Augustana finishes 5-5 and tied for third in the CCIW at 4-3; closes the year with four wins in its last five games; six Vikings, led by first teamer Ben Fornek, named All-CCIW; Thomas Enke named first team Academic All-America
 

Augustana won four of its last five games in 2014, finishing 5-5 overall and earning a third-place tie in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin at 4-3. The Vikings had six players, led by first team selection Ben Fornek (Batavia HS, Batavia, Ill.), named to the CCIW all-conference team. In addition, senior linebacker Thomas Enke (Millard West HS, Omaha, Neb.) was named to the Capital One Academic All-America first team, becoming Augustana's 32nd Academic All-American in football and the 17th to earn first team honors. He was joined on the Academic All-District first team by Fornek.
 
Joining Fornek, a senior cornerback, on the All-CCIW team were second team selections Enke, senior offensive tackle Jon Losen (Morton HS, Morton, Ill.), junior quarterback Sam Frasco (Prospect HS, Mt. Prospect, Ill.), sophomore linebacker Jack Asquini (Buffalo Grove HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.) and sophomore running back Brandon Price (Providence Catholic HS, Plainfield, Ill.).
 
Augustana opened the season at the College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati, Ohio on September 6. The host Lions scored on four of their first five possessions and went on to claim a 58-25 win. The Vikings were on the road again in week two and fell 37-27 at Hope despite 450 yards (191 rushing, 259 passing) of total offense by Frasco—just nine shy of Ken Anderson's school single-game record.
 
Frasco accounted for five touchdowns and senior safety Tim Maroder (Burlington Central HS, Elgin, Ill.) set a school record with four interceptions as Augustana defeated Loras 34-17 at Lindberg Stadium for its first win. The Viking defense forced a total of nine turnovers in the victory and Maroder was named the CCIW's Defensive Player of the Week.
 
The CCIW season opened on October 4 with a tough 17-10 loss at Elmhurst and an upset bid against 18th-ranked Wheaton on Augustana's Homecoming a week later came up just short, with the Thunder claiming a 20-13 win.
 
A 7-2 win over Illinois Wesleyan on the road starting the Vikings' strong closing run. Frasco scored the game's only touchdown and the Augustana defense came up big, with two fourth-down stops deep in its own territory and a pair of fourth-quarter interceptions.
 
The Vikings jumped out to a 31-7 lead at Carthage and held off a furious Red Men rally to win 31-26 on October 25. Senior Conner Murray (Conifer HS, Morrison, Colo.) booted three field goals, including a career-long 48-yarder and Fornek's 13 solo tackles earned him Defensive Player of the Week honors from the league.
 
Augustana improved to 4-4 overall and 3-2 in the conference with a 26-20 win over North Park at home. Led by a career-high 178 from Price, the Viking rushing attack produced 367 yards. The team's three-game winning streak was snapped the following week with a 43-14 loss at North Central. Sophomore Danny Lattner (Fenwick HS, Riverside, Ill.) scored both Augustana touchdowns—the first two of his career.
 
In the season finale, the Vikings exploded for 49 second-half points to send 21 seniors out in style with a 59-6 win over Millikin. Six different players scored Augustana's seven touchdowns during a snowy and windy second half at Lindberg Stadium. Leading 16-6 with less than five minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Vikings scored six touchdowns in the final 19:19 of play. Frasco rushed for 104 yards and threw for 236 in just more than three quarters of action to earn CCIW Offensive Player of the Week honors.
 
The Viking ground game, which finished second in the CCIW, was led by Frasco. He finished the year with 704 yards and 11 touchdowns on 142 carries. Price (131-470-2), senior Benjamin Hodges (St. Charles North HS, Elburn, Ill.) (59-318-2) and freshman Austin Chausse (Nokomis HS, Nokomis, Ill.) (44-258-3) handled the running back duties this year. Losen was the one constant on an offensive line that battled injuries all season.
 
Through the air, Frasco ended up 105 of 188 (55.9%) for 1,188 yards and seven touchdowns. He was intercepted just three times and will enter his senior season with 130 consecutive pass attempts without throwing a pick. Senior Kyle Frake (Central HS, Clifton, Ill.) led Augustana in receiving with 31 catches for 481 yards and three touchdowns. Junior Sean Fitzgerald (Providence Catholic HS, Manhattan, Ill.) (30-322-1) and senior Antonio Owens (Naperville North HS, Chicago, Ill.) (24-193-4) were close behind. Fitzgerald also averaged 14.5 yards per punt return (16th in the nation) and rushed for 206 yards (9.4 per carry) this year.
 
The Vikings led the CCIW in rushing defense (123.3 yards per game in seven league contests) and were second in total defense (329.0 ypg) and defensive pass efficiency (116.0). Asquini was second in the CCIW in solo tackles and fourth in total stops and finished the season with team highs of 61 solo stops, 33 assists and 94 total tackles. Maroder (67 tackles) and Fornek (65 tackles) each intercepted a team-high four passes and Fornek and senior safety Bo Goshorn (Romeoville HS, Romeoville, Ill.) tied for the CCIW lead with three picks apiece in league play. Fornek also led Augustana and the CCIW in pass break-ups. Sophomore linebacker Erik Johnson (Warren HS, Gurnee, Ill.) was the team leader with 9 1/2 tackles for loss and Enke posted a team-best 4 1/2 sacks.
 
2014 CCIW STANDINGS

School	CCIW	Overall
Wheaton	7-0	11-1
North Central	6-1	8-2
AUGUSTANA	4-3	5-5
Elmhurst	4-3	5-5
Illinois Wesleyan	2-5	4-6
Carthage	2-5	3-7
North Park	2-5	2-8
Millikin	1-6	3-7

           
2014 AUGUSTANA FOOTBALL SUPERLATIVES 
 
INDIVIDUAL AWARD WINNERS 
CCIW ALL-CONFERENCE SELECTIONS –First team: Ben Fornek, DB; Second team: Jack Asquini, LB; Thomas Enke, DL; Sam Frasco, QB; Jon Losen, OL; Brandon Price, RB.
CCIW PLAYERS OF THE WEEK – 09/22/14 – Tim Maroder, DB (Defensive); 10/27/14 – Ben Fornek, DB (Defensive); 11/17/14 – Sam Frasco, QB (Offensive).
CoSIDA ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA – Thomas Enke, LB, 1st team
CoSIDA ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT – Thomas Enke, LB, 1st team; Ben Fornek, DB, 1st team
CCIW ACADEMIC ALL-CONFERENCE – Travon Aldridge, John Bastian, Michael Daniels, Thomas Enke, Sean Fitzgerald, Benjamin Fornek, Jonathan Losen, Nathaniel Magiera, Jacob Puls, Jared Puls, Jonah Puls, Rafael Rodriguez, Lukas Stoutenour, Joshua Symbal.
 
SCHOOL RECORD
SINGLE-GAME INTERCEPTIONS – 4, Tim Maroder (09/20/14 vs. Loras)
 
ADDITIONS TO AUGUSTANA'S TOP TEN LISTS
CAREER PASSING YARDS – 2,146 (Sam Frasco – 7th place)


NCAA STATISTICAL RANKINGS TEAM – TOP 25 
FEWEST PASSES INTERCENTED – T-14th @ 5
PUNT RETURNS – 24th @ 13.38
 
NCAA STATISTICAL RANKINGS INDIVIDUAL – TOP 25
PUNT RETURN AVERAGE – Sean Fitzgerald, 16th @ 14.5
PUNT RETURN TOUCHDOWNS – Sean Fitzgerald, T-15th @ 1
 
CCIW STATISTICAL LEADERS – TEAM 
RUSHING DEFENSE – 123.3 yards per game
PUNT RETURN AVERAGE – 17.2
OPPONENTS' 3RD-DOWN CONVERSION – 33.3%
 
CCIW STATISTICAL TOP FIVE – INDIVIDUAL 
RUSHING – Sam Frasco, 3rd @ 82.0 yards per game
PASSING EFFICIENCY – Sam Frasco, 5th @ 104.7
SCORING (TDs) – Sam Frasco, T-5th @ 6.00 points per game
SCORING (Kicking) – Conner Murray, 3rd @ 5.1 points per game
FIELD GOALS – Conner Murray, 2nd @ 1.00 per game
PASSES DEFENDED – Ben Fornek, 1st @ 1.29 per game
INTERCEPTIONS – Ben Fornek & Bo Goshorn, T-1st @ 0.43 per game
TACKLES – Jack Asquini, 4th @ 9.4 per game
TACKLES FOR LOSS – Erik Johnson, 3rd @ 1.21 per game
FUMBLES FORCED – Josh Symbal, T-4th @ 0.17 per game
FUMBLE RECOVERIES – Brandon Stiers & Josh Symbal, T-5th @ 0.17 per game
 
TEAM AWARDS 
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER – Sam Frasco
MOST VALUABLE OFFENSIVE PLAYER – Kyle Frake
MOST VALUABLE DEFENSIVE PLAYER – Ben Fornek
MOST VALUABLE SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER – Conner Murray
JERRY FRECK AWARD – Ben Hodges
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR – Austin Chausse
JUNIOR VARSITY MVP – Ryan Hicks