Box Score
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. –
Aaron Syverson (Minnetonka, Minn.) and the rest of the Saint John's University offense got going quickly Saturday afternoon and never really slowed down.
Syverson, the Johnnies' senior standout quarterback, threw for seven first-half touchdowns before calling it an early afternoon as the SJU - ranked No. 18 in the most recent D3football.com Division III national poll - rolled past St. Scholastica 62-7 in an MIAC Northwoods Division matchup before a crowd of 2,981 at a cold and blustery Clemens Stadium.
"We just executed really well," said Syverson, whose team (6-2, 5-1 MIAC) was looking to rebound after a 38-35 loss at Gustavus Adolphus a week ago. "We might not always be able to have this same kind of success against every team. But this should be our goal every week.
"To execute as well as we did today should be the goal no matter who we're playing."
Syverson got things started by connecting with senior running back
Troy Feddema (St. Cloud, Minn./Tech) on an 11-yard touchdown pass to make the score 7-0 just under two minutes into play. He then threw two touchdown passes each to senior tight end
Alex Larson (Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge), senior wide receiver
Nick VanErp (Battle Lake, Minn./Ottertail Central) and junior wide receiver
Marselio Mendez (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) as the Johnnies built a 49-7 halftime lead.
"That's what our offense is about," said Mendez, who finished with four catches for 95 yards. Larson led the Johnnie receiving corps with six catches for 116 yards.
"We have playmakers - a lot of them," Mendez continued. "And when you have a good quarterback, you know that at least one of us will get open and he'll get us the ball."
Sophomore quarterback
Zander Dittbenner (Mankato, Minn./West) came on in relief of Syverson – who finished 18 of 20 passing for 283 yards in all - just before halftime. The seven passing touchdowns set a program record for most in a half and tied the game record set by Jackson Erdmann '19 in 2018 (Nov. 10 vs. Thomas More, Ky.).
Dittbenner ended the day five of 11 passing for 59 yards and one touchdown. In all, four quarterbacks saw action and 14 SJU receivers caught at least one pass.
Ten Johnnies carried the ball. Feddema led the way with six carries for 67 yards. SJU rushed for 222 yards as a team and finished with 576 yards of total offense.
"I said before we went out that if we won the toss, we were going to take the ball and score, then keep it going the whole game," SJU head coach
Gary Fasching '81 said. "It was good that we did that. Aaron did a great job running the offense.
"That game against Gustavus did leave a bad taste in all of our mouths," he continued. "So to come out and play the way we did today - to play with some excitement and energy - was really important."
St. Scholastica scored its lone touchdown when sophomore quarterback Donald West connected with junior Ricky Weber on a 2-yard touchdown pass with 40 seconds remaining in the second quarter. The SJU defense held the Saints to just 113 yards of total offense in the first half (-2 in the first quarter) and 174 overall.
"We didn't play well defensively last week," Fasching said. "When you give up 38 points, that's not who we are. So it was good that we came out strong today.
"Overall, defensively, I thought we played much better."
The Johnnies return to action when they travel to Northfield to face St. Olaf (4-4, 3-3 MIAC) in Northwoods Division action at 1 p.m. next Saturday at Manitou Field. The Oles fell 41-40 to Gustavus in overtime Saturday.
"We've basically turned our last few games into playoff games," Syverson said. "We have to win them all if we want to have any shot at the postseason. It's do or die now.
"So we know we have to go down there and play well."
