Football 9/9/06 -- Northwestern-Roseville 31, Augsburg 24

BOXSCORE

ROSEVILLE, Minn. (9/9/06) -- Leading 31-to-17 late in the third quarter, it looked as though Northwestern College-Roseville would cruise to an easy non-conference victory over Augsburg College. The victory part held true, as the Eagles prevailed in a 31-24 final score. However, the visiting Auggies of Augsburg battled to the end, as a Northwestern interception with just seconds left finally sealed the Eagle triumph.

Northwestern improves to 1-1 on the year, while Augsburg College slips to 0-1, as the game marked the 2006 season opener for the Auggies.

Northwestern broke a scoreless tie with 6:08 left in the first quarter, as quarterback Josh Peterson (Sr., Fairmont, Minn./GHEC HS) connected with wide receiver Kyle Thomforde (So., Northfield, Minn.) for a 34-yard touchdown strike. The played capped off a 6-play, 61-yard drive for the Eagles. The extra point attempt failed. Still in the opening quarter, Augsburg cut its deficit in half as Kyle Danner (Sr., Ramsey, Minn./Elk River HS) drilled a 20-yard field goal to make the score 6-3, still in favor of Northwestern.

The final minutes of the first half featured a scoring spree. Northwestern first added to its advantage as running back Ben Freedman (Sr., Wahoo, Neb.) sprinted into the corner of the end zone from 2-yards out with 2:14 left in the half to put the Eagles in front 12-3 with the point-after attempt failing again.

Augsburg had plenty of punches still to throw in the first half, though, as the Auggies quickly marched down the field and recorded a touchdown on a 28-yard pass from quarterback Keith Hagen (Sr., Northfield, Minn.) to Jason Potts (So., Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS) with 39 seconds left in the quarter. The scoring play ended an impressive 5-play, 49-yard drive, and made the score 12-to-10 still in favor of Northwestern. On the following kickoff, Northwestern turned the ball over on a fumble and Augsburg took advantage. Three-plays later and with just 1 second remaining in the opening half, the Auggies pulled in front as Hagen hit Royce Winford (So., Albertville, Minn./Osseo HS) in the back of the end zone to move Augsburg ahead of the Eagles in a 17-to-12 score.

Ending the first half with a bitter taste in their mouths, Northwestern came out blazing in the second half as the Eagles racked up 3 touchdowns in the quarter on 3 straight possessions. Freedman notched his second touchdown of the game, putting the finishing touch on a 6-play, 37-yard drive, when he dashed in from 1-yard out. Play-caller Peterson followed with a quarterback sneak into the end zone, giving Northwestern a 25-to-17 lead. Defensive back Tom Tadych (Sr., Milaca, Minn.) then took his turn as he intercepted an Auggie pass and went the distance, scampering 29-yards to give the Eagles a commanding 31-to-17 lead with 5:30 remaining in the third quarter.

After both teams exchanged possession twice without scoring, Augsburg narrowed the scoring gap to 31-to-24 as running back Arthur Minus (Jr., St. Paul, Minn./Humboldt HS) pounded his way across the goal line from 12-yards out to wrap up a 4-play, 43-yard drive, with 6:33 left in the clash. Augsburg squandered away its final chances to tie the game as the Auggies turned the ball over on a fumble and interception in consecutive possessions during the final minutes.

The box score displayed an evenly matched affair on paper. Both teams tallied 19 first downs with Augsburg racking up 351 yards of total offense, while Northwestern owned 317 yards on the afternoon. The big difference came in how the yards were earned, as the Eagles grounded out 157 yards in the rushing game, compared to just 68 for the Auggies. Augsburg starting quarterback Hagen completed 17-of-28 passes for 158 yards and 2 touchdowns, before being pulled with an injury. Minus took 18 carries for 90 yards to highlight the Auggie rushing attack, while Winford caught 8 passes for 60 yards to lead the Auggie receiving unit.

Defensively, Garrett Kratz (Jr., Jordan, Minn.) and Mike Matson (Sr., Cedar, Minn./St. Francis HS) paced the Auggies with Kratz pulling down 11 tackles, while Matson boasted 10 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, and 1 fumble recovery.

In a balanced Northwestern offensive attack, Freedman dashed for 82 yards on 19 carries, adding 2 touchdowns. Eagle quarterback Peterson was successful on 12-of-21 pass attempts for 160 yards with tight end Nathan Clanton (So., Minnetonka, Minn.) serving as his favorite target, collecting 4 catches for 44 yards.

Andrew Magaard (Fr., Ogilvie, Minn.), Max Meagher (Sr., Paynesville, Minn.), and Steven Boggess (Jr., Grinnell, Iowa) led the Northwestern defense. Magaard added 8 tackles and 1 interception; Meagher contributed 7 tackles, 1 tackles for a loss, and a forced fumble and recovery; and Boggess tallied 7 tackles, 2.5 tackles for a loss of 15 yards, and 1 sack.

Northwestern College is now 2-1 all-time against Augsburg College and 2-0 all-time at home against the Auggies. The Eagles won for just the fifth time in their last 11 home openers dating back to 1996. Northwestern will pack their bags and head to Rockford College for a 1 p.m. kickoff next Saturday (9/16). Augsburg will host St. John's University next Saturday at 1 p.m., at Edor Nelson Field.

Augsburg at Northwestern-Roseville Game Notes

THE GAME: The Augsburg College Auggies (0-0 overall, 0-0 MIAC) play at the Northwestern College Eagles (0-1 overall, 0-0 UMAC) in a nonconference football game on Saturday, September 9 at 1 p.m., at Reynolds Field (capacity 1,800) in Northfield, Minn.

COACHES: Augsburg head coach Frank Haege (Wisconsin-Stout '92) is entering his second season and has an 1-9 record. Northwestern head coach Kirk Talley (Pacific Lutheran '83) is in his sixth season at Northwestern and has a 37-15 record with the Eagles. Including previous coaching stints at Crown and Mount Scenario (Wis.), his career record is 54-59-1.

WEBCAST/BROADCAST: All Augsburg football games are webcast live online, through an arrangement with Stretch Internet. Devon Krueger, sports director at KFIL Radio in Preston, Minn., will be doing play-by-play, with former St. Thomas offensive lineman Joe Moline on analysis. To listen online, go to http://www.augsburg.edu/athletics/liveaudio/. There is no over-the-air radio coverage of Augsburg football. Northwestern football is on college student station WVOE, which can be heard online: http://www.wvoe.fm.

SERIES: This is the third game in the all-time series between Augsburg and Northwestern-Roseville. The teams played in the 1984 and 1985 seasons, with Northwestern winning 7-3 on Sept. 8, 1984 in Roseville, and Augsburg winning 29-17 on Sept. 7, 1985 at Augsburg.

LAST WEEK: This is Augsburg's first game of the season. Last Saturday, Northwestern opened its season with a 30-14 loss to Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa.

MIGHTY MATSON: Augsburg linebacker Mike Matson (Sr., Cedar, Minn./St. Francis HS) enters this season as a possible NCAA Division III All-American candidate, after having one of the top defensive seasons of any Division III player last year. This summer, Matson was one of two Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference players (Bethel offensive lineman Ryan Wassink was the other) to earn a spot on the 2006 Preseason All-Division III First Team in Lindy's National College Football preview magazine. In 2005, Matson earned second-team All-MIAC honors, D3Football.com All-America third team and All-West Region second-team honors, and Don Hansen's Football Gazette All-West Region third-team honors.

Matson had a breakout year in 2005 as a leader on the Augsburg defense. He finished the 2005 season with 155 tackles (74 solo), leading the MIAC in both overall (15.5 tackles per game) and MIAC play (138, 17.3 tackles per game). Matson finished second nationally among Division III players in total tackles (15.5 per game), as one of just two Division III players to average 15.0 or more tackles per game during the season. He also ranked sixth nationally in solo tackles (7.4 per game). In his career, Matson has 245 tackles (100 solo), including 13.5 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks, four forced fumbles and two blocked kicks.

NIFTY NEUMANN: Another player who could possibly earn high honors in two sports this year is tight end Andrew Neumann (Sr., Somerset, Wis.), who excels on both the football field and wrestling mat for the Auggies. Neumann led all MIAC tight ends last season in receiving yardage (63.2 yards per game in league play) and receptions (5.62 per game in league play). He earned All-MIAC first team and Football Gazette All-West Region honorable mention honors in 2005.

Neumann is also an accomplished wrestler; he qualified for the NCAA Division III national tournament last season as Augsburg's heavyweight, finishing 25-10 (54-30 in his career). In high school, he was a member of a Wisconsin state championship football team and was a state individual champion as a wrestler.

SPLENDID SCHREIER: Like Andrew Neumann, wide receiver Ricky Schreier (Sr., Maplewood, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall HS) is a two-sport star for the Auggies. He was named All-MIAC second team in football and earned All-MIAC honorable mention honors in baseball last season.

Schreier led the Auggie football team with 766 receiving yards and six touchdowns on 53 receptions, while he added his kick return skills (505 yards on 27 returns) to finish third in the league in all-purpose yards (1,275). In baseball, Schreier was second among team regulars in hitting, with a .364 average (40-for-110). He is Augsburg's starting leftfielder.

HUDSON TWINS AGAIN: For the second time in recent years, Augsburg has a set of twins from Hudson, Wis., on the roster, as running back Nick Francis (Fr., Hudson, Wis.) and defensive back Chris Francis (Fr., Hudson, Wis.) join the team. Twins Ted Schultz and Bob Schultz, also from Hudson, played for the Auggies from 1994-97, Ted as a tight end and Bob as a linebacker. Both were multiple All-MIAC recipients in their careers.

MINUS BROTHERS ARE A PLUS FOR AUGGIES: Anthony Minus is in his second year as an Augsburg assistant coach (defensive line). His brother Arthur Minus (Jr., St. Paul, Minn./Humboldt HS) will be joining the Auggies this season as a running back. Arthur Minus was an all-conference rusher at St. Paul Humboldt HS and transfers after playing one season (1999) at Southwest Minnesota State; Anthony Minus played collegiately at Concordia-St. Paul (1998) and Southwest Minnesota State (2001-02) as a defensive lineman.

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR ROBACK RETURNS TO AUGGIES: Jim Roback (Augsburg '63), who was inducted into Augsburg's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1990, returns for his second stint on the Augsburg coaching staff. He served on Jack Osberg's Auggie staff from 1995-2002, from 1995-2001 as defensive coordinator and in 2002 as offensive coordinator.

A native of Columbia Heights, Minn., Roback taught and coached in Anoka-Hennepin School District 11 for 34 years at both Anoka (8 years) and Coon Rapids (26 years) high schools. He was an assistant on the 1983 Coon Rapids Class AA state championship football team and has also helped coach teams and individuals to prep state tournaments in baseball, basketball and track & field. After starring in baseball and football for Augsburg, Roback played professional baseball for one year in the Minnesota Twins' organization.

SCOUTING THE AUGGIES: There's a lot of construction going on at Augsburg College these days. A new addition to the Si Melby Hall athletic complex, the Kennedy Sports and Recreation Center, is under construction and will open during the upcoming school year. New bleachers will be installed at Edor Nelson Field, and a brand new air-supported dome will cover the field beginning this winter.

The new Oren Gateway Building, featuring a Barnes and Noble campus bookstore, retail shops, offices and student housing, is being built along Riverside Avenue in the center of campus. Other improvements are being made to the overall campus infrastructure. A new college president, Dr. Paul Pribbenow, has taken office and will have his formal inauguration in October.

And on the Sprinturf surface at Edor Nelson Field, another major construction project is taking place -- the building of the Augsburg football team.

"The term we're using this year is 'Building Blocks.' That's our motto for the year," said Frank Haege, entering his second season as Augsburg's head coach. "We're building guys in the weight room, we're building them on the field, and we're building a new addition to our athletic building."

Just 27 letterwinners return to the 82-player lineup, meaning that 55 players -- including 43 freshmen -- will be making their first appearances in an Auggie uniform this season, as Augsburg aims to improve upon last year's 1-9 overall record and 1-7 mark in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play. Given the new influx of young talent, combined with 11 returning starters, and Haege and his coaching staff are hoping that this first "building block" in 2006 will provide the base for a long-term improvement in the Augsburg football program.

Complete Augsburg 2006 football preview is online: http://www.augsburg.edu/athletics/football/0607preview.html.

FORMER AUGGIE HVISTENDAHL ON EAGLES' COACHING STAFF: One of the top players to ever play football at Augsburg, Scott Hvistendahl, is in his third season as an assistant coach with Northwestern-Roseville. In his career, Hvistendahl became one of the first players to break one of Jerry Rice's NCAA all-time receiving records, when he compiled 4,696 career receiving yards (1995-98), eclipsing Rice's mark of 4,693 yards, set at Mississippi Valley State (1981-84). Hvistendahl earned the Gagliardi Trophy as the top student-athlete in Division III football in 1998, and was a finalist for the Melberger Award, another Division III Player of the Year award. He was also named MIAC Player of the Year in 1998.

Hvistendahl's career totals of 285 receptions (currently sixth-best in Division III history, 21st-best among all NCAA divisions), 4,696 receiving yards (third in Division III history, sixth-best among all NCAA divisions) and 40 receiving touchdowns (20th in Division III history) are all Augsburg career records, three of 11 school records he still holds.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES (includes information from Northwestern website): Northwestern-Roseville has been one of the most dominant teams in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference in recent years, winning three of the last five conference titles. The Eagles won the UMAC's North Division and overall championships last year with an 8-3 record, 7-0 in league play, and are again favored in the preseason coaches poll to win the UMAC this season.

Last Saturday, Cornell (Iowa) claimed a 30-14 victory over Northwestern in the teams' opener in Mt. Vernon, Iowa. The Rams pulled away late, scoring 21 unanswered points to overcome a 14-9 second-quarter Eagle advantage. For Northwestern, running back Ben Freedman (Sr., Wahoo, Neb.) took 15 carries for 88 yards, while wide receiver Kyle Thomforde (So., Northfield, Minn.) caught 4 passes for 66 yards to highlight the Eagle box score. Quarterback Josh Peterson (Sr., Farimont, Minn./Granada-Huntley-East Chain HS) connected on 12-of-23 pass attempts in the game.

Linebacker Andrew Magaard (Fr., Ogilvie, Minn.) accounted for 13 tackles on the afternoon. Fellow freshman linebacker Willy Miron (Fr., St. Croix Falls, Wis.) earned UMAC North Division Player of the Week honors for his performance, pulling down 10 tackles, including 2 tackles for a loss and 1 sack.

AUGSBURG TWO-DEEP ROSTER -- OFFENSE
RT -- 67-Alan Mueller (Jr., 6-4, 270), 50-Tony Pokriefka (Fr., 6-5, 300)
RG -- 75-Matt Siems (Sr., 6-4, 305), 63-Tyler Reiter (Fr., 6-3, 270)
C -- 77-John Streefland (Sr., 6-1, 250), 71-Andy Navis (Jr., 6-2, 210)
LG -- 55-Andy Estrem (Sr., 6-1, 265), 57-Josh Groll (Fr., 6-5, 330)
LT -- 70-Jason Weber (Jr., 6-4, 265), 79-John Leibfried (So., 6-3, 270)
TE -- 80-Andrew Neumann (Sr., 6-4, 250), 82-Garrett Warren (So., 6-3, 210)
WR -- 5-Royce Winford (So., 6-2, 185), 85-Nate Goodnature (Fr., 6-3, 175)
WR -- 28-Jason Potts (So., 5-8, 175), 6-Mike Nourie (Fr., 6-2, 180)
WR -- 2-Ricky Schreier (Sr., 5-8, 180), 31-Craig Henry (Fr., 5-11, 180)
RB -- 12-Arthur Minus (Jr., 6-0, 230), 28-Jason Potts (So., 5-8, 175)
QB -- 9-Keith Hagen (Sr., 6-5, 200), 16-Jordan Berg (So., 6-3, 200)

AUGSBURG TWO-DEEP ROSTER -- DEFENSE
RE -- 95-Derick Kelly (So., 6-4, 230), 11-Erik Bohnhoff (Sr., 6-5, 210)
RT -- 92-Genshi Tezuka (Fr., 6-1, 240), 62-Jake Schoenecker (Fr., 6-4, 230)
LT -- 98-Matt Wong (Jr., 6-0, 280), 96-Adam Viehauser (Fr., 6-1, 240)
LE -- 52-Brandon Rudenick (Jr., 6-1, 250), 68-Dan Thewis (Fr., 5-11, 215)
SLB -- 13-Andrew Bergeson (Fr., 6-2, 200), 33-David Ritter (So., 6-4, 235)
MLB -- 44-Mike Matson (Sr., 6-2, 225), 59-John Welty (Jr., 5-10, 205)
WLB -- 46-Sean Kelly (So., 6-1, 195), 32-Brady Seesz (Jr., 5-8, 185)
CB -- 40-Tony Landecker (Jr., 5-10, 200), 39-Rodney Powell (Fr., 5-11, 175)
CB -- 34-Justin Reese (Jr., 5-11, 175), 22-Ryan Adamson (So., 5-10, 175)
FS -- 15-Andy Roff (Fr., 6-0, 185), 18-David Lange (Jr., 6-4, 190)
SS -- 24-Garrett Kratz (Jr., 5-11, 180), 27-Tyler Judkins (Fr., 5-11, 175)

AUGSBURG SPECIALISTS
K -- 90-Luom Seidenkranz (Fr., 5-9, 169), 1-Kyle Danner (Sr., 6-1, 195)
P -- 1-Kyle Danner (Sr., 6-1, 195), 9-Keith Hagen (Sr., 6-5, 200)
LS/SS -- 51-Tim Garnhardt (Fr., 6-1, 230)
H -- 9-Keith Hagen (Sr., 6-5, 200)
KR -- 2-Ricky Schreier (Sr., 5-8, 180), 5-Royce Winford (So., 6-2, 185)
PR -- 28-Jason Potts (So., 5-8, 175)

NORTHWESTERN TWO-DEEP ROSTER -- OFFENSE
QB -- 10-Josh Peterson (Sr., 6-2, 200), 18-Aaron Hunter (Jr., 6-2, 180)
TB -- 22-Ben Freedman (Sr., 5-11, 192), 20-Ryan Long (Fr., 5-9, 170)
ZWR -- 6-Kyle Thomforde (So., 6-2, 206), 88-Jeremy Daggett (Jr., 6-1, 190)
TE -- 87-Stefan Redlin (Sr., 6-4, 250), 41-Nathan Clanton (So., 6-7, 222)
LT -- 78-Clint Wolcyn (Jr., 6-5, 305), 68-Kevin Kleiner (Fr., 6-4, 240)
LG -- 50-Dan Thoren (Sr., 6-3, 270), 57-Dominic Goodbuffalo (Jr., 6-2, 290)
C -- 61-Trevor Redlin (Jr., 6-2, 270), 66-Marshal Sartain (Fr., 5-10, 240)
RG -- 62-Ernest North (So., 5-11, 230), 61-Trevor Redlin (Jr., 6-2, 270)
RT -- 75-Dave Tillman (So., 6-4, 295), 50-Dan Thoren (Sr., 6-3, 270)
XWR -- 82-Josh Lundeen (Jr., 5-10, 180), 81-Justin Jeppesen (Jr., 6-0, 185)
FB -- 33-Aaron Pennington (Jr., 6-0, 215), 86-Sam Fredrick (Fr., 6-3, 210)

NORTHWESTERN TWO-DEEP ROSTER -- DEFENSE
S -- 44-Reid Jilek (So., 6-2, 185), 16-Zach Holsman (Fr., 6-1, 190)
CB -- 23-Tom Tadych (Sr., 5-8, 150), 19-Taylor Swanson (Fr., 6-2, 180)
DE -- 79-Nate Fehr (So., 6-6, 275), 64-Matt Kramer (Fr., 6-2, 200)
NG -- 93-Rob Fehr (Sr., 6-0, 225), 63-Kyle Weber (So., 5-10, 230)
DE -- 37-Max Meagher (Sr., 6-0, 217), 53-Thad Thompson (Fr., 6-3, 215)
LB -- 36-Spencer Sommerlot (So., 6-0, 185), 40-David Schussman (Sr., 6-0, 190)
LB -- 28-Andy Magaard (Fr., 5-10, 180), 42-Brad Anfinson (Jr., 6-0, 225)
LB -- 31-Will Miron (Fr., 6-0, 200), 48-Dan Hitzeman (Jr., 6-0, 195)
S -- 24-Jake Larson (Fr., 6-0, 180), 16-Zach Holsman (Fr., 6-1, 190)
CB -- 15-Mike Polley (So., 5-8, 160), 28-Brett Witter (Jr., 5-10, 180)
DB -- 5-Steve Boggess (Jr., 5-10, 210), 27-Marcus Peterson (So., 5-11, 180)

NORTHWESTERN SPECIALISTS
P -- 10-Josh Peterson (Sr., 6-2, 200)
K -- 14-Eli Conlow (Fr., 6-1, 170)
PR -- 5-Steven Boggess (Jr., 5-10, 210), 6-Kyle Thomforde (So., 6-2, 206)
KR -- 23-Tom Tadych (Sr., 5-8, 150), 3-Josh Lundeen (Jr., 5-10, 180), 6-Kyle Thomforde (So., 6-2, 206)