AP Release | D3football.com Release

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Seven Saint John's University student-athletes earned All-America football honors on Friday, Dec. 20.

Senior guard Dan Greenheck (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) was named to the Associated Press (AP) Division III All-America first team for the second consecutive season, while sophomore wide receiver Ravi Alston (Lake Elsinore, Calif./Vista Murrieta), senior tackle Ben Bartch (Dayton, Ore./Blanchet Catholic), senior quarterback Jackson Erdmann (Rosemount, Minn.) and junior defensive end/linebacker Danny Pietruszewski (South St. Paul, Minn.) were named to the second team.

Bartch was named to the D3football.com All-America first team, while Erdmann, Greenheck and senior defensive tackle J.W. Windsor (Mesa, Ariz./Chandler) earned second-team honors. Senior cornerback Chris Harris (Lake Elsinore, Calif.) was honorable mention.

The seven awardees bring the total to 106 SJU football student-athletes who have earned All-America honors a total of 139 times. 

Erdmann was named to the American Football Coaches' Association (AFCA) All-America second team Dec. 4. D3football.com's All-Americans, as well as the 2019 Gagliardi Trophy recipient, were announced today prior to the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl. He was named the 2019 Gagliardi Trophy runner-up, to North Central (Ill.) senior quarterback Broc Rutter, by three points.

The All-America honor is the third consecutive for Greenheck, who is a three-time All-MIAC first-team and D3football.com All-West Region selection. He is the program's sixth three-time All-American and the first since wide receiver Blake Elliott '03, defensive lineman Jeremy Hood '04 and linebacker Cam McCambridge '03 accomplished the feat from 2001-03. Greenheck started 37 of SJU's last 38 games at guard. The Johnnies tied or set program records for first downs (337), passing yards (5,200), passing yards per game (371.4), pass completions (330) and total yards of offense (7,180) in 2019.

Alston ended the season with 88 receptions for 1,444 yards, an average of 16.4 yards per catch and 103.1 yards per game, and 13 touchdowns. The 1,444 receiving yards were third-most in Division III this season and fell 40 yards shy of the program's single-season record of 1,484 (Blake Elliott '03 in 2002).  Alston caught 36 passes for 554 yards and five touchdowns in four postseason games.

Bartch earned the MIAC Mike Stam Award, as the conference's top defensive or offensive lineman, and started all 14 games at left tackle this season. He made 27 straight starts at the position since he switched from tight end during the 2018 preseason and was invited to 2020 Reese's Senior Bowl in January.

A 2019 Gagliardi Trophy finalist and the award's recipient in 2018, Erdmann earned his third consecutive All-MIAC first-team honor and currently leads Division III in passing yards (5,040) and passing yards per game (360.0), is second in total offense (364.3 ypg.), third in passing touchdowns (47), fifth in both pass-efficiency rating (178.2) and points responsible for (290), sixth in yards per pass attempt (10.31) and eighth in yards per completion (16.10). 

Erdmann fell 28 passing yards shy of the NCAA Division III single-season record of 5,068 set by Joe Callahan of Wesley (Del.) in 2015.

He owns MIAC and SJU records for passing touchdowns (139) and passing yards (11,639), as well as the school record for season pass attempts (489), season pass completions (313), career touchdowns responsible for (143), game passing yards (496), touchdown passes in a game (7), touchdown passes in a season (47), season passing yards (5,040), yards of total offense in a game (563), yards of total offense in a season (5,100), yards of total offense in a career (11,976), 300-yard passing games in a season (11) and 300-yard passing games in a career (15). Erdmann ended his career second in school history in pass attempts (1,188), career pass completions (754) and wins as a starting quarterback (37).

Harris led SJU with eight interceptions and finished second with seven pass breakups this fall. He returned two of his seven interceptions for touchdowns, 18 yards Oct. 5 vs. Augsburg and 100 yards Nov. 9 at Hamline, and posted 50 tackles (35 solo), including three for a loss.

A two-time D3football.com All-West Region honoree, including a second-team honor at Cal Lutheran last fall, Windsor finished second on the team in tackles for loss (9.0) and sacks (6.5), and totaled 39 tackles (19 solo) in 14 starts this season.

Pietruszewski led SJU in tackles for loss (16.5) and sacks (9.0), while finishing fifth in total tackles (66) this season. He has 185 career tackles (104 solo), including 32.5 for a loss and 20.5 sacks, one from SJU's top-10 list, in 38 career games.

A D3football.com All-West Region third-team and All-MIAC first-team honoree, Alston recorded seven games of 100 receiving yards or more, the second-most in an SJU season, and his 88 catches were the third-most in program history. He set SJU sophomore records for game receptions (12 vs. Aurora, Ill.); game receiving yards (216 vs. Aurora, Ill.); season receptions; season yards; and season yards per game this fall.

SJU (12-2, 7-1 MIAC) won a share of its MIAC-record 34th conference title and made its sixth consecutive postseason appearance (30th overall, 26th in Division III), advancing to the national semifinals, this fall.