Photo courtesy of Jurgens Photography Southwest Minnesota State wide receiver Cade Eddington brings in a reception during the Mustangs’ 38-6 loss to Augustana in Sioux Falls, S.D. on Saturday afternoon.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Augustana pulled away early and never looked back in its matchup against the Southwest Minnesota State football team on Saturday afternoon. The No. 22 Vikings scored each of the game’s first 17 points and coasted to a 38-6 win. 

Augustana won the coin toss and elected to receive possession. They marched down the field, only facing one third down on the nine-play drive, and capped off the possession with a 27-yard touchdown run by Devon Jones. 

Their next drive was much of the same, taking just five plays to take the ball 80 yards and finding the endzone on a 9-yard pass from Casey Bauman to Logan Uttecht. Bauman threw for 287 yards on 21 attempts with three touchdowns and no picks in the game. 

After Augustana converted a 37-yard field goal in the second quarter to go up 17-0, Donny Austin gave SMSU its first points of the game with a three-yard touchdown run. The Mustangs got in position for Austin’s goalline punch-in with 34- and 17-yard catches by Cade Eddington on the 80-yard drive. Austin finished the game with 75 carries on 17 attempts and his first touchdown since the Mustangs’ week-one win over Minot State. Eddington’s 51 receiving yards was a team-high on the day.

Jack Fisher led the Vikings with three catches for 164 yards. Among those catches was a 67-yard touchdown on the Vikings’ first second-half possession. Jarod Epperson ran for a 31-yard gain on the first play of the drive while backed up to their own two-yard line. Bauman connected with Fisher on the next play to move the Vikings 98 yards in a span of 44 seconds. 

Epperson was the Vikings’ leading rusher on the day, taking 10 carries for 78 yards.

The Mustangs struggled to establish the passing game on the day. Marcus Martin threw 25 passes for 145 yards. He didn’t find the endzone and was sacked four times for a total loss of 25 yards on the day. Peter Osman caught seven of Martin’s 16 completions for 38 yards.

Gideon Ervasti sacked Bauman in the second quarter for his first career sack with the Mustangs. He also had another tackle for loss on the day and finished the game with five total tackles, finishing only behind Jalani Jefferson and Jordan Ellis’ six.

Jefferson forced a fumble at the goalline on an 82-yard pass to Fisher, but Augustana’s Isaiah Huber recovered the loose ball at the 5-yard line and advanced it to the end zone to make the Augustana lead 38-6 with 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. 

Kyle Graham scored on an 8-yard run for the Vikings on the second play of the fourth quarter. He ran for 23 yards on four carries on the day. 

Saturday marked the first time the Mustangs have scored in a game against the Vikings since 2019. Augustana has now outscored SMSU 132-6 over the team’s last three meetings.

Southwest Minnesota State (1-5) will try to end its five-game skid on Saturday at 4 p.m. when it hosts Northern State for homecoming. The Wolves are 2-4 on the season after a 46-9 win over Minot State on Saturday. 

The Mustangs and Wolves last met in 2021 with Northern State winning 30-13 in Aberdeen, S.D.