Box Score
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – No. 4/5 Saint John's football earned the 2018 MIAC championship outright with a 51-0 win over Hamline on Saturday, Nov. 3, in Clemens Stadium.
The Johnnies (9-0, 8-0 MIAC) clinched a share of their MIAC-record 33rd conference title and earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Playoffs with a 42-14 win Oct. 27 at Concordia-Moorhead. The postseason appearance will be the 29th (25th in Division III) for the Johnnies and their fifth consecutive.
SJU scored all 51 points and outgained HU 364-34 in the first half (470-98 in the game).
Nice Start
Senior safety
Max Jackson (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) opened the scoring for SJU with a 60-yard punt return for a touchdown four minutes into the game. The special-teams score was the first for Jackson, who is the program's all-time leader in defensive touchdowns with four. He passed Bill Kaufmann (1985-87) for sixth on SJU's punt-return list (516 yards) and John Beutz (1989-92) for 10th in career return yards (1,037; kick and punt combined).
3 for Essler
Senior running back
Adam Essler (New London, Minn./New London-Spicer) scored three touchdowns on the afternoon. He caught a pair of touchdowns from junior quarterback
Jackson Erdmann (Rosemount, Minn.) in the first quarter and scored from six yards out with five minutes remaining in the first half.
100 for Kai
Junior running back
Kai Barber (Minneapolis, Minn./Totino-Grace) recorded the first 100-yard rushing game of his collegiate career with 102 yards on four attempts (25.5 avg.), including a 57-yard touchdown run with 4:14 left in the first quarter. He leads the team in all three rushing categories this fall: attempts (70), yards (447) and touchdowns (7).
Efficient Erdmann
Erdmann played all but the final series of the first half and finished 10 of 15 passing for 160 yards and three touchdowns. He currently leads the MIAC with 27 passing touchdowns, which are tied for the ninth-most in an SJU season (Ryan Keating in 2001).
Smothering Defense
SJU held Hamline (0-9, 0-7 MIAC) to 98 yards of offense, five first downs and a 3-for-15 showing on third down in the game. The Pipers gained 49 yards and three first downs in the fourth quarter. The Johnnies forced two turnovers - including another interception by the reigning MIAC Defensive Player of the Week, junior cornerback
Chris Harris (Lake Elsinore, Calif./Elsinore) - and posted six sacks on the afternoon. The interception was Harris' team-leading fourth of the season and his fourth takeaway in the last two games. Senior defensive end
Ted Kalina (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) led the way with 2.5 sacks/tackles for loss and now leads the MIAC with 8.5 on the year.
Birthday Shutout
The Johnnies gave defensive coordinator
Jerry Haugen '76 a shutout on his birthday Saturday. The shutout was the 181st in school history, the 12th in 66 games under the direction of Fasching and the 64th with Haugen on staff (64 shutouts in 473 games, 13.5 percent).
Unbeaten MIAC Season
The 8-0 MIAC record is SJU's 21st unbeaten conference season.
1. 21 – Saint John's
2. 17 – Gustavus
3. 16 – St. Thomas
4. 8 – Concordia
5. 3 – Bethel
6. 2 – Hamline, Macalester, St. Olaf
9. 1 – Minnesota-Duluth, Saint Mary's
Like Father, Like Son
Senior tight end
Tommy Auger (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral) filled in for the Johnnies' regular punter, senior
Naufahu Anitoni (Fairfield, Calif./Justin-Siena), Saturday and averaged 33 yards on three punts. Auger's father, Andy '95, played tight end (like Tommy) and punted for the Johnnies from 1991-94. Andy averaged 36.6 yards on 39 career punts.
Series History
The Johnnies are now 61-23-3 (.718) all-time against the Pipers, including a 36-8-2 (.804) record in Collegeville. SJU has won 29 of the last 32 meetings overall and has out-scored HU 1,103-185 (46.0-7.7 avg.) in the 24 meetings since the Johnnies' last loss in the series (27-26 on Oct. 1, 1994, in Collegeville).
Regular-Season Finale
The Johnnies host Thomas More (Ky.) for a 1 p.m. non-conference game next Saturday, Nov. 10, in Collegeville.
