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-Johnson & Bruns (0:37)
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. - Saint John's started the 2011 season with a 34-0 shutout of Northwestern on a sunny and breezy afternoon in Collegeville Sept. 3.
Junior running back Stephen Johnson (Mahtomedi, Minn.) ran for 111 yards on 19 carries, including 81 yards in the second quarter alone. His 27-yard touchdown run gave SJU a 20-0 lead with 5:52 left in the first half. He also added five receptions for 20 yards on the day.
Northwestern took the opening kickoff and marched 51 yards down to the SJU 23-yard line before turning the ball over on downs following four consecutive incomplete passes. The Johnnie defense forced the Eagles to punt following a three-and-out the next four possessions.
SJU found the scoreboard with 1:32 remaining in the opening quarter with a familiar trick play. Junior running back Harry Awe (St. Paul, Minn./Minnehaha Academy) took the option pitch from junior quarterback John Ries (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata), faked the run and then found junior tight end Taylor Freetly (Kerkhoven, Minn./Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg) in the back of the end zone for a four-yard touchdown pass. Awe is now four of five passing for 122 yards and two touchdowns in his career.
Following runs of 15 and 13 yards from Johnson to start the drive, sophomore quarterback Connor Bruns (Baltimore, Md./Loyola Blakefield) connected with senior wide receiver Sam Pederson (La Crosse, Wis./Aquinas) for a 19-yard touchdown with just over 10 minutes left in the second quarter.
The Johnnies forced another three-and-out and broke the game open with a seven-play, 59-yard scoring drive. Johnson gained 37 yards on the drive, including his 27-yard touchdown run to end it.
Bruns and Co. put together an 11-play, 77-yard scoring drive to nearly close out the first half. Sophomore running back Nick Schneider (Rockville, Minn./Rocori), last season's team leader in touchdowns with nine, scored his first of the season from three yards out to make it 27-0.
The Bruns-to-Pederson worked once more, this time for a 40-yard strike, to end the scoring with 12:41 left in the game.
Bruns ended the game 10 of 15 passing 137 yards and two touchdowns, while Ries went six of 10 for 43 yards. The Johnnies' four-headed monster at running back (Johnson, Schneider, junior Harry Awe and senior Jakob Reding) combined for 194 yards on 33 carries (5.9 avg.) and another 68 yards on nine catches (7.6 avg.). Linebackers Ian Goldsmith (Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View) and Luke Sweeter (Sartell, Minn./Sartell-St. Stephen) led the SJU defense with five tackles apiece.
Junior punter/tight end Scott Ramey (Baxter, Minn./Brainerd) averaged 42.8 yards on six punts, including a long of 57 yards. Four of his six punts were placed inside the Eagles' 20-yard line.
Northwestern running back Tim Youtzy led the Eagles with 86 yards on 14 carries, while quarterback Josh Balzer was six of 19 passing for 87 yards.
SJU out-gained NWC 402 to 215 and totaled 25 first downs to the Eagles' nine, four of which came in the second half.
SJU head coach John Gagliardi formally opened his 63rd season as a collegiate head coach and 59th season at SJU with his 479th career victory (479, 129-11 career record, 455-123-10 at SJU).
The Johnnies aim to avenge last year's overtime loss to Wisconsin-Eau Claire by hosting the Blugolds next Saturday, Sept. 10. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Clemens Stadium in Collegeville.
Notes: The shutout is the 102nd of Gagliardi's 59-year tenure at SJU…the season-opening shutout is the first for SJU since 1994 (54-0 at Mayville State, N.D.)…the Johnnies are now 70-28-3 (.708) all-time in season openers, including a 39-16-3 record (.698) in Collegeville…under the direction of Gagliardi, the Johnnies are 46-12-1 (.788) with a 28-7-1 record (.792) at home.
