Senior All-American running back Sam Sura (South St. Paul, Minn.) became the Johnnies' all-time leading rusher, breaking the 38-year old mark held by Tim Schmitz (1974-77), with 84 yards on 15 carries in SJU's 51-7 win over Dubuque (Iowa) in the first round of the NCAA Division III playoffs Nov. 21. He also caught three passes for 60 yards, including a 44-yard shovel pass for a touchdown that gave SJU a 23-0 lead with 5:32 left in the first half. Sura played the first two drives of the second half before taking a seat.
He ended the regular season fourth in NCAA Division III in rushing touchdowns (23) and yards per carry (5.83), among backs with 250 attempts or more, despite not playing equivalent of nearly two full games. Sura already owns the career mark for rushing attempts (712), as well as 11 other SJU rushing records, and needs one rushing touchdown to tie Matt Malmberg (1991-94) for the program record of 48 and another 100-yard rushing performance to break his tie at 18 with Malmberg. Sura currently has 3,977 career rushing yards and is fourth in school history with 4,373 all-purpose yards, despite never returning a kick or punt.
Sura was named one of the 10 semifinalists for the 2015 Gagliardi Trophy, which is awarded to the most outstanding football player in NCAA Division III, for the second consecutive season Nov. 23. He is the 11th Johnnie to make the Gagliardi Trophy's final list of 10 and first to do so in back-to-back seasons since Blake Elliott in 2002 and 2003.
The No. 10/11 Johnnies (10-1, 7-1 MIAC) travel to face No. 3/4 St. Thomas (11-0, 8-0 MIAC) in the NCAA second round at noon Saturday, Nov. 28, in St. Paul.
