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COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Augsburg's Tyler Swanson caught a 32-yard touchdown pass between two Saint John's defenders as time expired to give the visiting Auggies a 32-31 win in front of an announced crowd of 12,211 on Saturday, Sept. 24, in Collegeville.

The scoring play, which started with 0.6 seconds left on the clock, capped a four-play, 80-yard drive in the final 18 seconds of the game.

Eleven players from each team had to return to the field 20 minutes later to attempt the PAT. Augsburg took a knee rather than risk a blocked kick return for a defensive two-point conversion.

SJU (2-2, 1-1 MIAC) gained a 31-26 lead with 23 seconds left to play on a 23-yard touchdown pass from sophomore Connor Bruns (Baltimore, Md./Loyola Blakefield) to senior wide receiver Sam Pederson (La Crosse, Wis./Aquinas). The scoring play capped an eight-play, 71-yard drive. Bruns came off the bench to complete five of six passes for 64 yards on the drive.

Augsburg quarterback Marcus Brumm tied an all-time opponent record against SJU with 401 yards on 26 of 42 passing with four touchdowns. Swanson ended with 147 yards on six catches.

The Johnnies took the opening kickoff and cruised 59 yards on six plays, ending on a 25-yard option pass from junior running back Harry Awe (St. Paul, Minn./Minnehaha Academy) to junior wide receiver Max Forster (Minnetonka, Minn./Hopkins).

Brumm and Swanson hooked up for a 78-yard gain on the first offensive play for the Auggies (3-0, 2-0 MIAC) and Tyler Maxwell took it over from one yard out on the next play. Senior defensive lineman Jack Daggett (Hutchinson, Minn.) blocked the point-after attempt to make it 7-6 in favor of the home team.

Junior kicker Jimmie Mattson (Eau Claire, Wis./Memorial) booted a 49-yard field on the next possession to re-gain the lead for SJU at 10-6.

Brumm threw the first of his four touchdowns on the next drive, a three-yard pass to Waylon Hartwick, to end an eight-play, 60-yard drive and give the lead to Augsburg.

Both teams exchanged punts before the Auggies stuffed senior running back Jakob Reding (Eden Prairie, Minn.) on fourth-and-one at midfield. Hartwick caught his second touchdown from Brumm, this time from nine yards out, to increase the Auggies' lead to 20-10.

Following an SJU three-and-out, Brumm led Augsburg on another scoring drive, completing five passes for 61 yards, including a 21-yard touchdown to Hakeem Bourne-McFarlane. Daggett blocked his second PAT attempt of the game to make it 26-10 with 7:17 left in the first half.

Down by 16, SJU answered with a 12 play, 59-yard scoring drive. Sophomore running back Nick Schneider (Rockville, Minn./Rocori) scored from two yards out to make it 26-17 at the half.

SJU forced a three-and-out on Augsburg's first possession of the second half and started where it left off, marching 70 yards on eight plays, ending on a five-yard touchdown run by Schneider. The PAT made it a two-point game, 26-24.

The Johnnies forced Augsburg to punt on its first four possessions of the second half, holding them to 45 yards on 16 plays. The only problem was that SJU punted three times as well.

On fourth-and-four from the Augsburg 38-yard line, junior punter Scott Ramey (Baxter, Minn./Brainerd) pinned the Auggies inside their own one-yard line with 9:10 remaining in the fourth quarter. Augsburg, however, put together an 18-play, 70-drive that brought the ball out to the Johnnies' 29-yard line. A turnover on downs gave the ball back to SJU, but the drive ate up 7:48, leaving 1:22 left for a Johnnie comeback.

Bruns answered the call and led SJU to the go-ahead score, including a 27-yard gain to Reding on third-and-14. He connected with Pederson for the 17-yard touchdown two plays later to put the Johnnies ahead, 31-26.

With 80 yards to go, Brumm connected with Wesley Waytashek for a 48-yard gain on the Auggies' first play and then spiked the ball to stop the clock. Bourne-McFarlane nearly caught the game-winner on the next play, leaving 0.6 seconds on the clock.

Junior quarterback John Ries (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata) went 19 of 27 passing for 226 yards, while junior tight end Taylor Freetly (Kerkhoven, Minn./Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg) caught nine passes for 154 yards for SJU. Junior Stephen Johnson (Mahtomedi, Minn.) led the Johnnies' ground game with 55 yards on 11 carries, while Schneider added 43 yards on 15 attempts. Linebackers Jake King (Mounds View, Minn./Totino-Grace) and Andrew Rose (Stillwater, Minn.) tallied seven tackles apiece to lead the SJU defense.

Maxwell, the reigning MIAC Offensive Player of the Week, gained 96 yards on 22 carries, including a huge 29-yard gain on third-and-19 from the Augsburg nine-yard line early in the fourth quarter.

Augsburg gained 529 yards of total offense, the third-most against the Johnnies in SJU school history, including 329 in the first half alone. The Auggies accumulated 150 yards on their last two drives of the game. Both teams were a perfect 3-for-3 in the red zone and nearly matched one another on third down (AUG: 10 of 18, SJU: 10 of 17).

The Johnnies (2-2, 1-1 MIAC) travel to face No. 3 St. Thomas (4-0, 2-0 MIAC) next Saturday, Oct. 1. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. at O'Shaughnessy Stadium in St. Paul. Tickets will be sold both online (http://www.tommiesports.com/ftbl/news/Tickets_8-24.html) and at the gate, though none of the tickets are for reserved seating. Tickets will cost $10 for adults and $5 for students over the age of six.

Notes: The win is the first for Augsburg against Saint John's since 1997, the first in Collegeville since 1980 and just the fifth in 59 meetings against SJU head coach John Gagliardi (53-5-1 record)…the 32 points scored by Augsburg is the most in 73 meetings with SJU…Freetly's 154 yards receiving is the most by a SJU tight end in a game since Nate Kirschner caught nine passes for 156 yards against Concordia-Moorhead on Nov. 11, 2000…Brumm's 401 yards passing tied the record for an opponent against the Johnnies, which was set by Chris Esterley of St. Thomas in 1994…the last time SJU lost on the last play of the game was Sept. 6, 1997 at Bemidji State (47-yard pass from Pat O'Connor to Ty Hoaglum; Rodney Chenos' 20-yard field goal in the 2000 national championship game technically left one second remaining on the clock)…the last time SJU lost back-to-back Homecoming games was 1955 and 1956 (19-14 to Gustavus, 32-6 to Concordia-Moorhead)…the Johnnies lost four consecutive Homecoming games from 1953-56.