STEVENS POINT, Wis. — The Augsburg University football team opened its 2026 season with a 17-12 nonconference loss at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point on Saturday at Community Stadium at Goerke Park. The Auggies held the Pointers to 211 yards, forced three fumbles and recovered two, while keeping the home team scoreless in the second and fourth quarters. The Auggies finished with 19 first downs, 119 rushing yards and 158 passing yards, with both touchdowns coming through the air, but also had two passes intercepted and were penalized nine times for 127 yards.
THE BASICS
SCORES: Wisconsin-Stevens Point 17, Augsburg 12
LOCATION: Community Stadium at Goerke Park, Stevens Point, Wis.
RECORDS: Augsburg 0-1 overall, UW-Stevens Point 1-0 overall
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Auggies fell behind 14-0 in the first quarter after UW-Stevens Point finished its opening drive with Zack Lynch's 39-yard fourth-down touchdown run and Isaiah Des Jardins returned an Auggies punt 65 yards for a score. Augsburg answered from its 33-yard line with a nine-play, 67-yard drive, overcoming a holding penalty when
Caden Rodkewich found
Ben Davis for 16 yards on third-and-18 and
Derrick Sando converted fourth-and-2 at the UW-Stevens Point 40. Rodkewich later hit Davis for 22 yards to the 13 and completed a 12-yard touchdown pass to
Kobey Howze-Sandifer at 3:06, leaving the score 14-6. A personal foul on the Auggies' ensuing kickoff gave the Pointers the ball at their 44, but
RJ Chakolis recorded a sack and a quarterback hurry before
Foster Mulvehill broke up a third-down pass to force a punt. Nathan Hubbard carried three times for 13 yards and a first down on the Auggies' final possession before the quarter ended with UW-Stevens Point leading 14-6.
The Auggies generated two possessions in UW-Stevens Point territory in a scoreless second quarter, but one ended on an interception near the goal line and the other on a missed field goal as time expired. After
Avery Oseth's 37-yard punt pinned the Pointers at their 18, the Auggies' defense got off the field when
CJ Dickerson and Chakolis stopped Zack Lynch for no gain on third-and-3, forcing an 18-yard punt. Rodkewich then hit
CJ Ritchie for 20 yards, Hubbard added runs of nine and 13 yards, and
Carter Johnson converted third-and-6 with a 21-yard run to the 4 before the Pointers intercepted Rodkewich at the 3 with 6:04 left. On UW-Stevens Point's ensuing possession, Oseth dropped Anthony Lefebre for a 1-yard loss, and
JT Thomas later forced a Ryan Thompson fumble that Oseth recovered at the UW-Stevens Point 38 at 3:35. Sando converted third-and-4 with a 4-yard rush on the Auggies' final drive, but
Kevin Kargozar's 43-yard field-goal attempt was no good at 0:00, leaving the Pointers ahead 14-6.
The Auggies' defense created a short-field chance when Chakolis and
Mustafa Shaban combined for a 7-yard tackle for loss, then Chakolis forced and recovered Ryan Thompson's fumble at the UW-Stevens Point 38 with 8:02 left, but the ensuing drive ended with an interception at the 19. Earlier, the Auggies got the ball at the UW-Stevens Point 47 after
Jamir Horton made the tackle on a fourth-down completion short of the line to gain, though both of the Auggies' first two possessions ended in Oseth punts. After the interception, the Auggies kept an 11-play UW-Stevens Point drive out of the end zone before Tyler Sodemann's 34-yard field goal made it 17-6 with 2:26 remaining. Howze-Sandifer answered with a 31-yard kickoff return, and Rodkewich moved the Auggies with completions to
Ben Davis for five and 14 yards and
Iggie Cooper for 10 before
Carter Johnson's 6-yard run ended the quarter at the UW-Stevens Point 28 with the score UW-Stevens Point 17, Auggies 6.
The Auggies' defense kept UW-Stevens Point out of the end zone on the final possession, holding near the goal line before the game ended in a 17-12 loss. Earlier, Rodkewich found
Tykelian Hyshaw-Moore for a 25-yard touchdown at 13:29, and the failed two-point conversion pass left the Auggies at 12 points. After forcing a punt on the next UW-Stevens Point drive, the Auggies moved from their own 10 to the UW-Stevens Point 24 behind completions to Ritchie and
Dominic Webster plus two accepted UW-Stevens Point penalties, but the drive ended on downs with 5:45 remaining. UW-Stevens Point then drove to the Auggies' 4, where Chakolis made a tackle for loss before the home team kneeled at the Auggies' 6-yard line as time expired.
This was the fourth-ever meeting between Augsburg and UW-Stevens Point, and the first since the 1982 season. UW-Stevens Point is now 3-1 in the all-time series.
AUGSBURG TOP PERFORMERS
•
RJ Chakolis: 14 total tackles, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery
•
Caden Rodkewich: Completed 12 of 29 passes for 158 yards, 2 touchdown passes
•
Ben Davis: 4 receptions, 57 receiving yards
•
Avery Oseth: 6 total tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery
•
Tykelian Hyshaw-Moore: 1 touchdown reception for 25 yards
UW-STEVENS POINT TOP PERFORMERS
• Zack Lynch: 83 rushing yards on 18 carries, 1 rushing touchdown, 4 receptions for 29 yards
• Isaiah Des Jardins: 1 punt return for 65 yards and 1 touchdown
• Paul Morris: 12 tackles
• Charlie Anderson: 4 tackles, 1 interception returned 18 yards
UP NEXT
Tthe Auggies open Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday, Sept. 19 at 1 p.m., hosting the College of St. Scholastica at Edor Nelson Field in Minneapolis.
