Box Score | SJU Press Conference

WHITEWATER, Wis. - Time and time again, throughout the course of what has been a magical season, senior quarterback Jackson Erdmann (Rosemount, Minn.) and the Saint John's University offense have found a way to make plays when they needed them.

On Saturday, the Johnnies came up one play short.

Trailing by three points after a Wisconsin-Whitewater field goal, Erdmann and No. 8 SJU took over on their own 42-yard line with 2:04 left to play.

But on the drive's opening play, Wisconsin-Whitewater linebacker Matt Anderson wrestled the ball away from senior running back Kai Barber (Minneapolis, Minn./Totino-Grace) for an interception to seal a 35-32 Warhawks' victory in the NCAA Division III semifinals before a crowd of 2,830 at a chilly Perkins Stadium.

The seventh-ranked Warhawks (13-1 overall) advance to face No. 5 North Central (Ill.) next Friday, Dec. 20, in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl in Shenandoah, Texas. The Cardinals (13-1 overall) defeated No. 4 Muhlenberg (Pa.) 45-14 in Saturday's other semifinal. The Johnnies, who advanced to the semifinals for the first time since winning the national championship in 2003, finished with a 12-2 record.

"When we got the ball back at the end I thought here we go again," said SJU coach Gary Fasching, whose team earned a dramatic 34-33 victory over Wheaton (Illinois) in the quarterfinals last week. "But their kid made a tremendous play. Kai (Barber) had the ball and he wrestled it away. Jackson made the right read. He put the ball in the right spot. That kid just made a great play."

The Johnnies (12-2 overall) took advantage of an interception from senior cornerback Brady Buckentine (Waite Park, Minn./St. Cloud Cathedral) to tie the game at 32-32 with 7:43 remaining. Buckentine intercepted UWW's Max Meylor on 3rd-and-9 and returned it eight yards to the Warhawks' 15-yard line. Barber took it over from one yard out six plays later and Erdmann connected with sophomore wide receiver Ravi Alston (Lake Elsinore, Calif./Vista Murrieta) for the game-tying two-point conversion. The game had eight lead changes prior to Barber's touchdown, the 25th of his career.

UWW moved the ball 46 yards on 11 plays and settled for a 37-yard field goal into the wind, its fourth of the game, with 2:10 remaining.

Erdmann ended the day 29 of 50 passing for 342 yards, 28 yards shy of the Division III single-season record of 5,068. Alston caught 11 passes for 143 yards and finished 41 yards away from the program's single-season record of 1,484. He recorded 36 receptions for 554 yards (15.4 avg.) and five touchdowns in four postseason games.

Erdmann's seven-yard touchdown pass to Alston gave SJU a 21-15 lead with 1:47 left in the first half and tied his own SJU single-season record of 47. The Warhawks, however, answered with an 11-play, 63-yard scoring drive that ended on a six-yard touchdown pass (on third-and-goal) to give the lead (22-21) back to the home team with 21 seconds left before halftime.

Sophomore running back Henry Trost Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes) opened the game's scoring with a four-yard touchdown run with 8:58 left in the first quarter.

UWW converted a 3rd-and-9 with a 41-yard pass down to the Johnnies' 19-yard line, but the Warhawks had to settle for a 31-yard field goal. Erdmann hit Trost for a 39-yard pass on SJU's next offensive play, but the play was negated by a holding penalty and Erdmann was sacked on 1st-and-20. UWW blocked freshman Cole Milz's (Laporte, Minn./Bemidji) punt through the back of the end zone for a safety three plays later.

The Johnnies forced a three-and-out and took over on its own 10-yard line, but Trost fumbled on the first play and the Warhawks recovered on the 11. SJU's defense held strong once again and UWW gained its first lead of the game (8-7) with a 27-yard field goal 19 seconds into the second quarter. 

Erdmann converted a 3rd-and-9 with a 12-yard run down to the 1 and Trost scored on the next play to give SJU a 14-8 lead with 11:05 left in the first half. The touchdown, Trost's 17th of the season, tied him with Blake Elliott (2001) for SJU's sophomore record and capped an 11-play, 65-yard drive.

Wide receiver Ryan Wisniewski gave the lead back to UWW, 15-14, with a 4-yard touchdown run out of the wildcat formation with 4:14 left in the first half.

The NCAA's replay review aided SJU during its 16-play, 72-yard scoring drive in the third quarter. A pass completion to sophomore wide receiver Matt Mohr (Chisago City, Minn./Chisago Lakes) and fumble, which was recovered by UWW, was overturned and ruled as an incomplete pass. On the next play, 3rd-and-18, Erdmann hit junior wide receiver Blake Patrick (St. Stephen, Minn./Holdingford) for a 30-yard pass along the Johnnies' sideline (and replay confirmed the catch). Erdmann found sophomore wide receiver T.J. Hodge (Miami, Fla./Doral Academy) for a 16-yard pass down to the Warhawks' 8-yard line on 4th-and-10 but the drive stalled. Junior kicker Colin Kummer's (Hastings, Minn.) 25-yard field-goal attempt was tipped at the line of scrimmage but cleared the crossbar to give SJU a 24-22 lead with 4:37 left in the third quarter.

UWW kicked a 22-yard field goal (25-24) with 1:03 left in the third quarter and Meylor sprinted for a 38-yard touchdown on 3rd-and-4 with 13:47 remaining (32-24).