By Frank Rajkowski and Ryan Klinkner '04

Box Score

NORTHFIELD, Minn. – It didn't take Nick VanErp long to answer his own question Saturday afternoon.

Lining up in a new spot, the Saint John's University senior wide receiver hauled in a 58-yard touchdown pass on his team's first possession of the game, getting the Johnnies' offense going early en route to a 49-10 win over St. Olaf in an MIAC Northwoods Division matchup at Klein Field at Manitou.

"I wasn't sure what to expect," said VanErp (Battle Lake, Minn./Ottertail Central), who finished the day with career highs in catches (8) and receiving yards (141) – marking the first 100-yard receiving performance of his collegiate career. "We kind of switched some things up, putting me on the short side to give a different look for (quarterback) Aaron (Syverson) and the rest of us. So I didn't know what would happen.

"But everything turned out really well. They gave us the right coverage for what we had called. Aaron knew where to go and he trusted it."

The touchdown got the Johnnies out to an early 7-0 lead. Things idled a bit as the Oles cut the gap to four on a 33-yard field goal by Collin Swan early in the second quarter. But rapid acceleration soon followed. 

Senior running back Henry Trost (Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes) scored on a 2-yard touchdown run to extend the SJU margin to 14-3 and senior tight end Alex Larson (Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge) followed with the first of his three touchdown catches – a 17-yarder that put the Johnnies on top 21-3 at halftime.

"We scored quickly, but then we had a bit of a lull where we weren't very good," said SJU coach Gary Fasching '81 whose team – ranked No. 5 in the most recent D3football.com NCAA Division III national poll – improved to 3-1 in MIAC play and 5-1 overall.

"We had a lot of penalties and some undisciplined stuff. But I was happy with the way we finished up the first half, and especially with the way we came out in the second half and took care of business."

Indeed, Syverson connected with freshman tight end Joey Gendreau (Shorewood, Minn./Minnetonka) on a 3-yard touchdown pass with 5:47 to go in the third quarter – marking the first catch of his collegiate career. Then, after St. Olaf scored on a 46-yard touchdown catch by Payton Schott to cut the gap to 28-10, Larson delivered touchdown catches of 9 and 15 yards as the Johnnies built a 42-10 lead with 11:06 remaining.

Syverson finished the afternoon 26 of 40 passing for 351 yards and five touchdowns. He now has a 178.88 pass-efficiency rating (62 of 98 passing for 925 yards, 12 touchdowns and two interceptions) over his last three games.

"We've got a guy who can sling the rock back there," said Larson, who finished with three catches for 41 yards. "When we give him some time, we know he's going to be able to spread it around to all of us."

The Johnnies got a late final touchdown when freshman running back Caden Wheeler (Andover, Minn.) broke free on a 68-yard touchdown run to close out the scoring. The rush was SJU's longest since Trost, then a freshman, sprinted for an 80-yard touchdown run against…St. Olaf…on Oct. 20, 2018, in Collegeville.

"We just had to get going and pick it up on both sides of the ball," said senior linebacker Erik Bjork (Mahtomedi, Minn.), who had five tackles Saturday. "We really feel like the only team that can beat us is ourselves. When we focus on playing our game, and we don't get in our own way, we really get things rolling."

Another Trost TD
Trost's second-quarter, rushing touchdown was his sixth of the season, 39th of his career and 44th overall as a Johnnie (39 rushing, five receiving). He is now one touchdown behind Rick Bell '83 for fourth-most in SJU history.

Larson Keeps Climbing
Larson's three touchdown receptions enabled him to pass Jared Streit '19 (14) and move into a tie with Tom Ramboldt '92 for second place among SJU tight ends with 15 in his career. Nate Kirschner '01 owns the program record with 19. The three catches also lifted Larson past Ramboldt (68) and Isaac Flenner '05 (69) into seventh among SJU tight ends with 70.

2nd Interceptions
A pair of SJU defensive backs recorded their second collegiate interceptions Saturday. Freshman safety Noah Arneson (Independence, Minn./Orono) collected his second interception in as many games on STO's first possession of the second half, while junior safety Mateo Cisneros (Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View) picked off his first pass of the season in the fourth quarter. Cisneros' 39-yard interception return and Ole personal-foul penalty on the play, gave SJU the ball on the STO 17-yard line and set up Larson's third touchdown reception of the game two plays later.

Third-Down Defense
SJU's defense held the Oles to a 1-for-12 showing on third down. The performance moves the Johnnies' season total to 27.6 percent (24-for-87), including 18.6 percent (8-for-43) over the last three games.

Series Update
The Johnnies are now 46-14-1 all-time against St. Olaf (30-5 since 1986), including a 23-6-1 record on the Oles' home field. SJU has out-scored STO 422-54 over the last nine meetings since its last loss in the series on Sept. 29, 2012 (38-35 in Collegeville).

Family Weekend
SJU returns home to host Gustavus Adolphus (4-2, 3-1 MIAC, 2-0 Northwoods) for a 1 p.m. kickoff as part of Family Weekend next Saturday, Oct. 22, in Clemens Stadium.