Box Score

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – No. 5 Saint John's rolled to 659 yards of offense, an average of 11 yards per play, in a 57-7 win over St. Olaf on Saturday, Oct. 20, in Clemens Stadium.

The Johnnies (7-0, 6-0 MIAC) recorded five offensive plays of 50 yards or more, and a sixth was called back due to penalty.

Junior quarterback Jackson Erdmann (Rosemount, Minn.) was 11 of 12 passing for 178 yards and three touchdowns. He led SJU's offense to 367 yards on 27 plays before taking a seat with 10:16 left in the second quarter. He also rushed for 17 yards on three carries, including a 9-yard touchdown that made it 27-0 with 1:39 left in the first quarter.

Senior wide receiver Will Gillach (Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes) followed last week's record-setting game (14 catches for 256 yards and two touchdowns) against St. Thomas with another 100-yard receiving game Saturday: five catches for 119 yards and two touchdowns. He is second in the MIAC in receiving yards (755) and receiving touchdowns (8), and third in receptions (41) this fall.



The Johnnies rushed for 383 yards and four touchdowns on 35 carries (10.9 avg.). Senior running back Adam Essler (New London, Minn./New London-Spicer) recorded his first 100-yard rushing game with 107 yards on five carries (21.4 avg.), including a 66-yard sprint for a touchdown early in the second quarter.

Freshman running back Henry Trost (Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes), meanwhile, totaled 159 yards on five carries (31.8 avg.). He burst through the line for a 76-yard run late in the third quarter and scored the first touchdowns of his collegiate career in exciting fashion in the fourth quarter. He scored on a 52-yard screen pass from sophomore quarterback Chris Backes (St. Cloud, Minn./Tech) with 6:34 to play and again on an 80-yard sprint for a touchdown with just over three minutes remaining.

Erdmann Passing Up the Charts
The 178 passing yards enabled Erdmann to pass Joe Boyle (2007-10) and Rick Dougherty (1983-86) for fifth in school history with 4,999 in his career. Tom Linnemann (1996-00) is fourth with 6,016 career passing yards. The 11 completions, meanwhile, moved Erdmann past Nick Martin (2012-15) for seventh (330) in SJU history. Erdmann is currently fifth with 65 career passing touchdowns, three behind Ryan Keating (2000-03) in fourth.

100-Yard Rushing Duo
The last time SJU had a pair of 100-yard rushers in the same game was Nov. 1, 2014, at Augsburg (170 from Sam Sura '16 and 101 from Josh Bungum '16).



Johnnie-D
Although SJU's defense did not force any turnovers, it posted 14 tackles for loss and six sacks. The Johnnies held STO (5-2, 3-2 MIAC) to 206 yards, which was nearly half of its season average of 394.5. 

Third-Down Despair
The Oles were 3 of 19 on third down Saturday. The Johnnies' last four opponents (Augsburg, Bethel, St. Thomas, St. Olaf) were a combined 11-for-65 (16.9 percent) on third down.

One-Man Wrecking Crew
Senior defensive end Nathan Brinker (Avon, Minn./Holdingford) collected only three tackles (two solo) Saturday, but 2.5 were for a loss, including half a sack. He is now sixth in school history with 23.5 in his career, 2.5 behind Steve O'Toole (1988-91) in fifth. Brinker also has 46 career tackles for loss, four behind co-defensive coordinator Brandon Novak (1996-99) in fourth. He currently leads the MIAC with 14 tackles for loss and is second, half a sack behind senior Ted Kalina's (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) league-leading six sacks. 

Series History
SJU is now 43-14-1 all-time against St. Olaf, including a 22-8 mark in Collegeville and a 27-5 record overall since 1986. The Johnnies have out-scored the Oles 263-27 over the last six meetings.

What's Next
The Johnnies travel to take on Concordia (3-4, 2-3 MIAC) at 1 p.m. next Saturday, Oct. 27, in Moorhead.