Augustine leads Althoff offense on a record-setting pace

For the second week in a row, the Althoff Crusaders displayed a full-scale offensive onslaught of record-setting magnitude.

In a week 2 win over Helias Catholic of Jefferson City, Althoff racked up 737 yards of total offense, which ranks eighth all-time in Illinois prep football history. The Crusaders hit the Top 10 again Friday night with a 716-yard, 68-point explosion against Mater Dei.

Several players have walked off the field this season with video game stats, but at the center of it all is quarterback Jordan Augustine, the BND Athlete of the Week.

The senior riddled the Knights with 537 yards passing, completing an efficient 24-of-30 pass attempts, including five touchdowns. He also rushed for a touchdown for the second week in a row.

“I expected Jordan to be good this year, but to say I thought we’d come out and have 700 yards two weeks in a row, I would be lying to you,” said Althoff head coach Ken Turner. “I’m not necessarily shocked by it though, because I know the skill that we have and I know how capable Jordan is of controlling the offense.”

For the season, Augustine has completed 73 percent of his passing attempts (66-of-90) for 1,155 yards, 11 touchdowns and two interceptions. Those numbers equate a passer rating of 151.33. A perfect passer rating is considered to be 158.3.

There remains a lot of football to be played, but what Augustine and the Crusaders (3-0) have done through the first third of the season puts them on a historical pace.

▪  Augustine’s 537 yards Friday ranks No. 9 in IHSA history for a single game performance (Villa Park’s Brian Johnson holds the record of 675 yards set in 2013).

▪  He’s on a nine-game pace to amass 3,465 yards, which would place him No. 13 all-time for a single season. The record currently is held by Sean Price of Maine South, who threw for 4,751 yards over 13 games in 2003. In as many games, Augustine’s pace would put him at a record-breaking 5,005 yards.

▪  C.J. Coldon’s 271 yards Friday is the 19th best single-game total in IHSA history. That performance comes a week after Keenen Young torched Helias with 233 yards receiving.

▪  Rochester, the 2011 state champion, set the record of total offense over 13 games that year. Althoff’s 608 yards-per-game over the same span would establish a new record of 7,904 yards, which would break the old record by more than 1,200.

Is that a pace the Crusaders can maintain? Turner isn’t making such predictions, but he says Augustine’s ability to direct a complicated offensive scheme leads him to believe the unit can be even better.

“I know it doesn’t seem like it, but we watch film and see things that can make this offense better,” Turner said. “We have a lot of playmakers, but we’re not just good athletes, we have a good offense and a strategy. I ask Jordan to do a lot of things that a lot of other offenses don’t ask their quarterbacks to do. But he’s a very intelligent kid and can do what’s being asked of him.”

As a junior, Augustine completed 60 percent of his passes for 1,699 yards and 14 touchdowns. He missed all of his sophomore season with a torn ACL.

The road back included “hard work I’ve never seen from a quarterback before,” Turner said. Augustine was brought back to physical health by a personal trainer. Prepping himself mentally for contact was his own doing.

“It was a big jump from freshman to varsity, obviously,” Augustine said. “With the ACL tear it was kind of scary getting out there. But I found the right trainer, put in a lot of work and the knee is strong as ever now.”

As for records, the Althoff senior admits he and his teammates tried to beg their way into action Friday, after the Crusaders’ second team was employed to seal the victory.

“The guys, we always want to stay in and get the team record since we’re so close — only like a 100 yards shy — two weeks in a row,” he said. “We never want to be satisfied. We want to be the best we can.”

This story was originally published September 15, 2015 at 3:24 PM with the headline "Augustine leads Althoff offense on a record-setting pace."