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COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's overcame five turnovers and held Hamline to 14 points on six drives inside its 20-yard line in a 20-14 win over the Pipers on Saturday, Nov. 9, in Collegeville.
Hamline (2-7, 1-7 MIAC) entered intermission with a 14-10 lead, its first halftime lead against SJU since 1994, but the Johnnies responded with 10 unanswered points in the third quarter to pull out the 20-14 win.
SJU (7-2, 5-2 MIAC) out-gained the Pipers 353-251 but committed the five turnovers, one of which was a fumble on an interception by senior safety Darryl Williams (Hawthorne, Calif./Verbum Dei). Williams and the SJU defense, meanwhile, forced a turnover on downs three times in the red zone, including stops on the one- and 14-yard lines in the fourth quarter alone.
A muffed punt return on the game's opening possession gave the ball back to HU on the SJU 14, but the Johnnies forced a turnover on downs on fourth-and-three from the seven.
Following a pair of punts, SJU traveled 63 yards on eight plays before stalling following a first-and-10 opportunity on the Pipers' 18-yard line. A 35-yard field goal from freshman kicker Alexi Johnson (Shakopee, Minn.) gave SJU a 3-0 lead with 2:32 left in the opening quarter. The drive was extended by a 15-yard penalty for roughing the kicker on freshman punter Griffin Toomey (Anchorage, Alaska/South), which negated a 68-yard punt.
Hamline took advantage of an SJU fumble and put together a seven-play, 62-yard scoring drive that ended on a one-yard touchdown pass from Gabe Martinez to Kevin Eskuri.
The Pipers took advantage of another SJU turnover, this time an interception, and nearly matched its previous scoring drive with 59 yards on seven plays, ending on a four-yard pass from Martinez to Noah Pesola to give the visitors a 14-3 lead. Despite the two touchdowns, Martinez ended the day only three of 10 passing for 17 yards and two interceptions.
SJU responded with a quick 71-yard scoring drive that ended on a 39-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Connor Bruns (Baltimore, Md./Loyola Blakefield) to senior tight end Colin Moynihan (Edina, Minn.). Johnson's extra point cut the Johnnies' deficit to 14-10 with 4:20 left in the first half.
The Johnnies got the ball back with 2:14 left and advanced to the Pipers' 39-yard line before turning it over on downs.
Bruns directed a 12-play, 71-yard scoring drive to start the second half and give SJU the lead for good. On third-and-14, Bruns hit sophomore wide receiver Josh Bungum (Paynesville, Minn.) for a 22-yard touchdown with 9:54 left in the third quarter. Bungum ended the day with nine receptions for 81 yards and is now fifth in school history with 74 catches on the season, three behind Todd Fultz (77, 1989) for fourth and seven behind Jeremy Forsell (81, 2000) for third. He now has 116 receptions for 1,277 yards in 19 career games, one catch behind Roland Buller (1996-98) for 10th on the SJU career list.
Johnson's second field goal of the game, this time from 29 yards out, ended the scoring at 20-14 with 2:30 left in the third.
The game became quite interesting in the fourth quarter, however. Hamline punter Forrest Coughlin pinned SJU down to its own one-yard line and the Piper defense forced a three-and-out. Williams intercepted Martinez on the Johnnies' eight-yard line on the ensuing possession, but fumbled and the ball was recovered by HU on the SJU five-yard line. The Johnnies stuffed Hamline's Austin Duncan on four consecutive carries, forcing a turnover on downs, but were once again pinned down on their own one-yard line.
Both teams exchanged punts before Hamline's Jack Swanberg intercepted Bruns on second-and-four and returned it 23 yards to the SJU 18. The Johnnie defense held strong once again, however, forcing an incomplete pass on fourth-and-six from the SJU 14. Junior defensive end Matt Workman (Minneapolis, Minn./Holy Angels) tallied one of his three quarterback hurries on the play.
Hamline took over from its own 24-yard line with 1:45 left, but freshman linebacker Carter Hanson (Blue Earth, Minn.) intercepted Martinez on the third play and SJU ran out the remaining 1:03.
Bruns was 13 of 25 passing for 164 yards and two touchdowns, while sophomore running back Sam Sura (South St. Paul, Minn.) totaled 85 rushing yards on 18 carries. Hanson and Rose led the SJU defense with 10 tackles, including a tackle for a loss each. A pair of defensive tackles, senior Paul Plombon (Rice, Minn./Sartell-St. Stephen) and junior Ben Rossini, each tallied a sack.
Duncan, the MIAC's leading rusher, gained 154 yards on 35 carries for the Pipers, who used him out of the Wildcat formation for a majority of the game.
The two teams combined for a 7-for-28 showing (25 percent) on third down, as well as 0-for-4 on fourth down. SJU was 0-for-5 on third down in the first half alone.
The Johnnies play host to Bethel, which clinched the MIAC title today with a 47-0 win over St. Olaf, in the regular-season finale next Saturday, Nov. 16. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Clemens Stadium.
Notes: Opponents have now converted only 50 percent (17-for-34) of its red-zone chances into points against SJU this season...Johnson now has 11 field goals on the season, which is a new SJU record for a freshman kicker (10 by Don Pribyl in 1983)…he is currently tied with Brandon Keller (2003) for the most field goals in a season and is already tied for sixth in school history, four behind Russell Gliadon (2006-09), for the most field goals in a career…as mentioned above, Hamline posted its first halftime lead over SJU since Oct. 1, 1994, which is also the last win for the Pipers over the Johnnies (27-26)…HU's Jason Pass intercepted Pat Kemper and returned it 100 yards for a touchdown with six seconds left in the first half to give Hamline a 21-20 lead at the half of that game.
