By Frank Rajkowski and Ryan Klinkner '04

Box Score

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Happy, but a long way from satisfied.

That's how senior linebacker Erik Bjork (Mahtomedi, Minn.) and his teammates on the Saint John's University football team were feeling after Saturday afternoon's 37-34 non-conference win over Wisconsin-River Falls before a crowd of 9,104 at a sun-soaked Clemens Stadium.

On the plus side, the Johnnies (2-0 overall) – ranked No. 4 in the most recent D3football.com national poll – made enough plays when they needed them to defeat a nationally-ranked opponent for the second-straight week. The Falcons (1-1 overall) entered play ranked No. 19.

But Bjork also saw plenty of areas that need to improve.

"We're happy to be 2-0, but we're not satisfied with where we are," said Bjork, whose team defeated then-No. 4 Wisconsin-Whitewater 24-10 in its season opener last week. The Warhawks were ranked No. 6 entering play Saturday, but upset top-ranked Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas) 28-24 at home.

"We have a lot of room for improvement," he continued. "A lot of potential to grow."



Indeed, the Falcons gave SJU all it could handle Saturday, piling up 460 yards of total offense (the most surrendered by the Johnnies since a victory over Aurora, Ill. in the first round of the 2019 Division III playoffs) and taking an early 7-0 lead on a 1-yard touchdown run by sophomore Michael Krueger in the first quarter. 

UWRF then pulled ahead 19-14 after a nine-yard touchdown run by sophomore quarterback Kaleb Blaha and a 17-yard touchdown catch by classmate Luke Kush with 1:44 remaining in the first half. In all, Blaha threw for 283 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 122 yards and another in Wisconsin-River Falls' effective hurry-up offensive scheme.

"We knew coming in that it was going to be a challenge," SJU head coach Gary Fasching '81 said. "Last week (in a 63-0 win over Elmhurst), they ran 107 plays. In a couple of their games last year, they ran 120 something. That's almost unheard off. In comparison, we only ran 58 plays against Whitewater last week. 

"It really forces your defense to be on their toes at all times. It's not only the quickness, but the types of plays they run and their scheme. And then to have a quarterback who can run the football like that makes them a really tough team to defend."

But SJU – which had led 14-7 after a 20-yard touchdown catch by senior tight end Alex Larson (Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge) in the first quarter and a 1-yard touchdown run by senior running back Henry Trost (Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes) in the second – regained the lead just before halftime when junior quarterback Aaron Syverson (Minnetonka, Minn.) connected with senior wide receiver Nick VanErp (Battle Lake, Minn./Ottertail Central) on a 30-yard touchdown pass. The score, VanErp's first of his career, came on a fourth-and-10 play.

The ensuing two-point conversion attempt failed, but SJU led 20-19 going into the locker rooms. Syverson threw for 329 yards - his first 300-yard passing game - and two touchdowns Saturday.

"That was a really big play," Fasching said. "It got us back in the lead at halftime and that was huge. The only negative thing was the decision I made to go for two there. That was not a good decision on my part. I originally sent out our extra-point team, but we were talking on the sideline and decided going for two might not be bad. But it wasn't a good decision. I agonized about it in the third quarter, hoping that one point wouldn't be the difference."

That agony was increased by the fact that the Johnnies suffered a big loss when Trost left the game with an apparent ankle injury in the second quarter. He did not return, meaning juniors Tony Underwood (Eagan, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) and Troy Feddema (St. Cloud, Minn./Tech) carried the load the rest of the way in a running back corps already without Devin Vouk, a key contributor from last year who was injured this summer and will miss the entire season.

Feddema, especially, answered the call – rushing for two big second-half touchdowns sandwiched around a 39-yard field goal by sophomore Conor Murphy (Sioux Falls, S.D./O'Gorman) that helped SJU pull away. The touchdowns were the first and second of Feddema's collegiate career.

"(I didn't expect to play a lot) coming in," Feddema said. "But Tony and I are always prepared for anything. So we came out and tried to do our best."

"I thought Troy came in and did a nice job," Fasching said. "He had a couple of tough runs. He fumbled the football and we came right back to him and gave him the ball again. He (went on to make) some really good plays.

"We know he's a quality back. Hopefully, Henry will be back. We don't know exactly what his injury is yet. But the good thing is we have some other guys who can carry the ball and I think we proved that today."

The Falcons scored a pair of touchdowns late in the fourth quarter to trim an 18-point Johnnies' lead to just three with 20 seconds remaining. But SJU recovered an onside kick to close things out.

"We're 2-0 and we have to be happy about that," Fasching said. "You can't be any better than 2-0. Now we get into the heart of the conference schedule right away with Bethel. They lost today, but I know they're going to be loaded for bear when we show up in Arden Hills in two weeks."

Bye Week
SJU returns to competition following its bye week with the MIAC opener - a 1 p.m. kickoff at nationally ranked Bethel - on Saturday, Sept. 24, in Arden Hills. The Royals (1-1 overall) were ranked No. 11 in the most recent D3football.com poll, but fell 10-7 at Wisconsin-Platteville Saturday.

Career Highs for Buck
Junior wide receiver Jimmy Buck (Orono, Minn.) recorded career highs in receptions (9) and receiving yards (149) in the victory. His previous bests, in both categories, was Buck's seven catches for 148 yards and two touchdowns in the 55-7 win over Martin Luther on Sept. 18, 2021.

Two With 100
Larson caught seven passes for 101 yards, the second 100-yard receiving game of his collegiate career, to give SJU its first game of two 100-yard receivers since Dec. 7, 2019 at Wheaton, Ill. (NCAA quarterfinals): 146 yards by Blake Patrick '21 and 101 by senior wide receiver Matt Mohr (Chisago City, Minn./Chisago Lakes).

Another Touchdown for Larson
Larson's receiving touchdown in the first quarter was his third of the season and 11th of his career, which ties him with Josh Overman '11 for sixth in SJU history among tight ends.

Trost on SJU's Touchdown List
Trost's second-quarter touchdown enabled him to break his tie with Tim Schmitz '78 and move into another tie, this time with Jay Conzemius '92, for third in program history with 34 career rushing touchdowns. His now 39 total touchdowns are good for eighth all-time, one behind Chris Moore '01 and Chris Palmer '96 in a tie for sixth.

Nine Out of 10
With Saturday's win, SJU is now 9-1 all-time against Wisconsin-River Falls, including 5-1 in Collegeville, and 35-14 against members of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC). The Johnnies' lone loss in the series occurred in the first meeting on Oct. 2, 1937 (a 12-6 score).

2-0 in Non-Conference Play
The Johnnies are now 35-4 (.897) in regular-season, non-conference games since 2002. 

Tackle Cancer
Saturday's contest was the Johnnies' Tackle Cancer game to benefit the Randy Shaver Cancer Research and Community Fund. Ninety percent of all dollars collected go directly to fund cancer research, prevention, treatment and other programs relating to the cancer community's needs. SJU's Tackle Cancer game has grown from raising $1,500 in 2013 to over $25,000 in 2019 and $23,000 (following a hiatus due to COVID-19) in 2021. The Johnnies have now raised over $105,000 for Tackle Cancer over the last eight seasons (no season in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic). The final donation total will be announced at a later date.