By: Madie Brink
September 28, 2022
SIOUX FALLS – The (RV) Sioux Falls football team will travel just eight blocks across town this week to take on (#11) Augustana University in the annual 'Key to the City' game. Both teams come into this weekend at 4-0, but only one team will advance to 5-0. Kick-off is slated for 1:00pm with gates opening at 11:30am. Fans can skip the line and purchase their tickets ahead of time here.
The Rivalry
Since the beginning of the DII era for USF, the two teams have faced off eight times with the Coo coming away with six of those victories. Prior to joining the NCAA, USF took the lone match with Augustana still never having won at home against the Cougars. Just a year ago, USF took the 'Key to the City' with a 28-26 victory over the Vikings.
Adam Mullen threw for 251 yards and completed 26 of his 36 passes while landing three touchdowns in the process. The rushing game was led by Jacqueze Lockett with 11 carries for 24 yards and one rushing touchdown as well as one receiving.
The Vikings
Augustana is coming off a 21-13 victory over Northern State to advance to 4-0 on the season. The Vikings are averaging 27.5 points per game tallying 110 on the season.
On the offensive side of the ball, Augustana has put up 1,408 yards of total offense with 790 of that coming from their rushing game. Junior running back, Jarod Epperson has led the Vikings with 51 carries for 324 yards and two touchdowns while averaging 81 yards per game.
Sophomore quarterback, Thomas Scholten, and junior quarterback, Casey Bauman, have taken most of the snaps for the Vikings. Scholten has thrown for 595 yards and five touchdowns on the season while maintaining a 56.04 completion percentage. Bauman, throwing for just 92 yards this season, has thrown for three touchdowns and a 42.86 completion percentage.
The Vikings defense is led by senior linebacker, T.J. Ligget with 29 tackles and three tackles for loss. Grayson Diepenbrock has led Augie with six sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss totaling 79 yards for the senior defensive lineman.
The Cougars
After a 34-31 homecoming win over Minnesota Duluth, the Cougars are now 4-0 and are receiving votes (RV) from the AFCA and ranked 25th in the D2 Football poll released earlier this week.
So far this season the Coo have put up 1,859 yards of total offense while collecting 139 points in the process. The Sioux Falls rushing game is led by graduate running back and NSIC Offensive Player of the Week, Thuro Reisdorfer as he leads the conference in scoring and ranks fifth in NCAA DII with seven rushing touchdowns. Reisdorfer also averages 121.5 yards per game which ranks second in the NSIC.
Adam Mullen currently sits at third in the NSIC with a 60.4 completion percentage while averaging 225.3 yards per game. Mullen has thrown for four touchdowns this season with his leading receiver being senior transfer, Ethan Wittenburg. He has pulled in 16 receptions for a total of 275 yards on the season while collecting his first touchdown as a Cougar in USF's 44-23 win over Concordia – St. Paul.
On the defensive side of the ball, USF has been led by defensive lineman Zach Durfee with six sacks on the season for a loss of 23 yards. USF has put up 32 tackles for loss and 16 sacks totaling 264 yards lost. Cam Alfaro leads the Coo with 16 tackles on the season while Giovanni Purpura leads USF in interceptions with two on the year.
More Info
For all things Cougar Football be sure to download the new USF Cougars app to follow along for all things Cougar Athletics. Follow The Coo on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for updates all season long. Fans can also follow along with live stats, watch the NSIC live video and tune into the KWSN radio broadcast with Tom Frederick and Tim Hiatt for every Cougar Football game!
