Box Score

ST. PAUL, Minn. - It didn't matter who was playing quarterback for Saint John's Saturday afternoon.
 
The Johnnies' offense never slowed down.
 
With junior Trey Feeney (Moorhead, Minn.) and senior Zander Dittbenner (Mankato, Minn./West) continuing to rotate on a two-series-apiece basis, SJU - ranked as high as No. 4 nationally - scored on eight of its first nine possessions en route to downing Hamline 59-0 in the MIAC opener for both teams at Klas Field.
 
"They're both doing a great job right now," said All-American senior wide receiver Dylan Wheeler (St. Paul, Minn./Mounds View), who thrived with both quarterbacks Saturday - finishing the afternoon with three touchdown catches.
 
"We have two great quarterbacks who each do unique things. The coaching staff has them prepared and they're both going out there and making plays."
 
Indeed, in the first meeting between the two schools since 2019, the Johnnies piled up 618 yards of total offense.
 
Feeney finished 14 of 20 passing for 215 yards and two touchdowns. Dittbenner finished eight of 12 for 160 yards and one touchdown while rushing for two more.
 
Both quarterbacks then called it a day midway through the third quarter with the game well in-hand.
 
"We're both trying to maximize the reps we're getting," Feeney said. "When Zander does well, it pushes me to do better. When I do well, it pushes him to get better.
 
"Ultimately, we're both making the team better by competing."
 
"Trey and I can both do different things, so I think that leaves the defense with a lot of questions as they try to prepare," Dittbenner added.
 
"What's so cool is that we feed off each other," he continued. "We can come and talk to each other during games about what we're each seeing. That helps both of us succeed."
 
That success carried over to the receiving corps. In addition to Wheeler, senior All-American tight end Joey Gendreau (Shorewood, Minn./Minnetonka) finished with nine catches for 137 yards and junior wide receiver Riley Schwellenbach (Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge) added five catches for 140 yards. On the ground, junior Corey Bohmert (Mahtomedi, Minn.) led the way with touchdown runs of 5 and 9 yards.
 
"I thought both our quarterbacks again played really well," said Johnnies head coach Gary Fasching '81, whose team improved to 2-0 overall. "You saw a little more of what Zander can do today with the way he ran the ball. They both had good games. The moment is not too big for either of them. 
 
"Right now, things are working, and we'll keep rotating until we have reason not to."
 
Amidst the offensive explosion, the SJU defense also had a strong afternoon, recording its second-straight shutout. The last time that happened to start a season at the school was 1965 - the year the Johnnies captured the second of their four national titles.
 
SJU held the Pipers to just 48 yards rushing and only nine first downs, while keeping a steady stream of pressure on in the pass rush.
 
"That's been a point of emphasis for us," said senior defensive tackle Tommy Gilmore (Otsego, Minn./Rogers), who returned to action after missing last week's 49-0 season-opening victory over Minnesota-Morris and recorded a sack.
 
"We want to not just keep pressure on the quarterback, but to keep him contained so he can't run and has to throw the ball when he doesn't want to."
 
That helped result in three Johnnies' interceptions Saturday, the first of which was returned 31 yards by sophomore cornerback Westin Hoyt (Forest Lake, Minn.) to set up Bohmert's second touchdown run late in the second quarter.
 
The second two - by sophomores Mark Rogalski (Eden Prairie, Minn./St. Thomas Academy) and Nolan Dumonceaux (Forest Lake, Minn.) - ended Hamline scoring threats in the third quarter.
 
"We're going along really nicely right now," Gilmore said. "We're putting things together, finding the areas we need to get better at and improving on them."
 
SJU will take another step next week when it returns home to play host to Augsburg (1-1, 1-0 MIAC) for Homecoming at 1 p.m. Saturday (Sept. 27) at Clemens Stadium.
 
"For where we're at in the season, I'm really happy with how we're playing," Wheeler said. "This was a nice win. Now we'll start focusing on getting ready for next week and making sure we keep building momentum."

59-0
The 59-0 victory is the third in SJU's history and the first since Sept. 22, 2018 when Saint John's defeated Carleton on Homecoming. The other 59-0 victory came over Augsburg on Oct. 6, 1990, also on Homecoming.

Joey for 100 (Again)
The 100-yard receiving game was the second in Gendreau's career – and the second in as many weeks – as the D3football.com Tight End of the Week hauled in 124 last week against Minnesota-Morris. He moved into third place on SJU's tight ends list with 110 career receptions and is fourth in receiving yards (1,447).

Wheeling Up the Leaderboard
Dylan Wheeler moved into the top 10 among Johnnie wide receivers with 2,115 yards in his career. The three-score game was the fifth of his career, and he now ranks fifth with 158 career receptions.  

MIAC Opener
The Johnnies are now 71-25-7 (.733) all-time in their first MIAC game of the season, including a 37-14-3 (.713) record away from Collegeville and a 15-6-3 record against Hamline (8-2-2 in Collegeville and 7-4-1 in St. Paul). The Johnnies' first win in the MIAC opener was also a shutout of Hamline, a 7-0 victory on Oct. 3, 1931 in Collegeville.

Shutting Out the Pipers
The 59-0 victory is the third consecutive shutout of Hamline. The Johnnies have out-scored the Pipers 294-12 in their last five meetings. A total of 23 of the teams' 89 meetings have been shutouts in favor of SJU.