MINNEAPOLIS — Nearly rallying back from a 24-0 halftime deficit, an Augsburg University comeback attempt fell short in a 24-19 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football loss to Carleton on Saturday at Edor Nelson Field. The game was the final collegiate home contest at Edor Nelson Field for 15 Augsburg seniors —
Ahadu Alemu,
Ade Batz-Rogers,
RJ Chakolis,
Ben Davis,
Corey DeLoach,
Ari Gaiters,
Alejandro Herrera,
Carter Johnson,
Jaxon Jones,
EJ Kilgore,
Anselmo Marquez-Reagan Jr.,
Foster Mulvehill,
Jaedon Nygaard,
Caden Rodkewich and student coach
Tysean Hughes.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Carleton 24, Augsburg 19
LOCATION: Edor Nelson Field, Minneapolis
RECORDS: Augsburg 2-6 overall (2-5 MIAC), Carleton 5-3 overall (5-2 MIAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Auggies scored 19 unanswered points over three scoring drives from the third quarter into the fourth after facing a 24-0 score, but the comeback stopped short. The Auggies' defense had four sacks and two interceptions while holding the Knights to minus-1 rushing yard.
The Auggies' defense limited the damage after an early interception set up the Knights at midfield, stopping the ensuing drive at the Auggies 3 before Matt Geivett's 30-yard field goal gave the Knights a 3-0 lead with 9:45 left. Earlier, the Auggies opened with a disruptive defensive series, with
Javin Johnson recording a sack before
Tykelian Hyshaw-Moore broke up a third-down pass while Chakolis applied pressure to force a punt. Offensively, the Auggies got field position from
Iggie Cooper's 21-yard kickoff return and a pass-interference penalty on the Knights, but their best sustained possession came later when Rodkewich hit Davis for 10 yards on third-and-8.
Josiah Paige and
Kevin Toe added tackles for loss on later Knights drives, though the Knights converted third-and-16 and third-and-12 on their final possession to reach the Auggies 16 as the quarter ended with the Auggies down 3-0.
The Knights scored three touchdowns in the second quarter, putting the Auggies in a 24-0 hole despite several defensive plays that forced the Knights to keep drives alive. Earlier, the Auggies pressured two incompletions from the 16-yard line with a Mulvehill breakup and an
Avery Oseth hurry, but the Knights converted fourth-and-3 for a touchdown and later added another scoring pass to make it 17-0. The Auggies' offense moved the chains on a Rodkewich completion to
Jaiden Smith followed by
Derrick Sando's 4-yard run, but two penalties pushed the drive backward before a punt. The Auggies' defense produced its biggest stand at 3:34, when Toe and
Javin Johnson combined on a sack, Chakolis and Oseth stopped a third-down run for a loss, and Oseth made the fourth-down tackle to force a turnover on downs at the Auggies 22. The Knights added an 8-yard touchdown run in the final minute, while the Auggies answered with a late first down on
Ahmias Hart's 13-yard pass to
Ben Davis before the quarter ended.
The Auggies scored twice in the third quarter, with
Ahmias Hart's 20-yard touchdown pass to
Iggie Cooper making it 24-6 at 11:05 and Hart's 2-yard scoring run cutting the Knights' lead to 24-12 at 6:17. The first drive covered 75 yards and included a 32-yard completion from Hart to
Ben Davis and an 11-yard fourth-down conversion to Davis at the Knights 46 before the Auggies capitalized on a roughing-the-passer penalty.
Jamir Horton intercepted a Knights pass on the next possession, and the Auggies responded with an 80-yard drive that featured a 24-yard Hart-to-Davis completion, Hart's 19-yard run and multiple penalties on the Knights before Hart finished it on the ground. The Auggies' defense followed with a stop, as
Tykelian Hyshaw-Moore made a tackle for loss and
CJ Dickerson recorded a third-down sack to force a punt. The Auggies then drove from their own 10 to the Knights 13 before the quarter ended, leaving the score 24-12 entering the fourth.
In the fourth quarter, the Auggies opened with Hart's 10-yard touchdown pass to Cooper, followed by
Kevin Kargozar's extra point, to make it 24-19. The Auggies later protected that score after the Knights took over at the Auggies 30, with
Javin Johnson and Horton combining for a 5-yard loss near the goal line before Marquez-Reagan Jr. intercepted a third-down pass in the end zone for a touchback. Toe added a 10-yard sack on the Knights' next possession to help force a punt, giving the Auggies another chance with 3:27 left. Hart moved the Auggies from their 25 to the Knights 22, including first-down completions to
Jaiden Smith and Davis, a fourth-and-2 completion to Cooper at the Knights 39 and a 9-yard keeper on third down. The drive ended on an incomplete fourth-down pass with 23 seconds remaining, and the Knights kneeled out a 24-19 final.
AUGSBURG TOP PERFORMERS
•
Ahmias Hart: 18-for-34 passing for 216 yards, 2 touchdown passes, 44 rushing yards on 11 attempts, 1 rushing touchdown
•
Ben Davis: Career-high 10 receptions for career-high126 receiving yards, a season high and career high
•
Iggie Cooper: 4 receptions, 60 receiving yards, 2 touchdown receptions
•
RJ Chakolis: 10 total tackles, third double-digit tackle performance of season
•
Jamir Horton: 5 total tackles, 1 interception
CARLETON TOP PERFORMERS
• Tyler Dimond: 13 receptions for 167 yards
• Tyler Mastronardi: 15-for-22 passing for 181 yards and 2 touchdowns, 1 rushing touchdown
• Dylan Asgarian: 9 tackles, 1 sack
• Ronan Thomas: 9 tackles
• Brayden McKinley: 3 tackles, 1 interception
UP NEXT
The Auggies travel to St. Peter, Minn., to face Gustavus Adolphus College at 12 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7, at Hollingsworth Field.
