Box Score | SJU Press Conference | MON Press Conference

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Dylan Wheeler was in fourth grade the last time he played football in the snow.
And he doesn't remember it being a particularly pleasant experience.

"It was freezing," said the Saint John's senior All-American wide receiver, looking back on that long ago youth football matchup. "The conditions were brutal. I remember I was crying at halftime. I wanted to quit, but my dad wouldn't let me. 

"I ended up scoring a bunch of touchdowns so that's a good memory. But we lost the game. It wasn't a whole lot of fun."

Snow Bowl No. 2 turned out far better then. Wheeler finished with 10 catches for 144 yards - including a program-, playoff-record four touchdown receptions - as the Johnnies rolled past Monmouth (Ill.) 49-15 in the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs Saturday afternoon amidst a steady snowfall at Clemens Stadium.

"It's a lot warmer when you win," said Wheeler, who stopped playing football after seventh grade and did not return until his senior season at Mounds View High School. "I'm feeling pretty good right now."

So were the rest of his teammates after the Johnnies scored on their first four possessions of the second half to put the game out of reach. SJU improved to 10-1 and advances to meet Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion, third-ranked Wisconsin-River Falls (10-1), in the third round at noon next Saturday (Dec. 6) at Ramer Field in River Falls.

"I have to give a lot of credit to our guys," SJU head coach Gary Fasching '81 said. "They prepared really well for this game. At halftime we had to make a few adjustments, but our guys made them and they made a lot of big plays in the second half."

Many of them came courtesy of Wheeler and junior quarterback Trey Feeney (Moorhead, Minn.), who finished 32 of 48 passing for 387 yards and six touchdowns as the Johnnies rolled up 551 yards of total offense and put up 49 points against a team that was the Division III leader in scoring defense (6.4 ppg.), total defense (153.7 ypg.) and passing defense (84.0 ypg.) entering play. 

"They showed a lot of cover two and cover three on film, but we've seen a lot of different coverages in the MIAC this season and we felt like we were ready for anything," said Wheeler (St. Paul, Minn./Mounds View), who now has a school-record eight games with three receiving touchdowns or more.

"We knew if they kept it simple, we had a good game plan. They ended up disguising things a little bit. They'd line up in cover two, then go to cover three. But we were focused on attacking them as best we could. In the end, it came down to execution and we did that."



The Scots (9-2) executed well at times too, putting up 430 yards of offense themselves. But the Johnnies defense held them to just 15 points - over 35 fewer than the 50.4 they were averaging coming into the game.

SJU finished with a pair of sacks and picked off Monmouth senior quarterback Brayden Deem two times while limiting the Scots to just 124 yards rushing.

"Gary always stresses stopping the run," said Johnnies junior linebacker Aiden McMahon (Maple Grove, Minn.), who finished with a team-best 13 tackles and blocked an extra point and a field goal attempt in the first half. 

"Especially with the snow today, that was a big emphasis for us and we did it. Our defensive line got after it. It was fun playing behind them, and our secondary made plays when the ball was in the air. It was just a lot of fun being out there with the boys."

"I thought they were very, very good up front," added Deem, who threw for 306 yards and two touchdowns. "They got after us a bit. They have big guys and it was kind of hard to see over them. I'm not going to lie. I was guessing where people were at a few times."

Junior running back Corey Bohmert (Mahtomedi, Minn.) got the Johnnies started Saturday, bouncing off Monmouth defenders and rumbling 27 yards for a touchdown on SJU's first possession of the game.

Then, after freshman Aiden Sensabaugh kicked a 25-yard field goal to cut the gap to 7-3, Feeney connected with Wheeler and All-American senior tight end Joey Gendreau (Shorewood, Minn./Minnetonka) on a pair of 7-yard touchdown catches that put the Johnnies on top 21-3 with 12:08 to go in the second quarter.

SJU looked poised to expand that margin on its next possession, driving to the Monmouth 16-yard line. 
But after sophomore Carson Strating picked off a Feeney pass, the Scots then marched 83 yards in six plays to score on 36-yard touchdown pass from Deem to classmate Julian Samuels. The extra-point attempt was blocked by McMahon, but Monmouth cut the SJU lead to 21-9.

The Scots had a chance to trim the deficit further late in the first half, but McMahon blocked a 33-yard Sensabaugh field goal attempt with under a minute to go before halftime.

"Our last two possessions at the end of the first half weren't what we wanted them to be," said Feeney, who has now thrown for four or more touchdowns in five of his team's last six games and has thrown 16 touchdown passes in the last three. 

"That's why we knew it was important to come out strong right away to start the second half. Either they were going to take the momentum or we were going to take it back."

It turned out to be the latter. Feeney - whose six touchdown passes tied an SJU playoff record - connected with Wheeler on scores of 6 and 9 yards, then Bohmert took a short pass 8 yards into the end zone to put SJU on top 42-9.

Wheeler added a 42-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to close out the SJU scoring. Monmouth got a late score on a 34-yard touchdown catch by junior Jeremiah Williams with 1:52 remaining in the game.

"There were a couple of things that didn't go our way in the first half, but overall we felt really good about how we were playing," Wheeler said. "We knew if we kept doing what we were doing, we were going to be OK."

Feeney had plenty of time to throw Saturday as the SJU offensive line did not allow a sack. The Johnnies have allowed a total of just five all season.

"It was a total team effort," Fasching said. "Trey got guys the ball. Our guys up front were protecting him. He didn't get sacked once and we've allowed just five sacks all year. That's incredible. Our receivers did a great job getting open.

"But what Dylan has done during his four years here is incredible, especially for a guy who played just one year of high school football. He makes all the big catches. He took some big hits out there today, but he held onto the ball. Hats off to him. He's a great one."

And now he gets to play another week, though he and his teammates will be in for a big challenge against the Falcons who beat Chapman (Calif.) 58-7 Saturday. Wisconsin-River Falls is averaging 47.45 points and 575 yards of offense per game.

The Johnnies have had success against the Falcons over the years, boasting a 9-1 series edge - including most recently a 37-34 win in Collegeville in 2022. SJU's only loss came in the first meeting between the two schools - a 12-6 Wisconsin-River Falls win in 1937.

But Wheeler knows past history won't mean a thing next Saturday.

"We know they're a great team," said Wheeler, who is now tied with Chris Palmer '96 for second place on the school's all-time list of 100-yard receiving games with 15. 

"We haven't watched a ton of film on them yet. But they won the WIAC, which is an incredible achievement. We know it's going to be a tough test, but we'll do our best this week in practice to get ready.

"At this point in the season, no game is going to be easy," he continued. "But it's always exciting to get another chance to play."

6 Passing Touchdowns
Feeney's six passing touchdowns tied the SJU postseason record set by Jackson Erdmann '19 (Nov. 17, 2018 vs. Martin Luther) and Willie Seiler '94 (Nov. 27, 1993 vs. Wisconsin-La Crosse). Feeney is now seventh in SJU history in both single-season pass completions (248) and passing touchdowns (38), tied for seventh in career 300-yard passing games (4), and ninth in single-season passing yards (3,078).

Another 10-Win Season
Saturday's victory secured the program's 27th 10-win season and ninth in the last 11 seasons. No other MIAC program has half of that total and four schools have yet to achieve the feat (Carleton, Hamline, Macalester and St. Olaf). Bethel is next with nine (including 2025).

Wheeling Up the Charts
Wheeler now has 86 catches for 1,082 yards and 18 touchdowns in 11 games this fall. The 18 receiving touchdowns are tied for third-most in an SJU season, while the 86 receptions are fifth. He is second in program history in both receptions (235) and receiving touchdowns (49), and fourth in receiving yards (3,089).

No. 1 TE
Gendreau became SJU's all-time receiving leader, among tight ends, with four catches for 65 yards in Saturday's postseason win. The total pushed him past Alex Larson '23 for the program lead with 2,153 receiving yards. Gendreau is second, behind Larson, with 163 catches and 20 career receiving touchdowns.

No Scorigami
Despite Saturday's uncommon score of 49-15, it was not an SJU football scorigami. The score has happened once before in program history - a 49-15 MIAC victory over St. Olaf on Oct. 29, 1994, in Collegeville. It is the first playoff score of 49-15 and just the eighth time in 983 games that a team has finished with 15 points in a game.