Box ScoreST. PETER, Minn. – No. 22 Saint John's rushed for 300 yards, forced four turnovers and out-scored Gustavus Adolphus 22-6 in the second half en route to a 29-19 win on Saturday, Oct. 18, in St. Peter.
SJU (5-1, 3-1 MIAC) intercepted three passes in the end zone, including two from senior cornerback
Andrew Norri (Virginia, Minn.) in the fourth quarter, and scored on all five of its trips inside the Gusties' 20-yard line in the contest.
The turning point of the game occurred early in the fourth quarter. Sophomore kicker
Alexi Johnson (Shakopee, Minn.) gave SJU a 20-13 lead with a 29-yard field goal four seconds into the final frame. Gustavus quarterback Mitch Hendricks, a transfer from SJU, connected with Matt Boyce for a 26-yard touchdown on the ensuing drive with 11:47 to play. The extra-point attempt that
would have tied the game at 20-20, however, was blocked by junior defensive lineman
Sam Brynestad (Stillwater, Minn.) and junior cornerback
Trevor Warner (Murrieta, Calif./Vista Murrieta) returned it for two points (and a three-point SJU swing). Warner also intercepted Hendricks in the end zone on second-and-goal from the 5-yard line halfway through the second quarter.
SJU took advantage of the momentum shift and rolled 75 yards on 10 rushing plays, ending on a 5-yard score from junior quarterback
Nick Martin (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata) with 7:15 remaining. The extra point from Johnson gave the visitors a 29-19 lead.
Junior running back
Sam Sura (South St. Paul, Minn.) recorded his third 200-yard game of the season with 205 yards and two touchdowns on 32 carries, including 154 yards on 20 carries (7.7 avg.) in the second half alone. The 205 yards enabled Sura to become the first Johnnie since Kent Crowley in 2002 (1,411 yards in 14 games) to cross the 1,000-yard mark and the first to do it during the regular season since Matt Malmberg in 1994 (1,102 yards in 10 games). Sura currently has 1,080 yards and 10 touchdowns on 161 attempts (6.7 avg.) in six games.
Hendricks and the high-powered GAC offense out-gained SJU 141-31 in the first quarter and built a 10-0 lead.
Sura put SJU on the scoreboard with the first of his two rushing touchdowns on the day, which capped a 69-yard scoring drive, but Hendricks hit Matt Boyce for a 61-yard gain down to the Johnnies' 12-yard line on the next play from scrimmage. The SJU defense held strong and forced a field-goal attempt, but Thomas Schleusener's 21-yard kick went wide right.
The Johnnies were held to a three-and-out on three of its first four possessions of the game. Schleusener made a 27-yard field goal, following SJU's third three-and-out of the half, with 26 seconds left before halftime.
Gustavus (6-1, 4-1 MIAC) ran 40 more plays than the Johnnies and out-gained them 315-107 (251-42 passing) in the first half. The tide shifted early in the second half, however, as GAC was held to 14 yards on six offensive plays in the third quarter (1:59 of possession).
SJU took the second-half kickoff and went 53 yards before stalling on the 20. A 37-yard field goal from Johnson cut the Johnnies' deficit in half, 13-10. The field goal was the 16th of Johnson's young career, which enabled him to break a tie with Russell Gliadon (2006-09) for fifth in school history.
Senior linebacker
Andrew Rose (Stillwater, Minn.) forced a fumble on the Gusties' next possession, where it was recovered by senior defensive lineman
Sean Tillman (Sartell, Minn./Sartell-St. Stephen) and returned seven yards to the GAC 32-yard line. The Johnnies took advantage of the short field and gained their first lead of the game (17-13) seven plays later on a one-yard score by Sura, on fourth-and-goal.
Martin finished 3-for-9 passing, in which all three completions went to junior wide receiver
Josh Bungum (Paynesville, Minn.) for 56 yards. Martin also added 55 yards on the ground.
Hendricks ended the afternoon 31 of 54 passing for 356 yards, two touchdowns and the three interceptions. He completed nine of his 17 second-half passes for 105 yards and entered the game leading NCAA Division III in completion percentage (78.2), passing touchdowns (27) and passing yards (2,249). Matt Boyce, who started the day leading Division III in receiving touchdowns (11) and was 12th in receiving yards per game (122.8), posted nine catches for 158 yards and two scores.
Norri led the SJU defense with nine solo tackles, the two interceptions and also added two other pass breakups. Sophomore linebacker
Carter Hanson (Blue Earth, Minn.) added eight tackles (six solo) and two pass breakups of his own.
The Johnnies return home to host Carleton as part of Family Weekend next Saturday, Oct. 25. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Clemens Stadium in Collegeville.
Notes: SJU registered two 10-point leads, including an eerily-similar 10-0 advantage, in last year's 23-20 double-overtime loss to the Gusties in St. Peter…SJU was 3-for-14 on third down, but converted all four of its fourth-down tries…the offensive shift, from first half to second half, was evident statistically in time-of-possession category: first half (19:05-10:55 in favor of GAC) and second half (21:41-8:19 in favor of SJU)…SJU had two forced turnovers negated by penalty in the game (a first-quarter fumble and a fourth-quarter interception).
