Box Score

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Carson Hegerle has known Trey Feeney a long time.
 
Their fathers, Erik and Kevin, each played at North Dakota State in the 1990s and have become friends, and Carson and Trey competed against one another in various sports growing up in the Fargo area.
 
Each made the decision to transfer to Saint John's this past offseason, and the duo are rooming together this school year.
 
So Hegerle can tell when his friend is finding his groove. And the last two weeks, Feeney definitely has.
 
"He's obviously super comfortable out there now and you can see that," said Hegerle, a West Fargo (N.D.) High School graduate and sophomore wide receiver who started his collegiate career at NDSU. "Trey's always been a guy who makes super smart reads and he's got a great arm. If we run a deep shot, he's not going to underthrow us. He can make plays all over the field."
 
The junior did that again Saturday, throwing for 409 yards and six touchdowns as the Johnnies (6-1, 5-1 MIAC)  - ranked No. 11 in both the most recent American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and D3football.com Division III national polls - handed Carleton (5-2, 5-1 MIAC) its first loss in MIAC play, downing the Knights 49-10 before a Family Weekend crowd of 8,694 at an overcast Clemens Stadium.
 
The six touchdown passes tied for second-most in a single game in program history.
 
"It's been really awesome to kind of get into a rhythm," said Feeney, who rotated with senior Zander Dittbenner (Mankato, Minn./West) over the first five games this season, but took over the starting job full-time last week and threw for 374 yards and four touchdowns in a 41-6 win at Concordia.
 
"When I come back to the sidelines, our coaches do a great job of telling me what adjustments we're going to make and what we're going to get to on the next series. That makes it easier to go out there and make plays."


 
The Johnnies scored on all four of their first-half possessions Saturday as Feeney connected with All-American senior Dylan Wheeler (St. Paul, Minn./Mounds View) on touchdown passes of 4 and 26 yards in the first quarter, then found junior Riley Schwellenbach (Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge) for a 5-yard touchdown and Hegerle for a 3-yard score in the second.
 
"We have a ton of playmakers on offense," said Feeney, who played for his father at Moorhead High School, then spent several seasons at FCS North Dakota before transferring to SJU this past offseason.
 
"It feels like at any time, there's five guys I can get the ball to and they can all score."
 
Carleton entered the game averaging 41.5 points and 501.3 yards per game, but finished with just 187 yards of offense Saturday and were held to (-7) yards rushing. Senior quarterback Jack Curtis - the MIAC's leading passer - finished 29 of 36 passing, but averaged just under 6.7 yards per completion with none any longer than 18.
 
The Johnnies finished with five sacks. Junior linebacker Aiden McMahon (Maple Grove, Minn.) led the way with 12 tackles, sophomore safety Will Peroutka (Rosemount, Minn.) picked off a pass to end the Knights' only promising drive in the first half and senior defensive back Evan Wahlin (Sartell, Minn./St. Cloud Cathedral) recovered a muffed punt at the Carleton 26 to set up a second-half touchdown.
 
"We had a feeling they weren't going to run the ball against us as much as they have against other teams," said senior defensive back Jack St. Fleur (San Diego, Minn./Christian Unified), who finished with five tackles. "So we really wanted to hold them to short yardage on first down and put them in hard predicaments on second and third."
 
Carleton finally got on the board when senior Markus Merkelbach kicked a 38-yard field goal with 7:27 to play in the third quarter - marking the first points the Johnnies had surrendered at home all season. But Feeney and the offense answered right back, scoring on a 46-yard pass to senior Owen Amrhein (Waconia, Minn.) that put SJU on top 35-3.
 
Touchdown pass No. 6 came on a 3-yard throw to Wheeler in the corner of the end zone with 11:52 to play before Feeney called it a day.
 
"He had a good game," SJU coach Gary Fasching '81 said of his quarterback. "I thought in the first half especially, he looked really sharp. He was on the money. 
 
"Our receivers made plays, our offensive line pass protected extremely well. Overall, I was really happy with the way we played offensively."
 
But it was his roommate Hegerle who closed out the scoring for SJU, returning a punt 57 yards for a touchdown with 9:59 remaining.
 
"I saw my lane and got some amazing blocks," Hegerle said. "Everything kind of went right on that play."
 
Carleton added a late touchdown when Curtis connected with senior tight end Rye Storrs on a 4-yard pass with 4:58 to go. But by then, the Johnnies were well on their way to their third-straight victory since falling 17-10 at Bethel on Oct. 4.
 
"We're trying to keep building momentum," Feeney said. "After the Bethel game, we knew every game was basically going to be a playoff game the rest of the way and we've responded to that challenge. Our goal has been to get better each week and I think we've done that."

SJU has outscored the opposition 341-33 this season and 331-16 in its six victories. In their four home games, the Johnnies have now outscored opponents 231-10.

Punt Return for a TD
Hegerle's 57-yard punt return for a touchdown was the Johnnies' first since current assistant coach Max Jackson '19 returned a punt 60 yards for a score in SJU's 51-0 win over Hamline on Nov. 3, 2018, in Collegeville.

42-0
The Johnnies are now 42-0 all-time against Carleton on the gridiron, including a 21-0 record in Collegeville. SJU has out-scored the Knights 563-63 over the last 11 meetings.

Something About Those Northfield Schools
Saturday's score of 49-10 was the third of its kind for the Johnnies and the first at home. The other two instances occurred on the road at St. Olaf in back-to-back seasons (Oct. 15, 2022 and Nov. 4, 2023). All three of SJU's 49-10 scores have been wins and all three against schools based in Northfield.

6 Passing Touchdowns
The game performance of six passing touchdowns (or more) was the eighth in program history. Seven of the eight games occurred in Collegeville.

t1. 7 - Aaron Syverson vs. St. Scholastica (10/28/23)
      7 - Jackson Erdmann vs. Thomas More, Ky. (11/10/18)
t3. 6 - Trey Feeney vs. Carleton (10/25/25)
      6 - Aaron Syverson vs. St. Olaf (11/9/24)
t3. 6 - Aaron Syverson vs. Carleton (10/14/23)
t3. 6 - Jackson Erdmann vs. Martin Luther (11/17/18)*
t3. 6 - Willie Seiler at UW-La Crosse (11/27/93)*
t3. 6 - Willie Seiler vs. St. Thomas (10/23/93)
t3. 6 - Pat Mayew vs. St. Olaf (10/26/91)
*NCAA Playoffs

3+ Touchdowns
The three-touchdown game was the seventh for Wheeler, who passed Jeremy Loretz '95 (2,542) and Todd Fultz '91 (2,584) for fifth in program history with 2,647 career receiving yards. He also passed Adam Herbst '99 (41) for second in SJU history with 42 career receiving touchdowns, 21 behind Blake Elliott's '03 record of 63.