By Frank Rajkowski & Ryan Klinkner '04

Box Score

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's senior tight end Alex Larson (Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge) is capable of changing the flow of a game any time the Saint John's University tight end touches the ball.

The 6-foot-7, 240-pound All-American – who has drawn the attention of NFL scouts – proved that again Saturday afternoon (Nov. 5), finishing with a career-high 10 catches for 125 yards and three touchdowns as the Johnnies rolled past Carleton 45-16 in an MIAC Northwoods Division matchup before a crowd of 3,622 at a chilly Clemens Stadium.

That included a 17-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter after his team had fallen behind 3-0 early, and a spectacular, one-handed 13-yard scoring grab that put SJU on top 35-9 early in the third quarter.



"I like to think I can go catch any ball that's in my perimeter area, whether it's with one hand or two," Larson said. "(Quarterback) Aaron (Syverson) trusts me to make plays and I try to go out there and make them."

The victory assured the Johnnies – ranked No. 4 in the most recent D3football.com Division III national poll - a spot in next Saturday's (Nov. 12) MIAC Championship game. SJU (4-0 division, 6-1 MIAC, 8-1 overall) plays host to Skyline Division champion Bethel (4-0, 7-0, 8-1) at 1 p.m. in Clemens Stadium with the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs on the line.

The Royals – ranked No. 9 nationally – defeated SJU 28-24 when the two teams met on Sept. 24 in Arden Hills. Bethel earned their spot in the title game in dramatic fashion Saturday, topping Augsburg 30-27 on the road. The Auggies scored a touchdown with 31 seconds left to pull within one point of the lead, but elected to go for two. The Royals picked off the pass in the end zone and returned it for two points the other way to seal the win.



"It's going to be a great game," said SJU head coach Gary Fasching '81 of next week's conference title matchup. "They're a very talented team. I said at the beginning of the season that this was their best team in the last 10 years and they've proven that."

Bethel, of course, needs no reminder of how dangerous Larson can be. It was his 3-yard touchdown catch with one second remaining that lifted SJU to a 29-28 victory over the Royals on the road in last season's inaugural conference championship game.

"It 100 percent gets guys fired up when he makes highlight plays the way he does," SJU senior left guard T.J. Duerr (Buffalo, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville) said. "When we can pass the ball like we did today, it opens up everything for our offense."

The offense got off to a slow start Saturday, going three-and-out on its first two possessions. But when junior quarterback Aaron Syverson (Minnetonka, Minn.) and Larson connected on their first scoring strike, the floodgates opened. 

Syverson – who threw for 276 yards and four touchdowns in all – connected with junior wideout Jimmy Buck (Orono, Minn.) on a 21-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the second quarter to make the score 14-7.

Then, after Carleton senior cornerback Jackson Cleveland returned an interception 67 yards for a touchdown to cut the gap to 14-9, senior running back Henry Trost (Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes) scored on a 40-yard run and classmate Nick VanErp (Battle Lake, Minn./Ottertail Central) hauled in a 27-yard touchdown pass – giving SJU a 28-9 halftime lead.

The Knights did have a pair of chances to reach the end zone in the first half, advancing to the Johnnies' 17 on their second possession of the game, and reaching as far as the SJU 8 in the second quarter.

But senior cornerback John Kohler (Birchwood, Wis./Rice Lake) snuffed out both drives with interceptions in the end zone.

"Penalties hurt us a little bit," said Kohler, whose team was called seven times for 58 yards Saturday. "And in the first quarter, they were doing some things that we were struggling with. But we didn't let them in the end zone. That was our biggest thing."

Larson opened the third quarter with his highlight-reel worthy, one-handed grab in the corner of the end zone, then added a 16-yard touchdown catch a few minutes later to make the score 42-9.

Carleton scored on a trick play that yielded a 46-yard touchdown catch by sophomore Joseph Park before SJU sophomore Conor Murphy (Sioux Falls, S.D./O'Gorman) hit a 26-yard field goal with 1:36 left in the third quarter to close out the scoring.

"Aaron threw the ball and I went up and made a play," Larson said of his second touchdown. "Coming down with the ball was all that was going through my mind."

But now the Johnnies' thoughts will turn toward their rematch with Bethel next week.

"It's going to be a dogfight," Larson said. "They're a very good team, but we're very excited to play them again. We know we'll have to come out and play our very best game."

Larson Among SJU TE's
The three-touchdown game, Larson's second of the season, lifted him above Nate Kirschner '01 for the program record by SJU tight ends with 20 in his career. Among Johnnie tight ends, Larson is currently fourth all-time in both receptions (87) and receiving yards (1,154).

More Top-10 Lists for Syverson
Syverson moved into SJU's top-10 list for passing yards last weekend, where he is still 10th (4,299), but Saturday's performance against Carleton vaulted him into eighth in career passing touchdowns (45) and ninth in career completions (311).

40 for 40
Trost led SJU's ground game Saturday with 78 yards on 12 carries. His 40-yard sprint for a touchdown was the 40th rushing score of his career, which is good for third in program history. He is now eight rushing touchdowns behind the record of 48 shared by Sam Sura '16 and Matt Malmberg '95. The touchdown also moved him into a tie with Rick Bell '83 for fourth with 45 total touchdowns (40 rushing, five receiving). Trost is currently 11th on SJU's all-time rushing list with 2,005 career yards.

39-0
With the win, SJU is now 39-0 all-time against Carleton on the gridiron.

50 Home Wins
Saturday's victory was also the 50th home win during Fasching's tenure as head coach. He is 89-16 overall (.848), 62-9 in the MIAC (.873) and 50-7 in Collegeville (.877) over the last 10 seasons.