Box Score

ST. PETER, Minn. – No. 10/11 Saint John's football scored offensive touchdowns on five of its first six first-half possessions en route to a 56-10 win at Gustavus Adolphus on Saturday, Oct. 22, in St. Peter.

The 56 points are the most by either team in the 83 meetings (48-32-3 SJU record) between the two schools, edging the 55 points scored by SJU on Oct. 2, 1993 in St. Peter (55-14).

SJU (7-1, 5-1 MIAC) forced four turnovers and out-gained the Gusties 437-129, including a 205-38 margin on the ground. All 10 points for GAC (3-4, 1-4 MIAC) were in result of two Johnnie turnovers deep in their own territory.

Sophomore quarterback Ben Alvord (St. Joseph, Minn./St. Cloud Apollo) ended the afternoon 10 of 14 passing for 221 yards and three touchdowns. He played the first series of the second half before taking a seat.

Senior wide receiver Evan Clark (Phoenix, Ariz./Apollo) totaled 191 all-purpose yards in the win. He returned a kickoff 75 yards to set up the Johnnies' second touchdown of the game, a 14-yard strike from Alvord to sophomore wide receiver Will Gillach (Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes), and caught four passes for 94 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown early in the second quarter to give SJU a 21-3 lead. He now has a receiving touchdown in each of SJU's eight games this season, for a total of 12, and 32 receptions for 746 yards (23.3 avg.) on the year. Clark became the 30th Johnnie to eclipse 1,000 career receiving yards in the victory.

Alvord connected with junior wide receiver Matt Miller (Annandale, Minn.) for a 63-yard touchdown pass less than three minutes after the bomb to Clark.

Four different Johnnies recorded a rushing touchdown, including two from junior running back Dusty Krueger (Lake Elmo, Minn./Hill-Murray). 

GAC cut into the Johnnies' 7-0 lead following a muffed punt return on the visitors' 13-yard line. The Gusties gained nine yards on three plays before settling for a 26-yard field goal. The remaining points came on a 17-yard interception return for a touchdown from GAC's Ben Rengel with 5:54 left in the third quarter. Freshman quarterback Jackson Erdmann (Rosemount, Minn.) first pass attempt since suffering a concussion against St. Thomas Sept. 24 deflected off the back of a Gustie defender (due to miscommunication with the SJU receiver) and into the air to Rengel, who coasted down the sideline for the score.

Senior linebacker Parker Anderson (Prior Lake, Minn.) and sophomore defensive lineman Nathan Brinker (Avon, Minn./Holdingford) led SJU's defense with six tackles apiece. Anderson posted 2.5 tackles for a loss and a sack, while Brinker recovered his own strip-sack on the Gusties' three-yard line in the third quarter. Sophomore running back Adam Essler (New London, Minn./New London-Spicer) scored from two yards out, two plays later, to give SJU a 49-10 lead.

Junior cornerback Leonard Gutierrez (Phoenix, Ariz./Brophy College Prep) recorded his fifth interception of the season and senior safety Lucas Glomb (Woodbury, Minn./Hill-Murray) snagged his second of the season. Freshman cornerback Chris Perry (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) jumped on a mishandled handoff for the Johnnies' fourth takeaway of the game late in the third quarter.

The Johnnies enjoy their bye week before hosting Hamline for a 1 p.m. game on Saturday, Nov. 5, at Clemens Stadium in Collegeville.