Angie Leno, contributor

For the first time in 10 years, the Augsburg football program has beat Gustavus Adolphus College. With this victory, the Auggies broke a seven game losing streak to the Golden Gusties. 

With 6:24 left to play, Augsburg was leading 27-24. Both teams had all three timeouts. The Auggie offense was tasked with driving the ball down the field to chew up the rest of the clock or score the game winning touchdown. After getting the ball down to Gustavus’ 20 yard line, the Auggie offense committed a false start penalty. With 1:44 to go, the Auggies were faced with a first and 15. Senior DJ Monroe rushed for two yards on first down and Gustavus called their first timeout. Senior Cade Sheehan rushed on the second down and was only able to get back to the line of scrimmage but was shoved out of bounds to stop the clock. On third down, Sheehan connected with sophomore Gavin Tegels for seven yards and Gustavus called their second timeout. Although the ball was set on the Gusties 16 yard line, easily within field goal range, Coach Lamker made the aggressive decision to go for it on fourth down needing six yards to convert. Sheehan was unable to connect with senior Michael Ims on fourth down leading to a turnover on downs. 

With 1:15 left to play, the Gusties began to drive down the field. After several short passes, the Gusties found themselves with a first down on the Auggies’ 32 yard line. First and second down both ended up as incomplete passes. On third down, junior Hamsa Kahin gave the quarterback no time to throw and got a sack. The Auggies were electrified and had all the momentum. The Gusties were challenged with a fourth and 16 situation and 36 seconds left to play. With only one option left, the Gusties hucked up a prayer to the endzone that was batted down by Auggie defenders. The hearts of Auggie players and fans dropped after seeing the yellow penalty flag thrown on the field after the play. The referees called pass interference on Augsburg which gave the Gusties an automatic first down. With all the momentum shifted to their side, the Gusties scored a passing touchdown the following play.

The Auggies were faced with an almost impossible challenge, to drive the length of the field with 22 seconds left to play and two timeouts to score the winning touchdown. Monroe set the team up in good field position with his 25 yard return that left the Auggies on their own 43 yard line. However, the return took time off the clock and left the offense with 14 seconds to drive 57 yards. Sheehan was able to connect with Ims for 23 yards on the first play of the drive and a timeout immediately followed. With seven seconds left to play on the Gusties’ 34 yard line, Offensive Coordinator, Coach Wilkie, dialed up the Hail Mary. Sheehan launched a high flying ball hoping one of his stud receivers would come down with it. Sophomore Tyrone Wilson leapt out of his shoes and came down with the ball to put the Auggies up 33-31 and win the game.

Cade Sheehan ended the game with 20 completions on 24 passing attempts with 274 yards and five touchdowns. Hamsa Kahin ended the game with three sacks, eight tackles, a pass breakup and two fumble recoveries. The Auggies ended the game victorious, breaking a losing streak with a miraculous finish.