Box Score

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – No. 8/10 Saint John's broke open a 14-3 halftime lead with 35 unanswered points in a 49-3 win over Augsburg on Homecoming Saturday, Oct. 7, in Collegeville.

SJU (5-1, 3-1 MIAC) rolled to 557 yards of offense and held Augsburg's high-powered offense to 195 yards, of which only 58 came in the second half. 



Senior running back Dusty Krueger (Lake Elmo, Minn./Hill-Murray) accounted for 138 of the Johnnies' 305-yard rushing total, the fourth 100-yard rushing game of his career, and scored three touchdowns to lead SJU. 

The Auggies (3-3, 1-3 MIAC) entered the game ranked eighth in NCAA Division III with an average of 359.8 passing yards per contest. SJU held Augsburg quarterback Quinn Frisell, Division III's fourth-best passer in relation to yardage (338.4 ypg.), to 11 of 31 passing for 126 yards on the day. Junior wide receiver Nick Heenie took the field Saturday tied for the national lead with 11 receiving touchdowns and was fourth with 641 receiving yards, but ended the game with one reception for 14 yards. The Johnnies' defense was without two senior starters, defensive lineman Drew Glenzinski (Faribault, Minn./Bethlehem Academy) and cornerback Leonard Gutierrez (Phoenix, Ariz./Brophy Prep), due to injury.

The Johnnies left points off the scoreboard in the first half, in which three failed drives consisted of a missed 29-yard field goal, an interception on 1st-and-10 from the Augsburg 37-yard line and a turnover on downs in the red zone (Augsburg 14-yard line). SJU missed a field goal on the first offensive possession of the second half, but bounced back with touchdowns on each of its next four drives to ice the game.

Sophomore quarterback Jackson Erdmann (Rosemount, Minn.) finished 16 of 22 passing for 228 yards and two touchdowns.

Senior wide receiver Evan Clark (Phoenix, Ariz./Apollo) caught two passes for 45 yards, including a 37-yard touchdown with 1:29 left in the first half. Clark played some defensive back, for the second consecutive game, and intercepted Frisell with 3:36 left in the third quarter. 

Clark broke up another pass early in the fourth quarter and junior safety Max Jackson (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) snagged the deflection in the air and returned it 44 yards for his second defensive touchdown of the season (73-yard fumble return Sept. 2 vs. St. Scholastica). 

Freshman linebacker Danny Pietruszewski (South St. Paul, Minn.) led the Johnnies with 8 tackles, including 2.5 for a loss. Senior defensive lineman Mat Hobby (Temecula, Calif./Great Oak) posted two tackles for a loss and a forced fumble, while junior defensive lineman Ted Kalina (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) recorded five quarterback hurries and blocked a quick-kick punt attempt in the second quarter.

The Johnnies travel to face Carleton next Saturday, Oct. 14, at Laird Stadium in Northfield.

Notes: The Johnnies are now 68-20-2 (.767) in 90 known Homecoming games…SJU is now 68-9-2 all-time against Augsburg, including a 34-5 record in Collegeville…SJU head coach Gary Fasching is now 15-0 all-time in the month of October.