ELMHURST, Ill. – The Elmhurst football team suffered a 35-0 setback to Augustana College in the Bluejays' home-opening contest at Langhorst Field.
 
Elmhurst (1-1) dug themselves into an early hole, and unlike last week's come-from-behind at Aurora, the Bluejays could not recover as Augustana cruised to the 35-point shutout.

Augustana (2-0) scored on its first four possessions, racing out to a 28-0 halftime lead while piling up 326 yards of offense in the opening half.
 
The Vikings took advantage of a short field after getting a piece of an Elmhurst punt and taking their first possession in Elmhurst territory. The Vikings moved 48 yards in four plays to take a quick 7-0 lead after a 13-yard touchdown pass from Zachary Fuller to Alek Jacobs.
 
Elmhurst put together a 13-play drive on its next possession, moving down to the Augustana 23-yard line before an interception near the goal line ended the Bluejays' scoring threat. Augustana promptly marched downfield in six plays, amassing 87 yards and taking a 14-0 lead on a five-yard touchdown pass from Fuller to Justin Pope.
 
A 10-yard touchdown pass from Fuller to Max Urancih capped an 11-play, 76-yard drive to give the Vikings a 21-0 lead early in the third quarter. The Vikings made it 28-0 late in the half when Bobby Jarosz scored one a one-yard plunge to cap an 80-yard, 10-play drive.
 
Elmhurst had one more chance to score before the half, driving to the Vikings six-yard line, but a fumble ended the Bluejays' scoring chance.  The Bluejays totaled 162 yards of offense in the opening half, but finished just 1-for-5 on third down while also turning the ball over twice.

Augustana made it 35-0 midway through the third quarter as Ryan Pitra capped a 52-yard drive with an 11-yard touchdown run.

The Bluejays' best chance to score came at the beginning of the fourth quarter. The team drove downfield, taking a first-and-goal from the Vikings' five. After moving down to the Vikings' one-yard line for a third-and-goal, the Bluejays were stuffed behind the line to set up a fourth-and-goal from the two-yard line. A delay of game penalty pushed Elmhurst back to the Augustana seven-yard line and Orlando Hernandez's rush came up yard short, giving the ball back to Augustana and preserving the shutout for the Vikings.
 
Elmhurst finished with 269 yards of total offense, rushing for 114 yards and passing for 155. The Bluejays also turned the ball over three times in the loss. Hernandez led Elmhurst on the ground with 12 carries for 55 yards. He also passed for 155 yards in the loss, completing 14-of-30 passes. Jawan Gaines was the Bluejays' top target, catching five passes for 72 yards.
 
Augustana amassed 514 yards of offense in the victory, rushing for 258 and passing for 256. Alek Jacobs ran for 77 yards on six carries while Jarosz ran nine times for 76 yards. Fuller finished the day 21-of-28 through the air for 256 yards and three touchdowns. Uranich was the Vikings' top receiver, hauling in six passes for 90 yards and a score.
 
Sean Jay led Emhurst's defense with 11 tackles while Brandon Dominski finished with nine stops.
 
Elmhurst will look to bounce back from the loss next Saturday (September 22) when the squad welcomes Carroll University to Langhorst Field.