But after beating the Concordia Cobbers 34-22 in the first round of the NCAA Division III football playoffs, Lamker was ready to call the Fargodome his home.
"Absolutely," said Lamker. "We were kind of upset because we had to come up here. But if I had my choice, I’d play here instead of the Metrodome any day ... because it’s such a great atmosphere."
As unusual as the playoff system gets, his Auggies, seeded third in the Midwest Region, would have to play No. 4 seed Concordia on the road instead of at home or in the Metrodome.
Concordia, meanwhile, should have been playing on the road at either the No. 1 or No. 2 seed, but Division III rules on the amount of travel a team can take prohibited it.
Augsburg, now 9-1, will play Simpson (Iowa) College Saturday.
Lamker, the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference player of the year, created a sorrowful atmosphere for the Cobbers for the second time this year. He threw for a school single-game record 398 yards as well as three touchdowns against the Cobbers, who finished the season at 8-3.
Augsburg defeated Concordia 13-10 during the regular season.
Concordia rallied from a 20-point deficit to cut the Auggies’ lead to 27-22 in the fourth quarter. But Lamker, like he did so many times earlier in the game, lofted a short pass to receiver Scott Hvistendahl for a 56-yard touchdown with 1:39 left in the game. That ended the Cobbers’ rally as well as their season.
"It was the perfect play on that situation," said Concordia free safety Eric Stenehjem. "We were in a blitz and were playing man coverage. We weren’t expecting anything deep."
Lamker went deep, short and in between all day in a 24-for-35 passing performance. He hooked up with Hvistendahl 11 times for 237 yards, an Augsburg single-game receiving record.
"You have to give their offense credit ... especially Hvistendahl," Stenehjem said. "They picked apart our defense. I can’t say it any better."
Concordia’s Ethan Pole made himself at home in the Fargodome too. Pole passed for 386 yards and two touchdowns. Cobbers wide receiver Tory Langemo, meanwhile, did his best impression of Hvistendahl, catching 11 passes for 186 yards.
Concordia cut the lead to single digits when fullback Len Crouse scored on a 1-yard touchdown with 4:02 remaining in the contest. A 26-yard strike down the middle to Langemo set up the touchdown.
"I was nervous there," said Augsburg coach Jack Osberg. "The night Pole was having was stressing us a little bit. We just wanted to get the ball in our hands."
The last time the Auggies touched the ball, Lamker hit Hvistendahl for the long-bomb touchdown. The play closed the door for the Cobbers.
"I felt they got the upper hand on us. They deserved to win the game overall," said Concordia coach Jim Christopherson. "If we had won, it would have taken a miracle."
Instead of a miracle, the Cobbers were dealt a setback to end the first half.
With under two minutes remaining in the first half, Pole moved the ball to the Auggies’ 28. On fourth-and-11, Pole hit Langemo for 18 yards and a first down just inside the 10 with 15 seconds left.
Pole then threw to tight end Rob Nick who came down near the left pylon of the end zone. But the officials ruled that Nick didn’t score and did not get out of bounds to stop the clock. Time ran out as Concordia failed to get another play off.
"We still don’t know the interpretation," said Christopherson. "One official signaled for a stop (of the clock). But I never saw anybody start the clock. I’m going to try and get an interpretation. ... Maybe they made the right play."
With a touchdown, Concordia could a have cut the Augsburg lead to a touchdown. Instead, Augsburg maintained its 21-7 lead at intermission.
"It did hurt," Christopherson said.
Pole opened the scoring with a 28-yard pass to Mike Rice to give the Cobbers the lead with 10:20 left in the first quarter. Rice played a big role later in the game too. With his team down 18 in the third quarter, Pole hit a diving Rice in the left corner of the end zone to cut the Augsburg lead to 27-15 with 41 seconds left in the third.
"We felt like if we get the ball, we had to score and not try to use so much time," Pole said.
Augsburg 7 14 6 7 – 34
Concordia 7 0 8 7 – 22
C–Rice 28 pass from Pole (Horgen kick)
A–Schultz 3 pass from Lamker (Hlinka kick)
A–Drier 1 run (Hlinka kick)
A–Schultz 21 pass from Lamker (Hlinka kick)
A–Hlinka FG 32
A–Hlinka FG 34
C–Safety, penalty in end zone
C–Rice 32 pass from Pole (run failed)
C–Crouse 1 run (Horgen kick)
A–Hvistendahl 56 pass from Lamker (Hlinka kick)
TEAM STATISTICS
A C
First downs 20 25
Rushes-yards 31-147 35-97
Yards passing 398 386
Total yards 545 483
Passing 24-36-0 30-41-1
Punts-average 4-31.5 5-29.4
Fumbles-lost 0-0 3-2
Penalties-yards 10-70 3-14
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING – Augsburg, Drier 12-29, Anthony 7-12, Peterson 5-16, Hvistendahl 1-1, Lamker 6-(-11). Concordia, Steinbeisser 10-63, Crouse 14-54, Langemo 1-3, Pole 10-(-23).
PASSING – Augsburg, Lamker 24-35-0 398, Hvistendahl 0-1-0 0. Concordia, Pole 30-40-1 386, Steinbeisser 0-1-0 0.
RECEIVING – Augsburg, Hvistendahl 11-237, Hamer 5-83, Schultz 5-52, Peterson 2-9, Anthony 1-17. Concordia, Langemo 11-186, Nick 5-42, Howell 5-37, Rice 4-77, Crouse 2-17, Steinbeisser 2-15, Rydell 1-12.