SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Despite a career-high 141 rushing yards from senior running back Daniel Hornacek, Concordia-St. Paul fell 50-10 on Saturday at #7 Augustana at Kirkeby-Over Stadium.

The Golden Bears, now 1-6 overall, 1-5 NSIC and 0-2 NSIC South, will get a week off for a bye before heading to Winona State (3-4, 3-3 NSIC, 1-2 South) on October 25. The Vikings improve to 7-0 overall, 6-0 NSIC and 3-0 South and will return to action following next week's bye at Southwest Minnesota State.

It was evident early on that Hornacek would have a big day for Concordia, as he piled up 48 yards on seven carries on CSP's opening drive including three-straight 9-yard runs to take CSP from the Augie 31 to the Augie 4-yard line. His early game work set up quarterback MJ Mitchell for a short 2-yard rushing touchdown.

Mitchell added three carries for 27 yards on the opening drive as Concordia moved down the field strictly with Hornacek and Mitchell as they combined for 10 carries for 75 yards, tying the game 7-7 with just over minutes to play in the first quarter following the 12-play, 75-yard drive spanning 6:20.

But the Viking offense was just as efficient through the air as CSP's was on the ground, and the Vikings scored on their first two possessions for a 15-7 lead at the quarter break.

Hornacek finished the day with 23 carries for a career-high 141 yards including a long run of 46 yards in the fourth quarter and added 2-9 receiving for a 150-yard day from scrimmage. It was his second career 100-yard rushing performance. He eclipsed 1,000 career all-purpose yards and now has 1,109 combined rushing/receiving yards in 33 games.

Mitchell made his second career start, completing 6-14 for 87 yards and adding 16 rushes for 52 yards and a touchdown.

After the game started with three-straight touchdowns between the two teams, four of the next five possessions came up empty including CSP stopping Augie on downs at the CSP 28 yard line on a big short-yardage sequence early in the game for the young defense. On 2nd-and-3 from the CSP 30, Jameson Jean came up with a tackle for a 1-yard gain, setting up Tez Jones' big stop on 3rd-and-2 for another 1-yard run. On 4th-and-1 from the CSP 28, Jonas Barros stuffed the Vikings at the line of scrimmage for three straight run plays being shut down by redshirt freshman Golden Bear defenders.

But during that string of five possessions, Concordia came up empty on offense on three of them, while Augustana scored with just under six minutes left in the half to extend the lead to 22-7, and added another touchdown with 2:15 to play before the break for a 29-7 lead.

The first half ended with points on three of the last four drives combined between the programs. With Concordia taking over at its own 25 with 32 seconds left in the half, Mitchell faced a daunting task against a Viking defense that had previously held him to 1-4 passing for 1-yard.

Mitchell answered the bell, though, completing the first play of the drive to Timothy Davis for 12 yards, followed by a 46-yard strike to Troy Ellison deep down the middle of the field to the Augie 15 with four seconds to play, setting up a timeout and a 32-yard Kenny Steffen field goal as time expired to give Concordia some late life in the half, 29-10.

Ellison had a pair of catches for 61 yards and had a 13-yard run for a 74-yard day from scrimmage. 

In the second half, Augustana capitalized on Concordia's only two turnovers of the day, picking up an interception on CSP's opening play of the third quarter, turning it into a touchdown six plays later. On Concordia's third drive of the second half, a 7-play, 46-yard march into Augustana territory, the Vikings forced a fumble at the Augie 44. The next play was a 56-yard rushing touchdown to blow the game open 43-10 with 2:40 to play in the third quarter.

The fumble followed by Augie's rushing touchdown flipped the game, as CSP was marching with a chance to make it a two-score game, instead turning it into a 33-point deficit.

Concordia pushed into Augie territory one more time in the fourth quarter on an 8-play, 68-yard drive but was stopped on downs at the goal line, with Augie responding with a 99-yard scoring drive that took 4:01 off the clock to essentially end the contest.

The Golden Bears were able to churn out a 200-yard rushing day against Augustana, turning 42 rushes into 207 yards for a 4.9 team average primarily behind Hornacek and Mitchell who combined for 193 yards on 39 carries. 

But the Vikings passed for 275 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 306 and four scores. Rich Lucero picked up the start at QB for Augustana, completing 21-28 for 256 yards and three touchdowns, adding 3-17 and a rushing touchdown. Mack Molander relieved him, completing 1-4 for 19 yards and rushing six times for 93 yards and two touchdowns. 

Breylon Blount had a big day for the Vikings, rushing 13 times for 80 yards and adding 6-92 and two receiving touchdowns as he had 172 combined yards. 

After averaging 28.0 yards on his first two punts, Caden Carsen settled in and finished the day with a 39.3 average on six punts with three inside the 20, a long of 51 and no punt return yards against. Steffen converted both of his kicks for four points, as well. 

Their kicking counterpart, Jake Lecina for Augustana, had an interesting day, putting seven of his eight kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks, averaging 46.7 on three punts, going 6-6 on his PATs and receiving a 2-point conversion on a snap/hold miscue that Augie turned into points in the first quarter. 

Facing one of the top third down offenses in the country, Concordia held Augustana to 50 percent (4-8) on third down and 0-1 on fourth. Barros led the team with six tackles, while CJ Jackson, Isaiah Wray and Bo Kenney each had five. J.Jean had a pair of CSP's four pass breakups.