Box Score

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – No. 11/13 Saint John's football scored touchdowns in all three facets of the game in a 49-0 shutout of Augsburg on Saturday, Oct. 8, in Minneapolis.

The Johnnies (5-1, 3-1 MIAC) scored five offensive touchdowns (one passing and four rushing), blocked a punt for a score and returned an interception for another in the victory.

SJU scored 21 points in the first 9:45 of the game, out-gained the Auggies (1-5, 1-3 MIAC) by a 436-128 margin and recorded a season-high six quarterback sacks.

Sophomore quarterback Ben Alvord (St. Joseph, Minn./St. Cloud Apollo) made his second consecutive start and connected with senior wide receiver Evan Clark (Phoenix, Ariz./Apollo) for a 54-yard touchdown pass on the Johnnies' first offensive play of the game. 

Junior running back Dusty Krueger (Lake Elmo, Minn./Hill-Murray) found the end zone twice, one after recovering his own blocked punt in the end zone and another on a three-yard run, to give SJU a 21-0 first-quarter lead.

Clark scored on a 16-yard jet sweep on the Johnnies' opening drive of the second half. He now has 11 touchdowns on the season, including at least one receiving touchdown in the season's first six games (for a total of 10). He ended the day with three catches for 109 yards.

Sophomore running backs Adam Essler (New London, Minn./New London-Spicer) and Derek McLaughlin (Andover, Minn.) sandwiched senior linebacker Parker Anderson's (Prior Lake, Minn.) one-yard interception return for a touchdown with a rushing score each to wrap up the scoring for SJU.

Alvord ended the afternoon 12 of 15 passing for 190 yards and the touchdown. Krueger led SJU's rushing attack with 55 yards on eight carries. Seven different Johnnies rushed for 20 yards or more in the contest.

Senior linebacker Carter Hanson (Blue Earth, Minn.) led SJU with 10 tackles, the 12th game of 10 tackles or more in his career (which is good for eighth in school history). 

Sophomore defensive lineman Nathan Brinker (Avon, Minn./Holdingford) posted six tackles (five solo), including four for a loss, three sacks and a forced fumble. Junior defensive lineman Drew Glenzinski (Faribault, Minn./Bethlehem Academy) tallied two sacks and sophomore defensive lineman Ted Kalina (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) added the other. The Johnnies' defensive line was without two starters, All-American senior Peyton Thiry (Lester Prairie, Minn./Lester Prairie-Holy Trinity) and junior Mat Hobby (Temecula, Calif./Great Oak), due to injury.

Senior safety Garrett Ackerman (Temecula, Calif./Great Oak) added SJU's other interception, his third of the season.

The Johnnies return home to host Carleton for Family Weekend next Saturday, Oct. 15. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Clemens Stadium in Collegeville.

Notes: The shutout is the 174th in 884 games (19.7 percent) for the Johnnies, as well as the 57th in 447 games with defensive coordinator Jerry Haugen on the coaching staff…SJU is now 67-9-2 all-time against Augsburg, including a 33-4-2 record in Minneapolis…shutouts now account for 26.9 percent of SJU's wins against the Auggies (18 of 67)…the three sacks for Brinker are the most by a Johnnie since Matt Workman '15 recorded three in the 24-14 win at St. Thomas on Sept. 27, 2014…the six sacks were the most by SJU in a single game since the Johnnies recorded seven in the 31-17 win over Gustavus Adolphus on Oct. 27, 2012.