Box Score LOCATION: Schueler Field (Cincinnati, Ohio)
THE BASICS:
Mount St. Joseph (0-1) fell to Augustana College (1-0) by a score of 21-10 in the final game of the Knowlton Classic series.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Lions received the opening kickoff, and the teams traded three-and-outs on their opening possessions. After another three-and-out by the Lions, Augustana opened the scoring on their second possession. With an 8 play 61 yard drive, that was capped off by a 1 yard quarterback sneak.
With starting quarterback Quinn Farrell struggling to get the offense on track the Lions put freshman Chaiten Tomlin in the game at QB. And the freshman did not fare much better in his first series, throwing an interception on his 3rd attempt. Both quarterbacks would get snaps throughout the rest of the game.
In the second quarter Augustana would score again, on a 58 yard strike from Fuller to Lattner. Pushing the score to 14-0 in favor of Augustana. The Lions answered on their next possession to score their first points of the game. The Lions threatened to score a touchdown but a botched snap on 3 and goal from the 3 yard line had the Lions setup to attempt a field goal. sophomore Jerry Porter drilled a 35 yarder to get the Lions on the board.
After a defensive stop the Lions got the ball back and were poised to go into the half down 14-3. But on the second play of the series Farrel scrambled for a 6 yard gain when he fumbled the ball. Augustana recovered the fumble and scampered 22 yards into the endzone, and pushed the halftime score to 21-3
The Lions defense would hold up its end of the bargain the rest of the way keeping the Vikings off the scoreboard the remainder of the game.
The offense though never really could find its footing. Every time it seemed the offense was on the verge of getting going, they committed a turnover or a penalty stalled their efforts.
In the fourth quarter the Lions finally found the endzone as Tomlin found Ronnell Colbert for a 16 yard touchdown pass for his first career touchdown throw.
In all the Lions committed 4 turnovers, 3 interceptions and a fumble. They put the ball on the ground 4 times overall but were able to recover 3 of those.
The Lions were able to out gain the Vikings 291 yards to 282, and dominate the time of possession keeping the ball for more than 36 minutes. But they were unable overcome the turnovers.
Head Coach Rod Huber had this to say about his teams efforts, "I want to give all the credit in the world to Augustana, they came off of a long bus ride and played very well. The beat us in every phase of the game. We have a young team and we are going to start getting better Monday at 10:00 am, I told them to get in here and get ready to go to work. I am looking forward to watching this team grow up, and we are looking forward to going to DePauw next saturday."
STANDOUTS:
Offensively Sophmore wide receiver Garrett Weaver led the way for the Lions, hauling in 8 passes for 115 yards.
The defense was led by another Sophmore, defensive back Tavon Robertson who led the way with 10 total tackles (8 solo) and a tackle for a loss. Junior defensive lineman Nolan Miller added 6 tackles including 1.5 tackles for a loss and an interception.
UP NEXT
The Lions travel to Greencastle, Ind. next Saturday to take on the Tigers of DePauw University, It will be DePauw's first contest of the season. The game is schedule to kick-off at 1:00 p.m.
