MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The St. Olaf College football team yielded 35 second-half points in a 44-13 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) road loss to Augsburg University on Saturday afternoon at Edor Nelson Field.
St. Olaf (2-2, 1-2 MIAC) trailed just 9-6 early in the third quarter before Augsburg (2-2, 2-1 MIAC) scored 35 of the game's final 42 points to run away with the victory. The Auggies outgained the Oles by a 486-280 margin and took advantage of three interceptions to claim their third win in the last four meetings between the two programs.
Caden Rodkewich was 26-for-41 for 314 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions for Augsburg, which also rushed for 172 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the victory. Rodkewich's four touchdown passes went to four different receivers.
Senior
Gus Gartzke ran for St. Olaf's lone touchdown in the loss on a three-yard run late in the third quarter that made it a 23-13 game. Senior
Will Skemp recorded six catches for 86 yards, while sophomore
Tory Pinkney Jr. had five receptions for 77 yards. Sophomore
Ethan Hess connected on 2-of-3 field goals, with his makes coming from 29 and 25 yards.
Sophomore
Alec Mahoney blocked a punt on Augsburg's opening possession, but St. Olaf was unable to convert the plan into points on a missed 37-yard field goal. The Oles put the game's first points on the board on a 29-yard field goal by Hess with 5:07 to go in the first quarter, but the Auggies responded with a seven-play, 67-yard drive to take a 6-3 lead when sophomore
Josh Kerber blocked the PAT.
Augsburg took a 9-3 lead into the locker room before St. Olaf halved the deficit on a 25-yard field goal by Hess on the opening possession of the third quarter. The big play on the drive was a 36-yard pass from junior
Luke Crosby to Skemp that got the Oles into the red zone.
After the Auggies scored two touchdowns in the span of less than three minutes late in the third quarter, Gartzke scored from three yards out in the final minute of the quarter to bring St. Olaf within 23-13 going to the fourth. In the fourth, Augsburg scored three touchdowns in the final 5:52 of the game to account for the 31-point margin.
St. Olaf will be back at home on Saturday, Oct. 11 for a 1 p.m. kickoff against Gustavus Adolphus College on Homecoming and Family Weekend.
