Box ScoreCOLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – No. 14 Saint John's totaled 489 yards and held No. 20 Gustavus Adolphus' high-powered offense in check, to the tune of 309 yards, in a 49-27 win on Homecoming Saturday, Oct. 17, in Collegeville.
Senior All-American running back
Sam Sura (South St. Paul, Minn.) ran for 201 yards, his first 200-yard rushing game of the season and fourth of his career, and four touchdowns on 33 carries. He also caught a pass for 35 yards and has rushed for four touchdowns in back-to-back games.
Senior quarterback
Nick Martin (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata) went 11 of 16 passing for 212 yards and three touchdowns, and also rushed for 29 yards. He is now 20-5 as a starter and moved into 10th in school history in both passing yards (3,620) and passing touchdowns (33) during the win.
Senior wide receiver
Josh Bungum (Paynesville, Minn.) caught six of Martin's passes for 121 yards and two scores. The 100-yard receiving game was the fourth of his career and enabled him to move within 40 yards of Lee Clintsman (2001-04) for seventh in school history with 2,201 career receiving yards. He is also 18 catches behind Adam Herbst (1995-98) for second place with 189 for his career.
Gustie quarterback Mitch Hendricks completed 26 of 40 passes for 224 yards and three touchdowns, two of which went to Gabriel Boyce in the second half. Hendricks threw an interception in the end zone near the end of the first half, courtesy of junior linebacker
Carter Hanson (Blue Earth, Minn./Blue Earth Area), and was sacked twice.
The Gusties (6-1, 4-1 MIAC) entered the game averaging 545 yards of offense and 54.5 points per game, including 35 points in the first half alone.
GAC scored its first two touchdowns, to gain a 14-7 lead with 9:19 left in the second quarter, thanks to a short field on both possessions. A fumbled snap from center on the Johnnies' own 35-yard line set up the first score, while a snap over junior punter
Griffin Toomey's (Anchorage, Alaska/South) gave the Gusties the ball on SJU's 1-yard line.
SJU (5-1, 3-1 MIAC) answered to tie the game at 14 apiece with a 9-play, 90-yard scoring drive that ended on a 35-yard strike from Martin to Bungum. The Johnnies forced a 3-and-out, their third of the game, and gained a 21-14 halftime lead on a two-yard run from Sura with 39 seconds left in the second quarter. SJU out-gained the Gusties 212-96, 115-31 on the ground, in the first half.
The Johnnies took the opening kickoff of the second half and scored touchdowns on their first three possessions to build a 42-21 lead.
Senior linebacker
Drake Matuska (Kasson, Minn./Kasson-Mantorville) led the SJU defense with 10 tackles (four solo), including a sack. Senior cornerback
Trevor Warner (Murrieta, Calif./Vista Murrieta) tallied seven solo tackles and three pass breakups.
SJU is now 66-20-2 (.761) in 88 known Homecoming games dating back to 1924, including a 12-2 record against the Gusties.
The Johnnies travel to face Carleton (1-6, 0-5 MIAC) for a 1 p.m. game next Saturday, Oct. 24, in Northfield.
Notes: Sura now has 3,299 career rushing yards, 634 behind the school record held by Tim Schmitz (1974-77)…the 33 carries enabled Sura to pass Schmitz for second all-time in career rushing attempts with 602, 77 behind the record held by Chris Moore (1997-00)…he now has 15 100-yard rushing games, three from Schmitz's record of 18, and 38 career rushing touchdowns, 10 behind the record of 48 set by Matt Malmberg (1991-94)…Sura now has 406 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 65 carries (6.2 avg.) in his last two games against Gustavus…the seven PAT's enabled junior kicker
Alexi Johnson (Shakopee, Minn.) to pass Greg Poulin (1990-93) and Don Pribyl (1983-86) for sixth in school history with 96.
