 80 yards and the team's only touchdown of the night. Sophomore linebacker Joe Weber (Marmion Academy, South Elgin, Ill.) made a team-high seven tackles and junior linebacker Grant Ollenburger (Evergreen Park HS, Evergreen Park, Ill.) picked off a Lira pass and returned it 20 yards.

Saturday's opponent, Central College, opened its season with a 34-28 home win over Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Junior quarterback Nate Snead threw for 257 yards and ran for another 76 to lead a balanced Dutch attack that produced 442 total yards. Central went 10-1 last season, winning its 30th Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship before falling 42-40 to Mary Hardin-Baylor in the playoffs. The Dutch ended up ranked sixth in the final D3Football.com poll and are the pre-season favorites to claim another IIAC title.

Seventh-year head coach Jeff McMartin, who's posted a 54-13 record at his alma mater, returns 15 starters including seven first team and four second team all-conference performers from a year ago. Included in those is dual threat quarterback Snead, who completed 60.2 percent of his passes for 1,264 yards and 17 touchdowns with just three interceptions last year. He rushed for an additional 872 yards and 15 scores, averaging 5.6 yards per carry.

Other first team All-IIAC returnees for McMartin are wide receiver Jeremy Snead (46 catches for 541 yards and 9 TD's), offensive tackle Joey Shoemaker, defensive end Shane Wong (14 tackles for loss, 10 sacks), kicker Jake Viggers (7-10 FG, long of 42), punter Kurt Brondyke (38.6 average) and return specialist Brett Wilkin (26.5 KOR, 7.7 PR). Earning second team honors were offensive tackle Lee Schroeder, nose guard Brady Hill (9½ tackles for loss, 7 sacks), linebacker Greg Best (56 tackles, 6 for loss) and cornerback Cody Baethke (63 tackles, 3 interceptions).

CCIW WEEK ONE: The league got off to an impressive start during the first week of the season, winning six of seven contests. In addition to Augustana's 28-7 win over Greenville, Carthage defeated Franklin, 30-27 and Illinois Wesleyan beat Hope, 20-16. Elmhurst bested Loras, 26-14; Millikin beat Illinois College 42-31 and pre-season favorite and defending co-champ North Central routed Cornell by a score of 41-7. The lone CCIW team to taste defeat in week one was North Park, which fell to Aurora, 9-7. Wheaton was idle and will open against Albion this Saturday.

PRE-SEASON POLLS: Central was ranked seventh in the D3Football.com pre-season poll and ninth by The Sporting News. Lindy's Sports had the Dutch 13th in its pre-season voting with Augustana at number 25.

2010 AUGUSTANA VIKINGS FOOTBALL SCHEDULE/RESULTS

* - College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin game

AUGUSTANA-CENTRAL SERIES RECORD

SERIES NOTES: This will be the ninth meeting between these traditional NCAA Division III powers. The all-time series is tied at four wins apiece. Three of the previous eight meetings ('84, '85 and '88) have taken place in the Division III playoffs. Included in those was Augustana's 21-12 victory in the 1984 Stagg Bowl, which earned the Vikings their second of four straight national championships. Central also owns a national title, winning the 1974 Division III crown.

LAST WEEK'S GAME: 09/03/10 - AUGUSTANA 28, GREENVILLE 7

David Lee's accuracy and rock-solid defense propel Vikings to 28-7 victory over Greenville

EDWARDSVILLE, Illinois - A combination of the junior David Lee's (Springfield HS, Springfield, Ill.) accurate, and strong, right arm and a suffocating defense helped lead the way as Augustana defeated Greenville 28-7 on Friday, September 3. It was the season opener for both clubs and it was played at Edwardsville High School because work is being done to Greenville's facility.

Lee completed 20 of 26 passes for 322 yards and three touchdowns without an interception and the Viking defense allowed the Panthers just 179 yards of total offense in the game. Of those 179 yards, 80 came on one play while Greenville averaged less than two yards per play on the other 50 offensive snaps.

A year ago Lee ended the 2009 season by breaking Ken Anderson's school records for single game completions (28 vs. North Central on November 7) and single game passing yards (422 vs. Millikin on November 14). He picked up in the 2010 season opener just where he left off last year. He only misfired on six passes the entire game and was sacked just once as the Vikings' offensive line did a fine job in the protection department.

It didn't take very long for Lee to get warmed up. After the Augustana defense allowed Greenville just four total yards on three possessions after the opening kickoff, the Vikings took over on their own 48 yard line. On the very first play of the season Lee connected with junior wide receiver Zach McCullough (St. Charles North HS, St. Charles, Ill.) for a 52 yard touchdown. Sophomore Arnie Fitzwater (Waterford Union HS, Waterford, Wis.) split the uprights and Augustana led 7-0 before the game, and season, was four minutes old.

After the defense forced Greenville to punt again, the Panthers would punt a total of nine times on the night, on the next possession; Augustana went on a long drive. Starting on their own 18, the Vikings went 79 yards on 16 plays but were turned away on a fourth and goal situation at the Greenville one. They ate up 8:06 of the clock and Lee was six of six on the drive for 46 yards.

The first quarter ended with the score 7-0 but with 9:20 before halftime, Augustana began a drive on its own 30 yard line. This time the Vikings stayed almost exclusively on the ground, going 70 yards in 10 plays with Nate Pena (Neuqua Valley HS, Bolingbrook, Ill.) scoring from a yard out with 3:55 left in the half. Lee only attempted one pass on the drive and that went for 22 yards to junior Jordan Peart (Marian Central Catholic HS, Bull Valley, Ill.). Peart would end the game with a team high 10 catches for 111 yards.

The half ended with Augustana on top 14-0 and the Vikings drove to the Greenville 20 to start the third quarter but Fitzwater's 37 yard field goal attempt was wide left. On the Panther's first play from scrimmage after Fitzwater's miss, quarterback Nelson Lira connected with Carl Boezeman for an 80 yard touchdown pass that trimmed the lead to 14-7 with 10:07 left in the third quarter.

Lee went back to work and led the Vikings on an 89 yard, 11 play drive that ended with a 10 yard touchdown pass to senior tight end Keith Abbey (Rich East HS, Park Forest, Ill.). During the drive, Lee was six of six for 70 yards. The big play in the drive was a 34 yard completion to McCullough that put the ball on the two yard line.

It was another big play from Lee to McCullough for the final score of the night as the combination clicked for an 80 yard scoring toss with 10:49 left in the game. Fitzwater, who was perfect on all four extra point attempts, added the 28^th and final point.

The Augustana defense, with sophomore linebacker Joe Weber (Marmion Academy, South Elgin, Ill.) leading the way with seven solo tackles, was superb. Weber also had two sacks for a total of 24 yards. Greenville was held to just two of six passing for 80 yards and generated just 99 yards rushing on 45 attempts. Junior linebacker Grant Ollenburger (Evergreen Park HS, Evergreen Park, Ill.) had an interception, which he returned for 20 yards.

Peart led the team in receptions with 10 for 111 yards and McCullough caught three passes for 166 yards. Pena led the team in rushing with 73 yards on 12 attempts as the Vikings gained 136 yards on 37 tries. Senior Alex Schroeder (Batavia HS, Batavia, Ill.) averaged 33.2 yards on four punts but he placed two inside the 20 yard line.

Augustana will host Central of Iowa on Saturday, September 11 at 6:00 p.m. at Ericson Field.                                                             

HEAD COACH JIM BARNES  

Jim Barnes is in his 11th season as the head coach at his alma mater (class of 1981). He has compiled a record of 74-30 (.712) during his career at Augustana, including a 1-0 mark this year. Overall, he has a mark of 111-43 (.721) in 16 years as a college head coach and that includes a 37-13 record at College of Wooster from 1995-99. During his years at Augustana his teams have gone 52-18 (.743) in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin with league titles in 2001, 2005 and 2006. The Vikings have participated in the NCAA Division III national playoffs in 2001 and 2005.

BARNES' RECORD AS HEAD COACH

                                                OVERALL                               CONFERENCE

JIM BARNES BY THE NUMBERS: Here is a closer look at Jim Barnes' record at Augustana College. 

% - In the 2002 season the Vikings were leading Wisconsin-Platteville 21-14 in the third quarter when the game was cancelled due to lightning. # - In 2001 the Vikings were 1-1 in the NCAA playoffs and in 2005 they again went 1-1 in the NCAA playoffs.

BARNES AGAINST THE OPPOSITION

2010 AUGUSTANA FOOTBALL TWO DEEP

Prior to September 11 game at Central

2010 CENTRAL TWO DEEP

2010 AUGUSTANA VIKINGS STATISTICAL HIGHLIGHTS