ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – The Carthage College Red Men bounced back from a tough week-three loss a week ago in at Wheaton, as Carthage scored 55 unanswered points to defeat Augustana College, 55-14, on Saturday in Rock Island.
The win sends the Red Men to 3-1 on the season and 1-1 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, while the Vikings fall to 0-4 and 0-2 in the CCIW.
The win is also the third-straight for the Red Men over Augustana, which is the first three-game win streak over the Vikings since the 1969, '70 and '71 seasons under Art Keller.
"We obviously did not have a great start the first ten minutes," said head coach Mike Yeager following the game. "Augustana outplayed us but we responded really well in all three phases; offense, defense and special teams. I think our discipline was much better over the last 50 minutes and our effort improved. That was good to see."
Augustana jumped on the Red Men for an early 14-0 lead as Carthage couldn't get the ball moving on the offensive side. Through the Red Men's first four possession, Augustana held Carthage to negative-one yard on 14 plays with the fourth drive resulting in a fumble.
After falling into the second quarter hole, the Red Men responded with their first points as Jamel Davis capped-off a ten-play drive with a four-yard touchdown run. A missed PAT left the Red Men down 14-6 with 9:49 left in the half.
Amani Dennis then took over on the defensive side, as on back-to-back Augustana possessions Dennis recorded interceptions including a 27-yard pick six to cut the Vikings lead to 14-13 with 6:42 left in the second quarter.
Dennis' second interception set the Red Men up at the Augustana 20 and four plays later Davis punched in his second touchdown from one-yard out.
To finish out the half, Tommy Bazarek set the Red Men up with a 57-yard punt return to give the Red Men first and goal from the one yard line with 1:48 left in the half. Carthage ended the half extending their lead to 27-14 with Davis' third touchdown of the half, tying his career-high for rushing touchdowns.
Davis led the Red Men in the first half with 72 yards rushing and finished the game with a new career-high 177 yards on 20 carries.
On the play of Jamel Davis and the running game the head coach stated, "We wanted to get in a situation that we could run the ball. Jamel was banged up to start the season so he is finally healthy and where he needs to be. Having Jamel, Lafayette McGary and Dominic Lucito in the backfield gives us a great chance to run the ball. I cannot say enough about the offensive line today. They finally looked like an o-line today. They ran off the ball. They were physical. We owned the line of scrimmage on both sides and if you can do that you are going to be successful."
As a team the Red Men dominated the rushing game with a season-high 260-of-327 total yards coming on the ground behind an offensive line made up of Nick Barker, Joe Godlevske, Camden Cotter, Anthony Kudra, Isaiah Trussell and Jacob Kastler.
Out of the halftime break the Red Men did not let up as Kyle Friberg found Manny Jones for a 17-yard touchdown pass to push the Red Men up 34-17.
Then as Amani Dennis did in the second quarter, Albert Rogalski, who filled in for Virgil Young Saturday, took over in the Red Men secondary during the third quarter. Rogalski snagged a pair of interceptions on the next two Augustana possessions, including a 32-yard interception that he returned for a touchdown.
As a team, the Red Men turned the Vikings over five times as Rogalski and Dennis were joined by Kevin O'Boyle with his first career interception.
James Cobbs was on the receiving end of a Bobby Suchecki one-yard touchdown pass for the first of two scores in the fourth quarter, as the two finished an eight-play, 80-yard drive, followed by Chady Bitre's first career touchdown with 3:31 remaining in the game, giving the Red Men the 55-14 final.
The Red Men will return to Carthage for their next game as they once again renew the 'Old Musket' rivalry at the 2017 Homecoming game. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 30th at Art Keller Field.
"We will enjoy this one but we have to play well against Carroll," said the head coach looking ahead to next week's game with Carroll University. "Carroll is much improved. You saw that with their victory over Augustana last week. We have to practice really well and find a way to come out of next Saturday with a victory."
Red Men Dominate Vikings In Rock Island, 55-14
/seasons/2017/boxscores/20170923_0r8s.xml
2017
Carthage
55
Augustana
14
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carthage (3-1) | 0 | 27 | 14 | 14 | 55 |
| Augustana (0-4) | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
Sep 23, 2017