By Frank Rajkowski & Ryan Klinkner '04

Box Score

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Although their focus has been fastened on the task in front of them each week, Saint John's University senior cornerback Cayden Saxon (Minnetonka, Minn./Hopkins) admits a potential rematch with Bethel has been looming in a corner of the Johnnies' minds for almost two months now.

That dates back to a Royals' victory earlier this year in Arden Hills – the only blemish on SJU's record this season.

The rematch arrived Saturday afternoon and Saxon and the rest of the Johnnies' defense made the most of it – picking off five Bethel passes en route to a 28-10 victory over the Royals before a crowd of 7,562 in the MIAC Championship Game at a cold and blustery Clemens Stadium.

"Ever since that loss, we've been waiting for this moment," said Saxon, whose team fell 28-24 at Bethel on Sept. 24. "We knew we'd see them again and we were all anticipating this game. We were confident, we believed in ourselves and everybody went out and made plays."

Saxon had two of his team's interceptions. Sophomore linebacker Cooper Yaggie (Breckenridge, Minn.) added a pair of his own, including perhaps the game's biggest play – a 61-yard interception return for a touchdown with 3:33 remaining in the first half.



The Johnnies led 14-10 at the time, but had just fumbled, giving the Royals the ball back at their own 43. Yaggie's touchdown expanded that margin to 21-10 at halftime.

"(Co-defensive coordinator Brandon) Novak was telling us all week about sitting on that slant," said Yaggie, who finished with a team-best 11 tackles, including one sack and two tackles for a loss. "That's exactly what I did and the ball came right to me."

With the win, SJU – ranked No. 5 in the most recent D3football.com Division III top 25 – finished the regular season 9-1 and earned the MIAC's automatic bid to the Division III playoffs. Bethel – ranked No. 9 – finished the regular season 8-2 and will hope to receive one of the five at-large bids available to the 32-team field when the pairings are announced at 4 p.m. (CST) Sunday, Nov. 13, on www.ncaa.com.

"The last four weeks, we've gotten better and better as a defense," SJU head coach Gary Fasching '81 said. "We have some guys who are learning new positions. Cooper Yaggie was a safety last year. Now he plays outside linebacker and he had a tremendous game. 

"You win games like this on defense and I thought they were really key to the victory today."



SJU struck first when senior running back Henry Trost (Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes) scored on a 13-yard run early in the first quarter. But Bethel cut the gap to 7-3 when sophomore Hugo Cifuentes hit a 29-yard field goal, then took a 10-7 lead on a 68-yard touchdown pass from senior Jaron Roste to sophomore Micah Niewald with 14:04 remaining in the first half.

The Johnnies answered back with a 5-yard touchdown pass from junior Aaron Syverson (Minnetonka, Minn.) to senior Nick VanErp (Battle Lake, Minn./Ottertail Central) that put them back on top. Then came Yaggie's huge interception return.

"Our defense played lights out today," said senior tight end Alex Larson (Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge), who finished with 10 catches for 98 yards and a touchdown. "They gave up one big play and that was it. Otherwise, they shut Bethel's offense down."

The Royals suffered a big blow when Roste – who entered the game banged-up – left after a hit late in the second quarter. He did not return, finishing the day with 173 yards passing, a touchdown and two interceptions. Junior George Bolt came on in relief and finished with 125 yards passing and three interceptions.

"He's such a great player," Fasching said of Roste. "We have a ton of respect for him and for the Bethel program. I think they're certainly worthy of a playoff berth and I hope they get it."

The Johnnies – who added a final touchdown in the third quarter on a 2-yard catch by Larson – have already wrapped up their eighth-straight trip to the postseason. Now, the only question is where they will be seeded and who they will face in the first round next week. 

That game will be scheduled to start at noon local time of the host school.

"We have to keep building off what we did today and keep getting better," said Yaggie, whose team limited Bethel to just 49 yards rushing – the Royals' lowest single-game total since 2017. "That's all we can ask for as a defense."

5 INT's
The five interceptions were the most in a single game for SJU since a 40-20 win over St. Thomas on Oct. 13, 2018 in Collegeville. The last time two Johnnies recorded two interceptions in the same game occurred Nov. 22, 2014, when Andrew Norri '15 and Trevor Warner '16 accomplished the feat in a 35-7 home victory over St. Scholastica in the first round of the Division III playoffs.

30 Completions
Syverson finished 30 of 43 passing for 323 yards - his fifth 300-yard passing game of the season - with two touchdowns and one interception. The 30 completions tied him for the sixth-most in an SJU game, matching Jackson Erdmann's 30 completions in a 51-47 NCAA first-round win over Aurora (Ill.) on Nov. 23, 2019, in Collegeville. Ryan Keating '03 holds the school record with 34 in a win over Wisconsin-Eau Claire on Sept, 20, 2003, in Clemens Stadium.

36th Title
The win gave SJU its MIAC-record 36th conference championship. The postseason appearance is the Johnnies' 32nd (28th at the Division III level).