Auggies fall 17-0 to No. 3 Tommies

MINNEAPOLIS -- Augsburg College running back Tyler Maxwell (FY, Prior Lake, Minn.) collected his third 100-yard rushing game of the season with a 24-carry, 114-yard effort, but his Auggies were shut out by the No. 3-ranked University of St. Thomas 17-0 in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football contest on Saturday afternoon at Edor Nelson Field.

Running back Colin Tobin (SR, Itasca, Ill./Fenwick HS) rushed 32 times for 155 yards for St. Thomas (6-0 overall, 4-0 MIAC), ranked No. 3 nationally in the latest D3football.com Division III national poll and No. 4 in the American Football Coaches Association Division III national poll. Meanwhile, Tommie quarterback Dakota Tracy (SR, Geneva, Minn./New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva HS) rushed 12 times for 124 yards and a touchdown, while completing 12-of-21 passes for 154 yards and a touchdown, in the victory.

Tommie wide receiver Fritz Waldvogel (SR, Mendota Heights, Minn./St. Thomas Academy HS) caught seven passes for 110 yards, including a 63-yard touchdown reception from Tracy early in the second quarter. After a 27-yard Tim Albright (JR, Urbandale, Iowa) field goal in the third quarter, the Tommies capped the scoring on Tracy's 50-yard touchdown run with 4:04 left in the game.

Augsburg (4-1 overall, 3-1 MIAC) was stopped on potential scoring drives inside the Tommie 15-yard line twice in the second half -- with one drive ending on an interception at the St. Thomas 2-yard line early in the fourth quarter, and another ending on downs at the St. Thomas 9-yard line with 7:33 left in the game.

In just his fourth collegiate game, Maxwell recorded his third 100-yard rushing effort with his 114-yard total. He now has 527 rushing yards on 98 carries -- averages of 131.8 yards per-game and 5.4 yards per-carry. He also has nine touchdowns (eight rushing, one receiving) on the season, and could threaten each of Augsburg's single-season rushing records -- all set by Marcus LeVesseur in 2004 -- 256 attempts, 1,024 yards and 10 rushing touchdowns.

Saturday's game proved to be a battle of possession. St. Thomas generated 485 yards of total offense (331 yards rushing, 154 passing) and held the ball for 33:47, while Augsburg had 250 yards of offense (114 rushing, 136 passing) and held the ball for 26:13. St. Thomas was stopped twice on downs and had a punt, fumble and interception end drives, while Augsburg was stopped on downs three times, had an interception and had to punt five times.

Defensively, Augsburg linebacker Adam Sonntag (JR, Green Lake, Wis.) led all players with 15 tackles (four solo), while Bryce Vee (JR, Coon Rapids, Minn./Blaine HS) had 14 tackles (four solo). Tyler Phillips (SR, Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial HS) had nine tackles (three solo), a pass breakup and a forced fumble, and Edmond Smith (SR, Minneapolis, Minn./North HS) had nine tackles (two solo).

For St. Thomas, Chinni Oji (JR, New Brighton, Minn./Irondale HS) had eight tackles (five solo), two pass breakups and an interception, and Tony Danna (SR, Lake Elmo, Minn./Hill-Murray HS) had eight tackles (four solo), including one for loss.

The game was played before a near-capacity crowd of 1,821 at Augsburg's Edor Nelson Field, the largest crowd to attend an Augsburg game since new bleachers were installed at the field in 2006.

Both teams return to action next Saturday (10/15), as Augsburg plays at Concordia-Moorhead at 1 p.m., and St. Thomas hosts Hamline at 1:10 p.m.