The day the 2005 CCIW schedule came out I grabbed a marker and circled several games that I couldn’t wait to suit up for. October 8th was most definitely one of those dates because that meant we were heading up to Kenosha, Wisconsin to take on the Carthage Redman. Last year we beat them 35-0 at our place, but essentially that meant absolutely nothing considering they were the 2004 CCIW co-champions and made a stellar playoff run. They had accomplished something that this senior class at Augustana has never experienced, and we were well aware of that heading into week 6.
This past Friday I received a call from a good friend of mine that plays football at the University of North Texas. He recently transferred from Miami-Ohio where he played as well, but things were not going as he planned so he eventually found his way onto the North Texas campus. Anyways, he asked how we matched up against Carthage and he asked how our hotel was. Hotel? I told him I was sleeping at home in Rock Island and we were leaving early Saturday morning for our four hour bus ride to Kenosha. Here is a kid who has been involved with two different Division I-A programs so the thought of leaving on a Friday for a game is rare, let alone a game day. There was a moment of silence followed by an eruption of laughter. He was in disbelief as he is accustomed to leaving on a Thursday for a Saturday game. I just laughed and replied, “Frank, that’s Division III football my friendâ€.
This Saturday’s game met most expectations as it was a hard fought battle between two hardnosed teams on a cold night in Wisconsin. The Augustana offense versus the Carthage defense was the main draw as the stands were full and fans piled onto a hill on- looking the stadium providing a great football atmosphere under the lights.
The first quarter ended in a 0-0 score with solid play by both defenses, but we cracked the scoreboard midway through the second quarter on a Matt Roe 17 yard touchdown pass to tight end Tom McIntire. McIntire’s grab coupled with a with 4th quarter goal line stand(capped by a 7 yard sack by linebacker Joe Youngbauer) were crucial to our victory. While the Carthage defense held our offense in check, the defense pitched a shut out and carried our squad with the leadership of Tom Anthony who rightfully earned CCIW player of the week honors. This squad has adapted a team attitude and it really showed as contributions from all over pulled us together for a victory.
Homecoming week is ahead and we take on the Titans of Illinois Wesleyan(1-4) here in Rock Island. It is essential that we have great preparation for the next five days as we strive to continually improve from week to week. We are looking forward to another test this Saturday as the Augie-Wesleyan game has traditionally been a great game with plenty of emotion.