Box Score

By Frank Rajkowski and Ryan Klinkner '04

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. - Chris Backes tried to tell himself it was just another game. But deep down, the Saint John's senior quarterback knew Saturday was different.

That's because the St. Cloud Tech High School graduate, who was the Johnnies' top backup to Jackson Erdmann '19 in 2019 and has been the top backup to sophomore Aaron Syverson (Minnetonka, Minn.) this season, was about to make his first collegiate start.

"Every day you get to run out on that field as a football player here is something special," said Backes, who assumed the starting job after Syverson suffered a season-ending injury in a win last Saturday at Gustavus Adolphus. 

"But this one was extra-special. I tried to approach it the same way I always have. But I couldn't help but feel some butterflies the first time I got into the huddle."

He quickly found his groove though, throwing for 155 yards and four touchdowns before giving way to sophomore backup Cooper Downs (Ames, Iowa) early in the second quarter as SJU rolled past St. Scholastica 81-0 before a crowd of 4,638 at a sunny Clemens Stadium.

"The big thing was just getting on track with the wideouts and the tight ends," Backes said. "We were really trying to develop some comfortability when it came to the timing of the routes."

The Johnnies – ranked No. 5 nationally in both the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and D3football.com polls - improved to 3-0 in the MIAC's Northwoods Division, 6-0 in conference play and 8-0 overall.



SJU – which used a total of six quarterbacks – finished with 643 yards of total offense and a single-game school record 41 first downs, while the defense recorded its fourth shutout of the season, holding the Saints (0-6, 0-6 MIAC, 0-4 Northwoods) to a total of (-2) yards in the first half.

"It was nice to get a lot of new faces in the game," said senior running back Henry Trost (Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes), whose team had over 170 players see action. "It was a good game to everybody some experience."



And now it's on to a matchup with Carleton in Northfield next week. The Knights lost to Gustavus 24-9 Saturday, meaning the Johnnies have already wrapped up a spot in the MIAC Championship Game on Nov. 13 at an opponent to be determined (either Bethel or Augsburg).

"It was good to get this first start out of the way," Backes said. "But now we have to keep going. We have to keep executing. We can't afford to let up at all."