MIAC Release

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Eleven Saint John's University football student-athletes earned All-MIAC honors, including nine on the first team, and head coach Gary Fasching was named the Co-John Gagliardi MIAC Coach of the Year on Tuesday, Nov. 21.

Junior defensive lineman Nathan Brinker (Avon, Minn./Holdingford), senior wide receiver Evan Clark (Phoenix, Ariz./Apollo), sophomore quarterback Jackson Erdmann (Rosemount, Minn.), senior linebacker David Franta (Winnebago, Minn./Blue Earth Area), sophomore offensive guard Dan Greenheck (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall), senior cornerback Leonard Gutierrez (Phoenix, Ariz./Brophy College Prep), junior safety Max Jackson (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall), senior offensive tackle Andrew Jarosz (White Bear Lake, Minn./Totino-Grace) and senior running back Dusty Krueger (Lake Elmo, Minn./Hill-Murray) were named to the first team.

Junior wide receiver Will Gillach (Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes) and freshman linebacker Danny Pietruszewski (South St. Paul, Minn.) were named to the second team. 

Senior defensive linemen Trevor Dittberner (St. Paul, Minn./Mahtomedi) and Mat Hobby (Temecula, Calif./Great Oak), and junior cornerback Sam Westby (Lake Elmo, Minn./Hill-Murray) were named All-MIAC honorable mention. Senior offensive lineman Ryan Souza (Chanhassen, Minn.) was named to the MIAC All-Sportsmanship team.

The MIAC coaching honor is Fasching's second in five seasons. He directed SJU to its fourth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Division III playoffs and ended the season with a 9-2 record (7-1 MIAC) in 2017. Fasching has a 46-11 record (.807), including a 33-7 mark in MIAC play, which are both program bests through the first five seasons.

The Johnnies had a first team All-MIAC player at each level of the defense, which ended the regular season second in the league (conference games only) in scoring defense (8.6 ppg.), passing defense (119.5 ypg.) and total defense (208.9 ypg.). The defense also had one of its best seasons in recent memory. The 119.5 passing yards allowed per game was the lowest since 2004 (112.0 ypg.) and the 8.6 points allowed per game was the lowest since 1998 (6.1 ppg.). 

Nationally, SJU's defense ended the regular season ranked in the top 12 in NCAA Division III in a number of categories: second in total defense (196.5 ypg.), scoring defense (8.3 ppg.) and pass-efficiency defense (82.17); third in passing defense (121.7 ypg.); fourth in first downs allowed (115); fifth in third-down defense (21.5 percent); ninth in defensive touchdowns (4); and 12th in rushing defense (74.8 ypg.).

The All-MIAC first-team honor is the second consecutive for Brinker, who tied for second in the MIAC in tackles for loss (9.5) and fourth in sacks (5) in conference play. Overall, he led SJU with 11.5 tackles for loss, finished third in sacks (5.5) and tied for fourth in total tackles (43). Brinker begins his senior season next fall 10th in school history with 18 career sacks.

Franta moved from outside linebacker to inside linebacker this fall and led the team with 73 tackles (45 solo) and three forced fumbles. He tied for fourth in the MIAC with 33 solo tackles in conference play. All-MIAC honorable mention last season, Franta was a semifinalist for the National Football Foundation Campbell Trophy and earned College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District honors last week. 

Gutierrez led the Johnnies in interceptions, four, for the second consecutive season despite missing all three games in October. An All-MIAC second-team selection in 2016, Gutierrez ended his career with nine interceptions and 11 pass breakups.  

Jackson finished third on the team with 47 tackles (21 solo) and returned two interceptions and a fumble for touchdowns this fall. He returned a fumble 73 yards for a touchdown in the season opener against St. Scholastica and found the end zone on interceptions in back-to-back weeks, 44 yards Oct. 7 against Augsburg and 55 yards Oct. 14 at Carleton.

Five Johnnies earned All-MIAC first-team distinction on the offensive side of the ball, including Jarosz and Greenheck on the line. The team finished second in the league (conference games only) in scoring offense (37.6 ppg.) and total offense (402.8 ypg.) for the second straight year. Although the passing offense (216.0 ypg.) finished fifth in the MIAC, it was the highest mark for SJU since 2012 (242.1 ypg.).

The All-MIAC first-team honor is the second consecutive for Clark, who led SJU in all three receiving categories for the second straight year. He caught 29 passes for 496 yards (17.1 avg.) and six touchdowns, and finished third on the team with 202 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. Clark ended his career with 29 total touchdowns (23 receiving, four rushing, two kick returns), the 15th-most in school history, and tied for ninth in receiving touchdowns and 14th in receiving yards (1,701). Eighteen of Clark's 29 career touchdowns covered 25 yards or more, including 14 over 40 yards. His 1,185 career kick-return yards are good for second in school history.

Erdmann tied for first in the MIAC with 19 passing touchdowns in conference play, while finishing second in completion percentage (.618, 105-for-170), pass-efficiency rating (169.1) and yards per pass attempt (9.0). He ended the season with 1,859 passing yards, 25 passing touchdowns and a .617 completion percentage (129-for-209). His 172.1 pass-efficiency rating was the third-best in school history and the touchdown-to-interception ratio (25 to 4) of 6.25 was fourth. Erdmann enters his junior season seventh in school history with 45 career passing touchdowns and 13th in career passing yards (3,149).

All-MIAC honorable mention a year ago, Krueger finished second in the MIAC with 580 rushing yards and third with eight rushing touchdowns in MIAC play. Overall, he recorded four 100-yard rushing games and ended the season with 888 yards and 10 touchdowns on 134 carries. The 6.3 yards per carry was ninth-best in school history (minimum 50 attempts). He totaled 311 yards on 61 carries in three postseason games over the past two seasons and finished his career with 1,739 yards and 21 rushing touchdowns on 289 carries, a 6.02 average per attempt, which was fifth-best in the SJU record book.

Gillach finished second on the team with 22 catches for 369 yards (16.8 avg.), and claimed third with five touchdowns receptions. He travels to New Orleans in early January, as a member of the 22-man AFCA Good Works Team, to participate in a special community service project ahead of the 2018 Allstate Sugar Bowl. The entire team will be recognized on the field at halftime.

Pietruszewski ended his first season as a Johnnie tied for first on the team with six sacks and second in both total tackles (62) and tackles for a loss (9.5).