Box Score

DULUTH, Minn. – Senior quarterback Aaron Syverson (Minnetonka, Minn.) continued his rise in the record books and the Saint John's University football team picked up the 500th MIAC victory in program history as the Johnnies - ranked as high as No. 3 nationally - rolled past St. Scholastica 70-0 Saturday afternoon at Duluth's Walt Hunting Stadium.

Syverson was 21 of 28 passing for 346 yards and five touchdowns before exiting the game with his team leading 63-0 in the second quarter. He now has 128 career touchdown passes and 11,213 career passing yards, and is just 426 yards shy of former Johnnie standout Jackson Erdmann's '19 program and conference record for passing yardage (11,639) and 11 shy of Erdmann's team and MIAC record for touchdown passes (139).

His performance Saturday was the 16th 300-yard passing game of his career, moving him past Erdmann for first place in school history. He is already the school record holder for completions with now 862.

Syverson connected with senior wide receiver Marselio Mendez (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) on touchdown passes of 27 and 16 yards Saturday, while also throwing scoring strikes of 28 and 11 yards to junior tight end Joey Gendreau (Shorewood, Minn./Minnetonka) and completing a 1-yard touchdown pass to freshman defensive lineman/tight end Charlie King (Faribault, Minn./Bethlehem Academy).

Sophomore running back Will Blakey (St. Paul, Minn./Central) also had touchdown runs of 5, 6 and 1-yard in the first half, while junior linebacker Alex Harren (Rice, Minn./Sauk Rapids-Rice) returned his first collegiate interception 23 yards for a touchdown to put SJU on top 63-0 after a first half in which the Johnnies piled up 388 yards of total offense to the Saints' 68.



In all the Johnnies scored on their first eight offensive possessions before Harren's interception return. They had a 384-2 edge in total offense when Syverson left the game. St. Scholastica managed just four first-half first downs in total, all of them coming in the final 3:30 of the second quarter.

Junior tight end Charlie Plum (Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) added a 10-yard touchdown catch from freshman quarterback Leyton Riviere (Pflugerville, Texas/St. Dominic Savio Catholic) with 5:35 remaining in the fourth quarter to close out the scoring for the Johnnies.

SJU (8-0, 6-0 MIAC, 3-0 Northwoods) returns home to host St. Olaf (6-2, 4-2 MIAC, 2-1 Northwoods) for a 1 p.m. kickoff next Saturday, Nov. 9, in Clemens Stadium.

3 Rushing Touchdowns
The three touchdowns made Blakey the first SJU running back to accomplish that feat in a single game since Henry Trost '22 ran for three scores at Gustavus Adolphus on Oct. 23, 2021. 

Pick Six
Harren's interception return for a score was the first for a Johnnie since sophomore cornerback Peyton Goettlicher (Mankato, Minn./West) returned one 59 yards for a touchdown against the Gusties last season.

Two Johnnies With Two Receiving Touchdowns
The last time two SJU players caught two touchdown passes or more in the same game came against St. Scholastica last season when Mendez and tight end Alex Larson '23 (now a member of the coaching staff) accomplished the feat.

Clamping Down
The Johnnies allowed 515 yards of offense to Concordia in the 38-31 road win back on Oct. 12 in Moorhead. Since then, SJU has allowed seven total points and less than 150 yards of offense to each of its last three opponents: 146 at Carleton, 126 vs. Gustavus Adolphus and 132 at St. Scholastica.