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COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – St. Olaf scored the game's final 10 points and junior Jimmie Mattson's 36-yard field goal attempt with six seconds left went wide left as the Oles escaped Collegeville with a 38-35 win on Saturday, Sept. 29.
The Johnnies (2-3, 0-3 MIAC) have now lost three consecutive Homecoming games, virtually all on the game's final play, for the first time since 1954-56.
Lucas Wainman cut the Oles' deficit to 35-31 with 7:52 left in the fourth quarter with a 53-yard field goal that bounced off the crossbar and through. He missed his first two attempts of the game from 45 and 43 yards, respectively.
Dan Dobson connected with Stephen Asp for a 19-yard touchdown pass with 3:43 remaining, which gave the Oles (4-1, 2-1 MIAC) their first lead of the game, 38-35.
SJU moved 51 yards down to the STO 14, but a false start on third-and-one moved the Johnnies back to the 19 with 14 seconds left. An incomplete pass on the next play left the Johnnies with the game-tying field goal attempt.
Freshman Nick Martin (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata) gave SJU an early lead with a 57-yard touchdown run with 10:56 left in the first quarter. Martin became the first true-freshman to start at quarterback for the Johnnies since Rick Dougherty in 1983.
Dobson and the Oles answered with a six-play, 75-yard scoring drive that ended on a 37-yard screen pass to Michael Thai.
The Johnnies were forced to punt on the ensuing drive, but Thai fumbled and SJU recovered it on the 23-yard line. An eight-yard gain by junior Nick Schneider (Rockville, Minn./Rocori) on second down was negated when Martin was sacked for an eight-yard loss on the next play. Mattson's field-goal attempt from 40 yards out went wide left, the first of his three misses on the afternoon.
Wainman missed his first of the day, from 43 yards out, which gave the ball back to SJU on its own 26. On second-and-three Martin scrambled to find sophomore Rob Voshell (Sartell, Minn./Sartell-St. Stephen) for a 47-yard gain down to the Oles' three-yard line. Schneider took it over from one yard out three plays later to give the home team a 14-7 lead.
Following a three-and-out, junior Jake Essler (New London, Minn./New London-Spicer) returned a punt for an 85-yard touchdown to give SJU a 21-7 lead with 11:36 left in the first half. The punt return for a touchdown was the first for the Johnnies since Mike Zauhar returned one for a 63-yard score against Bethel on Oct. 9, 2004.
STO bounced back with a seven-play, 75-yard scoring drive that ended on a 34-yard connection from Dobson to Asp.
The Johnnies answered with a six-play, 65-yard scoring drive of their own, ending on a two-yard plunge by Martin to bring it back to a two-score game, 28-14.
Dobson and Co. recoiled for a 12-play, 83-yard scoring drive to cut the deficit to 28-21. This time, Dobson hit Jake Schmiesing from nine yards out. Dobson finished the first half 21 of 24 passing for 290 yards and three touchdowns.
SJU cruised 41 yards in 28 seconds, but Mattson's 51-yard attempt went wide left as time expired.
Both teams exchanged punts to start the second half before the Oles capitalized on an interception by Ben Dobson. His brother, Dan, hit Schmiesing for a 15-yard touchdown to tie the game at 28-28 seven plays later.
Senior Bobby Fischer (Plymouth, Minn./Osseo) intercepted Dobson on the first play of the fourth quarter, first-and-10 from the Oles' own 30. Martin hit freshman Josh Bungum (Paynesville, Minn.) for a six-yard touchdown pass to give the lead back to SJU seven plays later. Senior Stephen Johnson (Mahtomedi, Minn.) kept the drive alive with a 22-yard gain on third-and-19 two plays earlier.
Wainman bounced a 53-yard boot off the crossbar and through on the ensuing possession to cut the Johnnies' lead to 35-31.
On third-and-six, Martin was intercepted by Reggie Woods when senior Max Forster (Minnetonka, Minn./Hopkins), the intended receiver, ended up on the ground with the ball in the air. Woods returned it to the SJU 43. Dobson connected with Asp five plays later for what proved to be the game-winning score from 19 yards out.
Martin ended the day 10 of 20 passing for 161 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. He also added 48 yards and two scores on six carries. Schneider led the SJU rushing attack with 82 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. SJU gained 237 yards on 41 attempts in the contest. Bungum caught six passes for 97 yards.
Sophomore Andrew Rose (Stillwater, Minn.) led the Johnnie defense with 12 tackles (seven solo) and two forced fumbles. Senior Taylor Dammermann (Spicer, Minn./New London-Spicer) collected 11 tackles (three solo) for his fourth consecutive game of 10 tackles or more.
Dobson finished 32 of 39 passing for 389 yards, five touchdowns and an interception. Thai gained 64 yards on 20 carries, but also caught nine passes for 103 yards and a touchdown. Asp caught seven passes for 144 yards and two touchdowns, while Schmiesing finished with 97 yards and two touchdowns on seven catches.
STO out-gained the Johnnies 461-398 (389-161 passing), was 5-for-10 on third down and converted all three of its red-zone trips into touchdowns.
The Johnnies travel to take on Augsburg next Saturday, Oct. 6. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Edor Nelson Field in Minneapolis.
Notes: Essler's 85-yard punt return for a touchdown is tied for the sixth-longest in school history (tying Blake Elliott's 85 yard return at St. Olaf on Sept. 16, 2000)…the Oles were whistled for three delay-of-game penalties in the first half…St. Olaf was charged for 10 penalties for 116 yards in the contest…Martin also averaged 42.5 yards on four punts in the game…Mattson entered the game 17-for-18 in his SJU career in field-goal tries, including a perfect 12-for-12 in attempts inside of 39 yards.
