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RIVER FALLS, Wis. – The first minute-plus of Saturday afternoon's NCAA Division III playoff matchup against Wisconsin-River Falls could not have gone any better for Westin Hoyt and his Saint John's teammates. 

After that, though, the highlights belonged to the Falcons. 

Hoyt's interception return on the game's opening drive set up a touchdown that gave the Johnnies an early seven-point lead, but Wisconsin-River Falls rolled up 433 yards of total offense en route to a 42-14 victory before a crowd of 3,205 at a chilly Ramer Field. 

SJU entered play allowing an average of just 9.4 points and 223.8 yards of total offense per game. But the Johnnies hadn't faced a quarterback like Falcons' sixth-year senior Kaleb Blaha - the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year - who rushed for 97 yards and a touchdown and threw for 245 and three more Saturday. 

"We haven't seen a dual-threat guy like him all year," said Hoyt (Forest Lake, Minn.), a sophomore cornerback whose team – ranked as high as No. 6 in the final American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) top 25 poll of the regular season - finished 10-2 overall. 

"He presents a huge challenge. You try to defend the passing game, but you always have to worry that he can scramble and get outside the pocket. We have guys on defense we trust and we had a good game plan. I thought we actually did a good job of containing him on the ground. 

"We made some plays today. But they made more." 

The Falcons (11-1) - ranked No. 3 in the final D3football.com top 25 poll – advance to play host to Wheaton (Ill.) in the national quarterfinals at noon next Saturday (Dec. 13).  

"River Falls is very good," SJU head coach Gary Fasching '81 said. "We knew that coming in and they were every bit as good as we thought they were." 

On both sides of the ball. 

The Wisconsin-River Falls defense held an SJU offense that had been averaging 526 yards per game to just 295 Saturday. The Johnnies - who were averaging 373.2 yards per game passing - threw for just 274 and SJU's talented set of wide receivers had a tough time getting separation against a physical Falcons' secondary. 

"They prepared for our offense really well," said All-American senior Dylan Wheeler (St. Paul, Minn./Mounds View), who caught 12 passes for 93 yards and a touchdown in the final game of his impressive four-year collegiate career. "They played coverages that took away some of the stuff that's been working for us this season." 

Meanwhile, the Johnnies struggled to find traction in the running game - finishing with just nine carries for 22 yards on the ground. Wisconsin-River Falls had 51 carries for 188. 

"You're not going to win games like this if you can't run the football a little bit," Fasching said. "Then when you fall behind and you have to throw, it makes it even tougher on Trey and our guys up front." 

Yet things began in promising fashion. On just the game's third play, Hoyt picked off a Blaha pass and returned it 38 yards to the Falcons' 2.  

Three plays later, junior quarterback Trey Feeney (Moorhead, Minn.) connected with junior tight end Andrew Harren (Rice, Minn./Sauk Rapids-Rice) on a 2-yard touchdown pass that put the Johnnies on top 7-0 with 13:54 still remaining in the first quarter. 

"That was all the defense," said Feeney, who finished 33 of 59 passing for 274 yards and two touchdowns. "Westin made a huge play to set us up inside the 5. That gave us a big boost." 

Yet Wisconsin-River Falls didn't take long to regain the momentum, going 65 yards in nine plays to score on its next possession on a 6-yard pass from Blaha to junior Austin Rush.  

The Falcons struck again early in the second quarter when sophomore Trevor Asher scored on a 1-yard run to extend the lead to 14-7 with 14:09 to play before halftime. 

"We've had such fast starts this season," Wisconsin-River Falls head coach Matt Walker said. "We've hit almost every big throw early and gotten off to big leads in almost every big game this year. I was wondering how we'd react if we didn't get off to such a hot start.  

"(After the interception), I said 'I guess I'm getting what I was curious about. We're going to have a battle on our hands.' To go down like that and respond on both sides of the football like we did was good to see." 

Walker's team had a chance to expand that margin even further on its next possession, but after setting up for a 23-yard field goal attempt, the Falcons instead ran a fake and Hoyt tackled kicker Justin Scheberl two yards shy of the goal line. 

The Johnnies - who had been forced to punt on three-straight possessions - took advantage of that new lease on life by driving all the way to the Wisconsin-River Falls 18 late in the first half. But Feeney was then sacked two-straight times and - after a 12-yard reception by senior tight end Joey Gendreau (Shorewood, Minn./Minnetonka) - junior Matt Hansen (Longmont, Colo./Niwot) missed a 38-yard field goal attempt. 

That left the score 14-7 going into the locker rooms. 

"Only being down 14-7, we felt pretty good going into halftime," Fasching said. "We've been a second-half team for most of the year. I thought we might be able to make a run to get back in the lead and hopefully hold it. But they're very explosive offensively. Blaha is tough to defend. When you have a quarterback who can run and do the things he can, it makes it really difficult on your defense." 

He showed that in the second half, connecting with junior Blake Roher on a 16-yard touchdown pass on his team's first possession of the third quarter. Then, after the Johnnies got the ball back, junior Nick Wasko picked off a deflected Feeney pass and returned it 56 yards for a touchdown that expanded his team's lead to 28-7. 

SJU again cut the gap to 14 on a 10-yard touchdown catch by Wheeler late in the third quarter. But Blaha threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to senior Jaylen Reed to start the fourth, then put the finishing touches on the victory with a 1-yard touchdown run with 7:39 to play. 

"We knew coming in that this would be our biggest test," said Hoyt, who finished with nine tackles in all. "They have Blaha who is in the race for the Gagliardi (Trophy, honoring the top player in Division III). They have great wide receivers and they're big up front. They're a very good team." 

The Falcons proved that Saturday. But Fasching said he was proud of his team's effort this season. 

SJU won 10 games or more for the 27th time in program history and made its 10th postseason appearance in the past 11 seasons (and 34th overall). 

"The effort that these guys have put in - not only today, but throughout the year - has been incredible," Fasching said. "They've helped set the standard here at Saint John's and I'm really proud of that." 


The Wheel Deal 
 Wheeler was seven yards short of taking sole possession of second in SJU's all-time 100-yard receiving games. He caught for 100 yards or more five times this season and 15 times in his career, tied with Chris Palmer '96. Wheeler finished his career with 3,182 yards, 247 receptions and 50 touchdowns. He's second in career yards, 100-yard receiving games, receptions, touchdown receptions; third in receptions per game (5.4); and fourth in seventh in yards per game (69.2).  

Let's Be Frank 
Zach Frank (Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial) recorded another sack on one of the NCAA's top quarterbacks, ending his career with 28.5 sacks, 122 tackles and 40 tackles for loss. He ranks fifth in career sacks and ninth in tackles for loss. His 13.0 sacks in 2025 rank fourth in program history, while his 28.5 career sacks finish fifth overall. He was 0.5 tackles for loss away from now-coach Damien Dumonceaux '05 with 40.0 tackles for loss. 

Joey G. the No. 1 TE 
Gendreau finished 11th in all-time receiving yards in SJU history with 2,196 and the most by a tight end by 99 yards. His 76 receptions this season rank ninth, while his career 168 are sixth. He finished three catches away from three-time All-American tight end Alex Larson '23. His 3.8 career receptions per game are second to Larson in SJU TE history.