Box Score

ST. PETER, Minn. – No. 9 Saint John's football pulled away from Gustavus Adolphus in the second half for a 45-13, MIAC-opening win on Saturday night, Sept. 15, at Floyd B. Johnson Memorial Field in St. Peter.

The game was originally scheduled for a 1 p.m. kickoff at Gustavus' Hollingsworth Field, but the day's heat and humidity moved the contest to 7 p.m. at St. Peter's natural-grass, high-school field a few blocks away from campus.

Junior quarterback Jackson Erdmann (Rosemount, Minn.) ended the game 13 of 20 passing for 231 yards and three touchdowns, including a 10-for-15 showing for 170 yards and the three scores in the first half alone. He also led the Johnnies' rushing attack with 54 yards on eight carries. Erdmann recorded a 41-yard run in the first quarter, which set up senior Zach Barwick's (Littleton, Colo./Dakota Ridge) 30-yard field goal that gave the visitors a 10-6 lead.



SJU (2-0, 1-0 MIAC) posted a second-half shutout thanks to two forced turnovers and an electric, 92-yard blocked field goal return for a touchdown by junior safety Ryan LaCasse (Mountlake Terrace, Wash.). Sophomore linebacker James Inman's (Bismarck, N.D./Shiloh Christian) hit on the GAC receiver dislodged the ball, which deflected to junior linebacker Alex Sais (Los Lunas, N.M./St. Pius X) on the Gusties' opening possession of the second half. Senior defensive lineman Nathan Brinker (Avon, Minn./Holdingford) sacked Gustavus quarterback Michael Veldman and forced a fumble on the Gusties' next possession, on SJU's 18-yard line, and senior cornerback Sam Westby (Lake Elmo, Minn./Hill-Murray) made the recovery.

Let's Play
Prior to Saturday's game, which was delayed to 7 p.m. and moved due to the heat and humidity, SJU had practiced five weeks and only played one contest due to the Week 2 bye.

Similar Blueprint
It seemed like déjà vu Saturday night as Erdmann connected for first-half touchdowns with his senior tight ends, Jared Streit (Watkins, Minn./Eden Valley-Watkins) and Tommy Auger (St. Cloud, Minn./Cathedral), similar to Sept. 1's season opener vs. Wisconsin-Stout. Erdmann put SJU on the scoreboard with a 30-yard strike to Streit, on 4th-and-9, halfway through the first quarter. He found Auger for an 18-yard catch-and-run 1:57 into the second quarter.

Movin' Up
Erdmann climbed three SJU all-time lists as the game transpired. The three touchdowns moved Erdmann into a tie with Pat Mayew (1988-91) for fifth in school history with 52. He moved past Willie Seiler (1990-93) and Dennis Schleper (1979-82) for 11th in career passing yards (3,621) and jumped Schleper for 11th win career pass completions (244).

Another Big Game for Brinker
Brinker has certainly lived up to the hype as a preseason All-American so far this fall. He recorded five tackles (three solo), including 2.5 for a loss and 1.5 sacks Saturday night and now has 5.5 tackles for loss and two sacks in two games this season. Brinker now has 20 career sacks and 37.5 career tackles, which are good for eighth in school history. He is now three tackles for loss behind his position coach, Damien Dumonceaux '05, in seventh.

Ground Game
Four different Johnnies rushed for 35 yards or more as SJU averaged 4.8 yards per carry on the night (37 attempts for 178 yards). Aside from Erdmann's 54 yards, sophomore Kenneth Udoibok (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) gained 45 yards and two second-half touchdowns on seven attempts. Junior Kai Barber (Minneapolis, Minn./Totino-Grace) and senior Adam Essler (New London, Minn./New London-Spicer) chipped in 38 yards apiece.

A First
LaCasse's 92-yard return, of senior defensive lineman Ted Kalina's (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) block of the 25-yard attempt, for a touchdown is the first in SJU's recorded history. The Johnnies have 25 blocked punt returns for touchdowns in 108 seasons. Trevor Warner '16 returned a blocked Gustavus PAT 98 yards for two points on Oct. 18, 2014, in St. Peter.

Gustavus' Air Attack
A transfer from Division I North Dakota State, Veldman ended the evening 19 of 34 passing for 255 yards and two touchdowns for GAC (1-2, 0-1 MIAC). Four of his completions went to wide receiver Brice Panning for a total of 140 yards. He connected with Panning for a 50-yard gain on 3rd-and-12 and again for 45 yards on 3rd-and-11 in the first half.

Night Game
Saturday night's game was the first for the Johnnies, under the lights in conference play, in 20 years.

Last Night Game: Sept. 13, 2014 at Wisconsin-Eau Claire (W, 31-7)
Last Night MIAC Game: Nov. 8, 2002 vs. Bethel at the Metrodome (W, 31-26)
Last Night MIAC Game, Outdoors: Oct. 3, 1998 at Augsburg (W, 19-13)

Win No. 50
The Johnnies are now 50-32-3 all-time against Gustavus, including wins in 30 of the last 32 meetings.

MIAC Openers
SJU is now 66-24-7 (.716) all-time in its first MIAC game of the season, including a 35-14-3 (.702) record on the road.

What's Next?
The Johnnies return home to host Carleton for Family and Homecoming Weekend at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 22, in Clemens Stadium.