Football 10/13/01 -- Augsburg 50, Macalester 14

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MINNEAPOLIS (10/13/01) -- Dave Fransen (Jr., Farmington, Minn.) threw for 209 yards and two touchdowns, and host Augsburg College put together 483 yards of total offense in dominating the action in a 50-14 victory over Macalester College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football game Saturday at Edor Nelson Field.

Augsburg used a balanced offensive attack -- 234 rushing yards and 249 passing yards -- to dominate virtually every category in the contest in improving to 3-3 overall and 3-2 in the MIAC. Macalester drops to 1-5 overall and 1-4 in the MIAC.

Augsburg scored on four of its six first-half drives to build a 23-7 halftime advantage. With reserves in for most of the second half, the Auggies outscored the Scots 27-7, including 20 points in the third quarter. Augsburg had 20 first downs to Macalester's 28 and had 86 plays for 483 yards, compared to 63 plays for 266 yards for Macalester. Augsburg held the ball for more than 38 minutes, to just 21 minutes for Macalester. Augsburg also sacked Macalester quarterbacks five times and forced four turnovers -- three interceptions and one fumble recovery. Four of Augsburg's seven touchdowns were 26 yards or more.

The Auggies jumped on the Scots early, as Fransen completed a 50-yard touchdown pass to Mark Johnson (Sr., Hastings, Minn.) just 1:17 into the game. Johnson caught two passes for a game-high 95 yards.

Ben Paul (So., St. Paul, Minn./Johnson HS) scored the first of his two one-yard touchdown runs midway through the first quarter, and Jamie Smith (Jr., Oakdale, Minn./Tartan HS) scored on a 26-yard pass from Fransen with 1:50 left in the half. The Auggies got the ball back just before halftime, and Tim Mauseth (Sr., Kenyon, Minn./Kenyon-Wanamingo HS) nailed a 27-yard field goal as time expired in the half.

The Auggies jumped on the scoreboard often in the second half, as Paul scored his second touchdown on a one-yard run, Andy Matzke (Fr., Faribault, Minn.) scored his first career touchdown on a 40-yard punt return, and Nate Moore (Jr., Bloomington, Minn./Richfield HS) scored his first touchdown as an Auggie on a 52-yard run. John Tieben (Jr., Jordan, Minn.), one of three Auggie quarterbacks used in the afternoon, threw a nine-yard scoring pass to Jon Boeck (Jr., Braham, Minn.) early in the fourth quarter.

Augsburg had incredible balance in the game, as 14 different players rushed the football and nine different players caught at least one pass in the game. Paul led the Auggies with 61 rushing yards on 13 carries, while Moore had 59 yards on two rushes and T.J. Bramwell (Jr., Tomah, Wis.) had 11 rushes for 50 yards.

Macalester claimed touchdowns from Matt Diediker (Sr., Hinton, Iowa), on a 19-yard pass from Adam Heathcote (So., Sartell, Minn.) in the second quarter and on a 37-yard run from Grant Heuett (Sr., Pueblo, Colo./South HS) in the closing minutes.

Heuett led all rushers in the game with 15 carries for 95 yards. Heathcote threw for 175 yards on 18 completions, though he was intercepted twice. Ty O'Connell (Sr., Helena, Mont./Capital HS) led the Scots with 89 receiving yards on five receptions.

Brent Peroutka (Sr., Faribault, Minn.) claimed two interceptions and broke up three passes to lead the Auggie defense. Mitch Theisen (Sr., Waverly, Minn./Buffalo HS) led the Auggies with 6.5 tackles (five solo), while Adam Leiter (Jr., Coon Rapids, Minn./Blaine HS) and Dave Sherry (Sr., Hastings, Minn.) had 4.0 tackles apiece. Sherry had 1.5 sacks, giving him 8.5 sacks on the season, closing in on the school's single-season record of 14.

Andrew Porter (Jr., Rogers, Minn./Elk River HS) led the Scots with nine tackles (three solo), while Clark Boyesen (Jr., Eugene, Ore./Winston Churchill HS) and Gray Herzberg (So., Webster, Minn./Northfield HS) had 8.5 tackles. Marshall Mullenbach (Jr., Racine, Minn./Stewartville HS) had one interceptions and blocked two Auggie extra-point attempts in the game.

Both teams return to action next Saturday (10/13) at 1 p.m., Augsburg playing at Gustavus and Macalester hosting St. Thomas.

THE GAME: The Augsburg College Auggies (2-3 overall, 2-2 MIAC) host the Macalester College Scots (1-4 overall, 1-3 MIAC) in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football game on Saturday, Oct. 13 at 1 p.m., at Edor Nelson Field (2,000 capacity) in Minneapolis, Minn.

COACHES: Augsburg head coach Jack Osberg (Augsburg '62) is in his 11th season and currently has a 51-55 career mark. Macalester head coach Dennis Czech (Macalester '83) is in his fourth year at Macalester and has a 6-29 career mark.

RADIO: The remainder of Augsburg's football schedule will be broadcast on WLKX-FM 95.9, "Spirit 95" of Forest Lake, Minn. Tom Witschen will handle the play-by-play, with Russ Bohaty on analysis. Auggie games are also cybercast on the Internet (through SportsJuice.com) by going to this link: http://www.augsburg.edu/athletics/liveaudio/. Saturday's game is also the "MIAC Game of the Week" on the Minnesota Sports Update.com website (www.minnesotasportsupdate.com) with Alan Armstrong, Lou Michaels, Dick Joncowski and Jim Erickson on the call.

LAST WEEK: Augsburg dropped a 34-14 loss at St. Thomas last Saturday, while Macalester was beaten 56-7 at home against St. John's last Saturday.

SERIES: This is the 63rd meeting in the all-time series between Augsburg and St. Olaf, a series the Auggies lead 31-29-2. The series started in 1927, and the teams have played every year since 1955. Augsburg has won the last 10 games in a row in the series under Auggie head coach Jack Osberg.

LAST YEAR: Brian Warden rushed 57 yards for the go-ahead score with 1:34 remaining in the game, and Brent Peroutka preserved the win with an interception in the end zone with 12 seconds remaining, giving Augsburg a 20-17 victory at Macalester on Oct. 14, 2000. The Auggies rallied from deficits twice, as the Scots held a 17-13 lead through most of the fourth quarter. The Scots took the lead on a 45-yard pass from quarterback Aaron Quitmeyer to David Schumacher on the last play of the third quarter. Augsburg could not forge ahead until the closing minutes, as four of its drives ended with two punts and two turnovers on downs. But the Auggies had a final chance at
winning the game, when Matt Chappuis recovered a Quitmeyer fumble at the Augsburg 35-yard line with 1:33 left. An eight-yard pass from Paul Tetzloff (Sr., Faribault, Minn.) to John Rotter put the ball at the Augsburg 43-yard line, and two plays later, Warden turned an off-tackle play into a score, sprinting to the left sidelines and eluding several Macalester defenders along the way to the go-ahead touchdown. The 57-yard scoring run was the longest of Warden's career.

Macalester started its final drive at its own 30-yard-line, but was pushed back to the 17 on a holding penalty. But Quitmeyer completed three straight passes to put the
ball at the Augsburg 46. Defensive lineman Andy Howard sacked Quitmeyer for a seven-yard loss to the Macalester 47, but on the next play, Quitmeyer found Steve Derrington on the left sideline with a 48-yard pass to the Augsburg 5 with 25 seconds to play and Macalester out of time outs. A pass-interference penalty against the Auggies in the end zone put the ball at the 1-yard-line with 22 seconds left, but Auggie defensive back Luke Wittrock broke up Quitmeyer's next pass attempt to the end zone, and on the final pass attempt, to Schumacher in the right corner of the end zone, Wittrock tipped the pass away and it was picked off by Peroutka with 12 seconds left to preserve the Auggie win.

Macalester outgained Augsburg by a 370-310-yard margin in total offense, as Quitmeyer threw for 313 yards, completing 18 of 39 passes. Augsburg mustered 165 yards
of passing from Tetzloff, completing 10 of 38 passes. The Auggies had a season-high 145 yards of rushing in the contest. Warden rushed for 143 yards on 24 carries, his season-high. Johnson had five receptions for 99 yards. Macalester was paced by the rushing of Grant Heuett, who had 18 carries for 82 yards. Schumacher led all receivers with six catches for 112 yards, while O'Connell had five catches for 95 yards.

SCOUTING THE AUGGIES: In his first college start, Justin Kostner rushed 31 times for 146 yards, including touchdown runs of 54 and 5 yards, and teammate Andrew Hilliard caught three touchdown passes as the host University of St. Thomas scored a 34-14 victory over Augsburg last Saturday at O'Shaughnessy Stadium. The Tommies scored three touchdowns shortly after Auggie turnovers and beat the Auggies for the 29th time in the last 31 meetings and 15th consecutive time in St. Paul. St. Thomas outgained Augsburg 367-186 yards and won without three injured offensive starters.

The Tommies built a 27-7 lead in the third period on two Hilliard TD catches that followed interceptions. UST's Rick Joslin intercepted Auggie quarterback Dave Fransen (Jr., Farmington, Minn.) on the first play from scrimmage in the second half and returned it to the Auggie 25. Five plays later, Ambrasas connected for an 8-yard TD pass. Augsburg backup quarterback Johnny Goodale (Sr., Buffalo, Minn.) was inserted, but he was picked off by UST's Bob Hannah, who returned the interception 36 yards to the Auggie 27. Six plays later, Ambrasas threw a 10-yard TD pass to Hilliard for a 27-7 lead. The Auggies pulled within 27-14 with 14:16 to go on T.J. Bramwell's (Jr., Tomah, Wis.) 12-yard reception from Fransen. But Kostner's 5-yard TD run with 5:08 capped an eight-play, 55-yard drive and iced the victory.

On defense, the Tommies had four sacks, held Augsburg to 1-for-11 on third-down conversions and just 52 yards passing. The Auggies had four turnovers and were called for eight penalties for 107 yards. Bramwell rushed 11 times for 52 yards; Ben Paul (So., St. Paul, Minn./Johnson HS) rushed 13 ties for 50 yards; and Mark Johnson (Sr., Hastings, Minn.) had four catches for 33 yards. On defense, Mitch Theisen (Sr., Waverly, Minn./Buffalo HS) led the Auggies with eight tackles (five solo), while Scott Archambault (Sr., Faribault, Minn.) had seven tackles (four solo) and Larry Lyden (Sr., New Brighton, Minn./Irondale HS) and Brent Peroutka (Sr., Faribault, Minn.) had six tackles apiece. Peroutka added an interception with a 40-yard return. Dave Sherry (Sr., Hastings, Minn.) had one sack and three tackles for loss for the Auggies.

Saturday's Homecoming game features an Augsburg team that is reached a crossroads at the beginning of the second half of the season. Will the remaining five games be played by the Augsburg team that sparkled in wins over Carleton and St. Olaf, or will the games be dominated by the Augsburg team that gave up big plays and huge chunks of yardage in losses to Wisconsin-Eau Claire, St. John's and St. Thomas? Saturday's game may be a harbinger of which direction the Auggies travel the rest of the 2001 season.

Augsburg enters the game with one of the best defenses, statistically, in the MIAC, giving up just 289 yards per game (third-best in the MIAC). They will face a Macalester offense that is averaging 241.8 yards per game in league play. On the flip side, Augsburg's offense is averaging 317.0 yards per game in conference play, while Macalester's defense is giving up 374.5 yards per game.

On offense, quarterback Fransen has shown improvement from game to game, averaging 155.6 passing yards per game with eight touchdowns. And with one of the best receivers in the conference in Johnson, averaging 18 yards per catch, the Auggie passing offense has big-play potential. The running game, with Paul and Bramwell leading the way, has drastically improved, with eight rushing touchdowns and a 130.6 yards-per-game average.

Augsburg's defense is balanced, with talent and depth at virtually every position. Linebacker Archambault leads the team with 27.0 tackles (15 solo), while Theisen has shown strong improvement, with 26.5 tackles (18 solo). Sherry has accumulated six sacks on the year, third-best in the MIAC, and just eight away from the school single-season record of 14. Matt Chappuis (Sr., Faribault, Minn.) has one sack on the year and is just seven away from the career sack record of 28.5. The defensive secondary of Lyden, Luke Wittrock (Sr., Boone, Iowa), Peroutka and Chad Thorp (Sr., New Prague, Minn.) have six interceptions this year, two away from last year's team total of eight.

AUGGIES HAVE DOMINATED MACALESTER OVER LAST DECADE: Augsburg head coach Jack Osberg, in his 11th season as the Auggies' mentor, has the third-longest current tenure among MIAC coaches, with Bethel coach Steve Johnson (13 years) and St. John's coach John Gagliardi (49 years) ahead of him. In his 10 previous seasons, Augsburg has dominated the series against Macalester, winning each time. Augsburg's 29-14 win over Macalester at the Metrodome on Nov. 8, 1991, was Osberg's second career win. In the series, though, only three of the games have been decided by 28 points or more.

AUGSBURG'S SUCCESS ON FAKE GRASS: Augsburg's Edor Nelson Field is the only artificial turf field in the MIAC and one of only three in Minnesota (the others are the University of Minnesota at the Metrodome and Minnesota-Duluth). At Edor Nelson Field, affectionately known as "The Cage" by Auggies, Augsburg has put together at 27-22 record in head coach Jack Osberg's tenure (since 1991). Since the field opened in 1984, Augsburg is 30-49-1 at home. On artificial turf fields (including games at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and Fargo, N.D., Fargodome), Augsburg is 34-26 since 1991 and 37-57-1 since 1984.

SCOUTING THE SCOTS: Macalester is facing an uncertain future in football, as the college recently announced the formation of a committee to explore the program's future. Options have included dropping the program, playing an independent schedule against opponents of similar team size in the region, joining another conference (possibly the Midwest Conference) in football or remaining in the MIAC for the sport. Macalester President Mike McPherson will receive a report from a committee charged with discussing the issue in November, and he is expected to make a decision at that time.

Whatever the future of Macalester football may be, the present state of head coach Dennis Czech's Scot team is showing some signs of life. After claiming a 13-2 win at Carleton in the annual "Book of Knowledge" game two weeks ago, the Scots dropped a 56-7 home decision to St. John's. However, the Scots have improved substantially from last year's 1-9 record.

On defense, linebacker Nick Kraemer (Jr., Delano, Minn.) leads the team in tackles with 35 and also has 2.5 sacks. Defensive end Andrew Porter (Jr., Rogers, Minn./Elk River HS) has 30 tackles and leads the Scots in sacks with 5.5. Nick Fruge (Sr., Coon Rapids, Minn./Blaine HS) and Brett Cramer (Jr., Ardmore, Okla.) join Kramer in the linebacking corps and have totaled 24 and 23 tackles, respectively. Along with Brandon Dixon (Jr., Rogers, Minn./Buffalo HS), the group needs to play well in order for the Scots to pick up their second win. The Scots will look to safeties Gray Herzberg (So., Northfield, Minn.) and Justin Luehman (Fr., Amery, Wis.) to add run support while covering the Auggie wide receivers. Joining them in the secondary will be cornerbacks Marshall Mullenbach (So., Racine, Minn./Stewartville HS) and Luke Zika (Fr., International Falls, Minn.). The Scots secondary has intercepted eight passes so far this year.

On offense, while the Scots passing game as begun to be consistent, the running game has struggled as of late. The success of the Scots' offense rests up front with its offensive line led by center Dan Frey (Sr., Northfield, Minn.), among the leaders in the conference in fewest sacks yielded. Quarterback Adam Heathcote (So., Sartell, Minn.) is fourth in the conference in passing yards with 893. Heathcote will look to receivers Ty O'Connell (Sr., Helena, Mont./Capital HS) and Matt Diediker (Sr., Hinton, Iowa) for big games. O'Connell is on top the conference in receptions with 45 and has amassed 468 yards and three touchdowns. Diediker has totaled 24 catches for 325 yards and a score.

AUGGIES RETURN TO THE RADIO: Augsburg football has returned to the airwaves for the rest of the 2001 football season. Today's game is being broadcast live on WLKX-FM 95.9, "Spirit 95.9" of Forest Lake, Minn., with Auggie radio veterans Tom Witschen and Russ Bohaty on the call. All remaining Auggie games will be broadcast live on the station, which reaches well throughout the northern Twin Cities area. Witschen and Bohaty also broadcast the North Metro High School Football Game of the Week on Spirit 95.9 every Friday night.

If you live in an area where you can't hear the station, you can still listen to the games on your computer. Set your Internet browser to Augsburg's official athletic webpage -- www.augsburg.edu/athletics/ -- and click on the "Live Audio" link. Thanks to Augsburg's arrangement with www.sportsjuice.com, you will be able to hear selected Auggie sporting events, including the football season, around the world on the Internet.

NEXT WEEK: Augsburg travels to Hollingsworth Field in St. Peter, Minn., for a game with host Gustavus Adolphus next Saturday (10/20) at 1 p.m. Macalester hosts St. Thomas next Saturday at 1 p.m. at Macalester Stadium.

AUGSBURG TWO-DEEP ROSTER -- DEFENSE
DE -- 71-Dave Sherry (Sr., 6-1, 230), 91-Nate Bremseth (Jr., 6-3, 225)
DT -- 52-Kyle Koch (Jr., 6-0, 245), 96-Sam Harmer (So., 6-1, 225)
DT -- 54-Matt Chappuis (Sr., 6-2, 275), 94-Chike Ochiagha (Fr., 5-10, 245)
DE -- 47-Joe Cullen (Fr., 6-0, 210), 98-Derek Kuhlman (Jr., 6-2, 235)
SLB -- 32-Scott Archambault (Sr., 6-0, 210), 29-Brandon Fox (So., 6-2, 205)
MLB -- 40-Mitch Theisen (Sr., 6-2, 230), 42-Andy Stephenson (Jr., 5-9, 240) OR 41-John Golnitz (Fr., 6-3, 195)
WLB -- 37-Adam Leiter (Jr., 5-10, 180), 31-Luke Wright (Sr., 6-2, 190)
CB -- 46-Luke Wittrock (Sr., 6-1, 215), 22-Andy Matzke (Fr., 6-1, 185) OR 24-Joe Holman (Jr., 5-10, 17)
SS -- 6-Chad Thorp (Sr., 6-1, 210), 3-Chad Scheitel (Jr., 5-10, 175)
FS -- 12-Brent Peroutka (Sr., 6-0, 195), 3-Chad Scheitel (Jr., 5-10, 175)
CB -- 34-Larry Lyden (Sr., 5-11, 200), 21-Andy Peper (Jr., 5-11, 175)

MACALESTER STARTERS -- OFFENSE
LT -- 71-Adam Hamilton (Jr., 6-2, 250)
LG -- 65-David Busha (Fr., 6-0, 230)
C -- 53-Dan Frey (Jr., 5-11, 230)
RG -- 78-Paul Dennis (Jr., 6-3, 295)
RT -- 64-Jesse Batty (So., 6-6, 250)
WR -- 18-Matt Diediker (Sr., 6-0, 185)
WR -- 4-Ty O'Connell (Sr., 6-0, 185)
WR -- 17-Adam Barton (Fr., 6-1, 185)
RB -- 36-David Kruger (So., 6-0, 195)
RB -- 5-Grant Heuett (Sr., 5-9, 170)
QB -- 9-Adam Heathcote (So., 6-3, 180)

AUGSBURG TWO-DEEP ROSTER -- OFFENSE
LT -- 77-Jesse Naughton (Jr., 6-4, 240), 75-Mike Davies (So., 6-2, 250)
LG -- 74-Brandon Ward (Sr., 6-2, 280), 76-Luke Smith (So., 5-11, 320)
C -- 59-Rich Nelson (Jr., 6-3, 220), 63-Bob Eckstrom (Jr., 6-0, 295)
RG -- 56-Bradley Motl (Jr., 5-11, 250) OR 57-Lincoln Langhorst (Jr., 5-10, 255), 72-Nate Savola (So., 5-11, 250)
RT -- 78-James Brue (Jr., 6-3, 275), 79-Nate Anderson (So., 6-4, 235)
TE -- 82-Tony Warren (Jr., 6-3, 220), 95-Matt Quale (Fr., 6-3, 210)
WR -- 4-Sammy Gross (Jr., 5-10, 170), 2-Jamie Smith (Jr., 5-9, 175)
WR -- 28-Mark Johnson (Sr., 5-11, 200), 5-Jon Boeck (Jr., 5-10, 165)
RB -- 44-T.J. Bramwell (Jr., 5-10, 185), 20-Chris Boyer (So., 5-11, 180)
RB -- 27-Ben Paul (So., 6-2, 205), 48-Nate Moore (Jr., 6-0, 170)
QB -- 14-Dave Fransen (Jr., 6-4, 195), 8-Johnny Goodale (Sr., 5-11, 175), 7-John Tieben (Jr., 6-1, 185)

MACALESTER STARTERS -- DEFENSE
DE -- 78-Paul Dennis (Jr., 6-3, 295)
DE -- 7-Andrew Porter (Jr., 6-4, 240)
DT -- 50-Justin Hagen (So., 5-11, 230)
LB -- 56-Nick Fruge (Sr., 5-9, 190)
LB -- 89-Brett Cramer (Jr., 6-2, 195)
LB -- 20-Brandon Dixon (Jr., 6-2, 215)
LB -- 19-Nick Kraemer (Jr., 6-3, 220)
S -- 1-Gray Herzberg (So., 6-1, 200)
S -- 26-Justin Luehman (Fr., 5-10, 175)
CB -- 6-Marshall Mullenbach (Jr., 6-1, 185)
CB -- 24-Luke Zika (Fr., 6-0, 210)

AUGSBURG SPECIALISTS
K -- 1-Tim Mauseth (Sr., 5-10, 170), 92-Mike Pontius (Sr., 5-9, 175)
P -- 12-Brent Peroutka (Sr., 6-0, 195), 41-John Golnitz (Fr., 6-3, 195)
LS -- 59-Rich Nelson (Jr., 6-3, 220)
H -- 14-Dave Fransen (Jr., 6-4, 195), 15-Dan Resch (Fr., 5-11, 170)
KR -- 5-Jon Boeck (Jr., 5-10, 165), 48-Nate Moore (Jr., 6-0, 170), 44-T.J. Bramwell (Jr., 5-10, 185), 2-Jamie Smith (Jr., 5-9, 175)
PR -- 2-Jamie Smith (Jr., 5-9, 175), 12-Brent Peroutka (Sr., 6-0, 195)

MACALESTER SPECIALISTS
K -- 3-Russell Bradley Cook (Sr., 6-3, 180)
P -- 6-Marshall Mullenbach (Jr., 6-1, 185)