MIAC Release

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Nineteen Saint John's University football student-athletes earned All-MIAC honors, including 11 on the first team, and the Johnnies swept all three major conference awards when the 2021 honors were announced on Tuesday, Nov. 23.

Senior wide receiver Ravi Alston (Lake Elsinore, Calif./Vista Murrieta) was named the Jim Christopherson MIAC Most Valuable Player, senior defensive lineman Seth Morem (Red Wing, Minn.) shared the MIAC's Mike Stam Award with Gustavus Adolphus' Zach Jakes as the conference's most outstanding lineman, and head coach Gary Fasching '81 was named the MIAC John Gagliardi Coach of the Year for the fourth consecutive season, and fifth time in his nine-year tenure.

Alston, Morem, junior linebacker Erik Bjork (Mahtomedi, Minn.), senior defensive lineman Metoriah Faoliu (Wildomar, Calif./Vista Murrieta), senior tackle Tyler Johnson (Willmar, Minn.), senior linebacker Kyle Kornovich (Rogers, Minn.), junior tight end Alex Larson (Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge), senior wide receiver Matt Mohr (Chisago City, Minn./Chisago Lakes), senior center Nick Neumann (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall), senior running back Henry Trost (Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes) and junior defensive lineman Michael Wozniak (New Hope, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong) were named to the first team. 

Sophomore wide receiver Jimmy Buck (Orono, Minn.), senior defensive back Tommy Deters (Maple Plain, Minn./Orono), junior offensive lineman T.J. Duerr (Buffalo, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville), senior defensive lineman Collin Franz (Otsego, Minn./Rogers) and junior defensive back Ethan Stark (Sartell, Minn./Sartell-St. Stephen) were named to the All-MIAC second team.

Senior guard Jarod Fike (White Bear Lake, Minn.), freshman kicker Conor Pavelko (Sioux Falls, S.D./O'Gorman) and senior running back Devin Vouk (Sartell, Minn./Sartell-St. Stephen) were All-MIAC honorable mention. Senior quarterback Chris Backes (St. Cloud, Minn./Tech) was named to the MIAC All-Sportsmanship team.

Alston is the 21st Johnnie in the program history to be named the MIAC's Most Valuable Player and the first Johnnie receiver since Blake Elliott '03 in 2002 and 2003. He finished second in conference play in receiving touchdowns (7), third in receiving yards (725), fourth in yards per catch (14.2) and fifth in receptions (51) in conference play. He currently leads the Johnnies in catches (58) and receiving yards (819), and is tied for the team lead in touchdown receptions (8), in 10 games played. The 2019 All-American is tied for fourth in school history in 100-yard receiving games (9), sixth in receptions (146) and eighth in receiving yards (2,263). He needs two receiving touchdowns to crack the school's top-10 list.

Morem is the 10th Johnnie in program history to win the MIAC's Mike Stam Award and third consecutive (tackle Ben Bartch '20 in 2019 and defensive lineman Nathan Brinker '19 in 2018). Morem led the conference in sacks (6.5) and finished third in tackles for loss (10) in MIAC play. He has started all 11 games and leads SJU with 15 tackles for loss and is second with 8.5 sacks. 

Fasching led SJU to a perfect 10-0 record (8-0 MIAC) during the regular season, its MIAC-record 35th conference title, 31st postseason appearance (27th in Division III) and 24th 10-win season this fall. The NCAA appearance is the program's seventh consecutive, which broke his tie for the MIAC record held by former head coach John Gagliardi.

The Johnnies had six first-team honorees on offense, including Johnson and Neumann on the line. The first-team honor is the third consecutive for Neumann, who earned D3football.com All-Region honors in 2019 and has started the Johnnies' last 43 games at center. The duo, with Duerr and Fike, helped provide the backbone of an SJU offense that led the MIAC (conference games only) in total offense (468.3 ypg.), for the third straight season, and scoring offense (46.4 ppg.). The Johnnies finished second in both passing offense (273.5 ypg.) and rushing offense (194.8 ypg.). 

Nationally, SJU ended the regular season fourth in Division III in both first downs (266) and red-zone offense (.914/53-for-58), ninth in completion percentage (.685), 10th in both passing efficiency (172.2) and scoring offense (46.5 ppg.), 13th in fewest tackles for loss allowed (3.4 tflpg.) and 16th in total offense (482.5 ypg.).

Trost led the MIAC in rushing touchdowns (14) and points scored (86) in conference play, and finished fourth in rushing yards per game (70.6) and fifth in rushing yards (494). He is currently 13th in NCAA Division III in both rushing touchdowns (17) and scoring (10.4 ppg.), and has 736 yards on 126 carries (5.8) in 10 games this fall. His 17 rushing touchdowns are the fifth-most in an SJU season, while his career rushing touchdowns (32) and career total touchdowns (37) are fifth and 10th all-time, respectively. 

Mohr caught 22 passes for 267 and two touchdowns in five MIAC games this fall. Despite having played only seven of the team's 11 games so far, He is second on the team in catches (32) for 362 yards and two touchdowns.

Larson finished second on the team in all three receiving categories in conference play: 24 catches for 302 yards and five touchdowns. He has 31 receptions for 445 yards and eight touchdowns in 10 games. The eight touchdowns are the most by a Johnnie tight end since Nick Simon '16 scored nine in 2015. 

The Johnnies' defense led the MIAC, for the second consecutive season, in three statistical categories in league play: total defense (241.0 ypg.), passing defense (148.8 ypg.) and scoring defense (8.8 ppg.). SJU ended the regular season third in Division III in red-zone defense (.435/9-for-22), 13th in scoring defense (11.0 ppg.), 18th in both defensive touchdowns (3) and fourth-down defense (.265/9-for-35), 19th in total defense (250.6 ypg.) and 20th in third-down defense (.288/38-for-130).

A trio of Johnnies joined Morem to form a strong defensive line for SJU in 2021. Wozniak was close behind Morem with seven tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks in conference play, while Faoliu added five tackles for loss and two sacks. Franz registered four tackles for loss and an interception. The four linemen combined for 14 quarterback hurries and knocked down four passes in MIAC games.

Wozniak passed Morem (8.5) for the team-lead in sacks, 9.5, thanks to 2.5 in the Johnnies' NCAA-playoff win No. 20 over Lake Forest (Ill.) on Nov. 20. The duo have combined for 28.5 tackles for loss this fall. Morem and Faoliu are currently third (48) and fourth (44), respectively, on the team in total tackles.

Bjork led the Johnnies in tackles (47) in MIAC play and touts the team lead in solo tackles (33) and total tackles (68) overall. Kornovich snagged a team-best two interceptions and was second, behind Bjork, with 37 tackles and tied Wozniak for second with seven tackles for loss in conference games. He is second in tackles (53) and leads the Johnnies with six pass breakups overall.

Buck caught 21 passes for 292 yards, the team's second-best average per reception (13.9), and three touchdowns in conference play. He currently leads the Johnnies with an average of 15.5 yards per catch - 31 receptions for 480 yards - and has six touchdowns in his first season as a Johnnie.

Deters totaled 20 tackles (17 solo) and Stark registered 13 (eight solo), in six conference games, this fall. Both intercepted a pass each. Deters has started the Johnnies' last 25 games at cornerback and has 26 stops (22 solo) in 2021, while Stark has 29 tackles (21 solo) in nine games in his first season as a Johnnie. 

Vouk played all eight MIAC games and totaled 377 yards and six touchdowns on 73 carries. He has 558 yards and nine touchdowns on 100 attempts overall, including a 143-yard performance with three total touchdowns (two rushing) Nov. 20 against Lake Forest.

Pavelko led the MIAC in extra points (45) and was second in total points (54) in conference play. His 59 PAT's overall are the ninth-most in an SJU season. 

Backes boasts a 179.6 pass-efficiency rating in 2021, thanks to a .690 completion percentage (78-for-113), 946 passing yards and 15 touchdowns (to two interceptions). He has made the most of his opportunity as SJU's starting quarterback by passing for 11 touchdowns and 669 yards with a .607 completion percentage (54-for-89) over the Johnnies' last four games. He became the first Johnnie quarterback to rush for over 100 yards in a game as he led SJU to the MIAC title Nov. 13 at Bethel.

No. 5 SJU (11-0 overall) plays host to No. 6 Linfield (10-0) in the second round of the NCAA Division III Playoffs at noon Saturday, Nov. 27, in Clemens Stadium.