Box Score

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Setting a single-game school record for passing yardage makes for a pretty good afternoon.

Yet Saint John's University senior quarterback Aaron Syverson (Minnetonka, Minn.) wasn't fully satisfied with his own performance in the Johnnies' 42-23 MIAC victory over Concordia Saturday.

"It's pretty cool," said Syverson who finished 44 of 60 passing for 498 yards and five touchdowns as his team - ranked No. 7 in the nation in the most recent D3football.com Division III poll - improved to 3-0 in MIAC action and 4-1 overall by winning their final interdivisional matchup before a crowd of 6,219 at a chilly and overcast Clemens Stadium. The completions, attempts and passing yards were all single-game records at SJU.

"But beyond that, it's not much," he continued. "It's just a number. The biggest thing is that we won. I missed a couple of easy ones, and against better teams, that can't happen. 

"So it was a good game, but I can always get better."

Syverson's passing total was two more yards than the 496 multi-time All-American Jackson Erdmann '19 finished with in a 54-17 win at St. Olaf on Oct. 26, 2019. And if he wasn't willing to sing his own praises, his teammates were certainly willing to on his behalf.

"Aaron is our guy," said senior tight end Alex Larson (Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge), who finished with a team-best 13 receptions for 124 yards and a touchdown. "He's our quarterback and we know he's going to make plays. I'm sure there were a couple of balls he'd like to have back, but he had an amazing day."



Larson wasn't the only beneficiary of Syverson's success. Senior wide receiver Nick VanErp (Battle Lake, Minn./Ottertail Central) finished with eight catches for 147 yards and two touchdowns - the first a 10-yarder with 40 seconds to go in the first half that came on the drive after Concordia's Owen Miller recovered a blocked punt for a touchdown to tie the score at 14. The 147 receiving yards tied a career high.

"We feel like our offense can score at any time," SJU head coach Gary Fasching '81 said. "That makes a big difference when you can score right away after a turnover like that. It gets the momentum back in your favor."

But Concordia (2-3, 1-2 MIAC) did not make anything easy. Damien Silus hit a 42-yard field goal in the third quarter to cut the margin to 21-17. 

Yet, again, Syverson and the offense responded right away as the Johnnies went 79 yards in five plays to score on a 40-yard touchdown catch by junior wide receiver Marselio Mendez (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) that made the score 28-17. Mendez finished with four catches for 50 yards and two touchdowns. Sophomore wideout Dylan Wheeler (St. Paul, Minn./Mounds View) registered career highs with 10 catches for 109 yards.

SJU extended its lead to 35-17 when Syverson and VanErp connected on a 40-yard scoring strike in the fourth quarter. Then, after a 13-yard touchdown catch by Miller cut the Johnnies' lead to 35-23, sophomore running back Caden Wheeler (Andover, Minn.) closed out the scoring with a 25-yard touchdown run with 1:20 left to play. That marked SJU's first rushing touchdown this season, and it came two plays after a 3-yard completion to Larson moved Syverson past Erdmann for the record.



"Holy cow, when you set records like that, it says a lot," Fasching said. "Aaron is a very, very good quarterback. He's certainly on the list of the top ones we've had here."

The Johnnies' defense had a big day too, sacking Concordia quarterback Cooper Mattern - who began his collegiate career at SJU - nine times and holding the Cobbers to just 256 yards of total offense (compared with SJU's 606).

"We just came after it today," said junior defensive end Jake Schwinghammer (Woodbury, Minn./Tartan), who finished with eight tackles and two sacks. 

Junior defensive tackle Zach Frank (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) had a team-best three sacks, while freshman linebacker Aiden McMahon (Maple Grove, Minn.) finished with a team-best 10 tackles and one sack. 

"We were all hyped up and ready to go," Schwinghammer continued. "We just played with our heads on fire."

Fasching was pleased with the pressure his team put on Mattern. But he was far less enthused about the fact that his team was penalized 13 times for 113 yards, especially after being penalized 10 times for 83 yards in a 27-24 win at Augsburg last week.

"All week long we talked about that," Fasching said. "Last week, we had 10 penalties, and we talked about playing a clean game. Then we go out and get 13 (penalties) today. 

"We have to fix that. That's on me. I have to make sure our guys are playing great football and we're playing aggressive, but that we're also playing smart."

Still, as Syverson said, a win is a win. 

And Saturday's victory sends the Johnnies into next week's Homecoming matchup with unbeaten Carleton (5-0, 3-0 MIAC) - SJU's first Northwoods Division contest - with some momentum. That game is scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m. in Clemens Stadium.

"We just have to keep executing," Syverson said. "A couple of the things we missed today were easy ones and we can fix that. So we just have to keep doing what we're doing."

New Single-Game Records
In addition to the passing yards, Syverson also broke single-game records for completions (44) and attempts (60). The previous marks were 34 completions (Ryan Keating '03 vs. Wisconsin-Eau Claire on Sept. 2003) and 57 attempts (Alex Kofoed '07 at Central, Iowa, on Nov. 24, 2007). Saturday's performance enabled Syverson to pass Keating for fourth in career passing yards (6,743) and fifth in passing touchdowns (71) on SJU's all-time lists.

27 Passing First Downs
SJU totaled 34 first downs against the Cobbers, the third-most in program history. Twenty-seven of the 34 first downs came through the air, which shattered the previous school record of 22 set in SJU's 40-20 home win over St. Thomas on Oct. 13, 2018.

Three With 100+
The last time three Johnnies recorded over 100 receiving yards in the game occurred Nov. 30, 2019, in SJU's 55-26 win at Chapman (Calif.) in the second round of the NCAA Division III Playoffs: T.J. Hodge (nine catches for 164 yards and two touchdowns), Ravi Alston '22 (seven catches for 104 yards and a touchdown) and Henry Trost '22 (three catches for 103 yards and a touchdown).

SJU's air attack may receive a boost next week, as senior wide receiver Jimmy Buck (Orono, Minn.) - who has been out since suffering a knee injury in a season-opening 34-31 overtime win over Trinity on Sept. 2 - is expected to return to the field against Carleton.

In the Backfield
Saturday's nine quarterback sacks were the most by the Johnnies since they recorded nine in a 27-7 win at St. Thomas on Oct. 28, 2006.