Box Score
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – No. 4 Saint John's football clinched its 22nd 10-win season with a 63-23 non-conference win over Thomas More (Ky.) on Saturday, Nov. 10, in Collegeville.
The frigid, 17-degree weather resembled the inside of a snow globe, but it failed to hinder SJU's passing attack.
Junior quarterback
Jackson Erdmann (Rosemount, Minn.) set an SJU record with seven passing touchdowns on the afternoon, including six in the first half alone. He completed his first 13 passes and finished 18 of 23 for 255 yards for SJU (10-0 overall).
Senior wide receiver
Will Gillach (Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes) caught four of Erdmann's seven touchdown passes and finished with nine receptions for 167 yards.
Who We Gonna Play?
The NCAA Division III playoff field will be announced during a live selection show at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 11, on www.ncaa.com.
7 Passing Touchdowns
The Johnnies' previous record for single-game passing touchdowns, six, was recorded three times: Pat Mayew '92 vs. St. Olaf (Oct. 26, 1991); Willie Seiler '94 vs. St. Thomas (Oct. 23, 1993); and Seiler again at Wisconsin-La Crosse in the NCAA playoffs (Nov. 27, 1993). Seiler's six-touchdown game against the Tommies was the lone instance of the three in which the Johnnie quarterback tossed six touchdowns in a half.
Erdmann now has 34 passing touchdowns on the year, to five interceptions, which are the fourth-most in an SJU season. Mayew is third with 36 in 1991. Saturday's seven passing touchdowns enabled Erdmann to move into a tie with Tom Linnemann (1996-00) for third in school history with 79 in a career.
He's Cruising
Erdmann is now 68 of 100 passing for 999 yards and 20 touchdowns, a 217.92 pass-efficiency rating, since his last interception thrown on Oct. 13 against St. Thomas.
4 Receiving Touchdowns
Gillach became the first Johnnie to record four receiving touchdowns in a game since Jeremy Loretz '95 caught five against Macalester on Nov. 10, 1994, at the Metrodome. Gillach is averaging 18.1 yard per catch (54 receptions for 975 yards and 13 touchdowns) and needs 25 receiving yards to become the first Johnnie to reach 1,000 in a season since Brian Weber '07 (1,031 yards) in 2007.
Connecting on Many Levels
The Erdmann-Gillach connection has now resulted in 19 touchdowns over the last three seasons, including 13 this fall. The 19 touchdowns are the fourth-most in SJU history. The 29 touchdowns between quarterback Alex Kofoed '07 and wide receiver Kyle Gearman '07 stand as the school record.
Solid Defense
The SJU defense held the Saints (7-3 overall) to 149 yards through the first two quarters to post a 49-10 halftime lead, and forced four turnovers in the game. Four different Johnnies recorded a sack, including senior defensive end
Ted Kalina (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson), who increased his team-leading total to 9.5 on the year. His strip-sack late in the first quarter gave SJU prime real estate on TMU's 16-yard line. Erdmann hit senior running back
Adam Essler (New London, Minn./New London-Spicer) for a touchdown on the very next play to give the home team a 21-0 lead.
That Was Quick
The Johnnies' offense scored 56 points in 40 plays, through the game's first 10 possessions.
