Aberdeen, S.D. – The Northern State University football team is set to face off against Augustana University tomorrow at 1 p.m. from Swisher Field. Saturday's contest has been dubbed the annual Blackout Cancer Game in conjunction with Sanford Health and Northwestern Mutual of Aberdeen.
 
Quick Hits on the Wolves
• The Wolves enter the weekend after a 35-28 road victory at Concordia-St. Paul.
• Northern is currently averaging 130.0 yards rushing, 261.0 yards passing, and 391.0 yards of total offense per game this season.
• Chaka Kelly leads the Wolves rushers with 372 total yards, averaging 62.0 yards per game, with three touchdowns.
• Dakota Larson has had a break-out true freshman season, as he leads the receivers with 598 total yards, averaging 99.7 yards per game and 19.9 yards per reception. He also leads the team with five touchdowns, and is second in the NSIC in receiving yards per game.
• Hunter Trautman recorded his second straight game over 200 yards passing last weekend. The sophomore is averaging 258.2 per game with 15 touchdowns and a 55.1 completion percentage. He is second in the NSIC in total offense, averaging 287.7 yards per game.
• Noah MacPherson leads the Wolves defense with 50 total tackles, including a team high 3.0 sacks for a total loss of 32 yards.
• Alex Gray and Preston Droessler follow with 45 and 44 tackles respectively, as Gray leads the team with two interceptions and 28 solo stops.
• As a team, the Wolves sit top-5 in the NSIC in passing offense (261.0), PAT kicking (19-19), opponent fourth down conversions (28.6%), penalties (22-189), and time of possession (31:27).
• The Northern State defense has forced 11 turnovers this season, including six last weekend at Concordia-St. Paul.
 
Weather Forecast
• Saturday calls for partly cloudy skies with a high of 47 and NW winds at 15 to 25 mph.
 
About the Vikings
• Augustana enters the weekend with a 3-3 record overall and 2-2 mark in the NSIC South.
• The Vikings are averaging 166.3 yards rushing, 295.7 yards passing, and 462.0 yards of total offense per game this season.                
• They are only out-scoring their opponents by 0.5 points per game, but are scoring nearly 80 percent of the time in the red zone.
• Rudy Sinflorant leads the team with 613 yards rushing, averaging 122.6 per game with five touchdowns.
• Nickel Meyers leads the receiving front with 492 total yards, averaging 82.0 per game with five touchdowns as well.
• Kyle Saddler has appeared in all six games as the team's main quarterback, racking up 1730 total yards with 15 touchdowns and a 51.4 completion percentage.
• Kirby Hora leads the defense with 58 total tackles, including 4.0 tackles for a loss, as well as one interception and two fumble recoveries.
• The Vikings are led by head coach Jerry Olszewski in his fifth season with the program.
 
Last Match-Up
• The Wolves fell to the Vikings 37-34 in the 2016 season opener.
• Zech Culbreath was second on the team with 47 yards receiving.
• Josh Coyle, Alex Gray, and Noah MacPherson each recorded four tackles in the loss.
• Jacob Wiedrich punted for 244 yards, averaging 34.9 yards per punt with a 45-yard long.
• Northern is 5-31-1 all-time against Augustana with their last victory coming in the 2003 season.
 
A Season Ago
• The Wolves went 6-5 overall and 5-2 in the NSIC North Division in 2017, while the Vikings went 4-7 overall and 2-5 in the NSIC South.