COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. - For Saint John's head coach Gary Fasching '81, it was his sister Rita, who passed away from brain cancer in 2019.

For his wife Cindy, it was her mother and sister, both of whom were lost to cancer as well.

Their stories, and so many others, are what make the Johnnies' annual Tackle Cancer efforts so important to both Fasching and his players.

Since Fasching took over the head coaching job in 2013, SJU has joined other colleges and high schools across Minnesota in designating a game to raise money to benefit the Randy Shaver Cancer and Research Community Fund. 
 
This season's game comes Saturday when the Johnnies (3-0, 2-0 MIAC) - ranked No. 5 in the nation in the most recent American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and D3football.com polls - play host to seventh-ranked Bethel (2-1, 2-0 MIAC) in a pivotal MIAC clash scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m. at Clemens Stadium.

Money collected that day, as well as funds SJU players raise on their own, will go to fund research, prevention, treatment and other programs related to the needs of those with cancer.
 
Tackle Cancer T-shirts will also be available for purchase, including in the tailgate lot and at the entrances to the stadium. And donations can be made via Venmo.

"This is the 14th year that we have raised money for the Randy Shaver Cancer Research and Community Fund," Fasching said. "Our football team and the whole Saint John's community have embraced this effort. Every player and coach on our football team has been impacted in some way by cancer. Many lives have been lost, but the money that has been raised over the years has also saved many lives.  
 
"We have raised more money than any other college in Minnesota, and our players, coaches, parents and fans take great pride in knowing that we are helping to save lives with the money that we raise."
 
Shaver himself is a survivor of bouts with both Hodgkin's Lymphoma and prostate cancer. Last year alone, his Tackle Cancer campaign raised over $657,000 - bringing the total over the past 14 years to more than $4.79 million
 
This year, the goal is to raise $675,000. And every donation brings that goal more within reach.

That's why so many of the Johnnie players have eagerly embraced the effort.

Here are a few of the stories that are inspiring them:

E.J. Hosty
Brains and brawn.

Ed Hosty had them both in abundance.

Raised on the west side of Chicago, he graduated from Fenwick High School in Oak Park in 1992 and went on to play tight end at Princeton, helping lead the Tigers to an Ivy League title in the fall of 1995.

But Hosty - who also played one season of college basketball - excelled in the classroom, too. His thesis project on the 1980 U.S. grain embargo reflected a lifelong passion for economics that later translated into a career as a bond salesman and eventually as a teacher.

Even more importantly, though, Hosty and his wife Laura were parents to three sons, E.J., Frankie and Will, whom they raised in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, not far from Wrigley Field. 

And it didn't take the boys long to pick up their father's love for athletic competition.

"It was all about sports for my brothers and I growing up," recalled E.J., now a senior tight end at SJU. "My dad would take us to Bears games on Sunday, all that kind of stuff. He'd always tell us to go outside and play, or to shoot hoops in the summertime.

"I graduated from the same high school he did and he came to all my football and basketball games. He was a tall guy and he was always the loudest person in the room. He came from a big Irish Catholic family on the west side and he stood out in a crowd."

That zest for life never dulled, even after he was diagnosed with colorectal cancer just before E.J. took a recruiting trip to SJU as a senior in 2023.

"He went to the hospital right before I was supposed to come for a visit so we had to push that back," E.J. said. "He'd had stomach pain for a while and that's when he was first diagnosed."

Even as Hosty waged his battle with cancer, though, he continued to keep tabs on his oldest son, who came to Collegeville as a quarterback but switched to his father's old position as a sophomore in the fall of 2024.

"I remember it was the middle of that season that year and my mom called to say I needed to come home," E.J. said, his voice welling with emotion. "At that time, I'd just switched to tight end. He was going through dialysis at the time. But I was still able to show him tape of the JV game I'd just played. He actually got on me for not being physical enough. I'd just come from being a quarterback so I wasn't used to the physical side of things yet. He was there to give me pointers though."

But on Oct. 25, 2024, Ed passed away at age 50. E.J. was there that Friday afternoon, but his younger brothers were in school at Fenwick, getting ready for a game against Carmel Catholic that night.

"It was around noon when he passed, so we had to go to the school and tell them," E.J. said. "They both ended up playing. My brother Frankie was the backup quarterback and the starter got hurt. He came into the game and threw for 222 yards and three touchdowns. He was actually named the Bears High School All-Star Player of the Week. That's one of my favorite memories. I think my dad was there with him on the field."

The Hosty clan has carried on in the two years since. E.J. is now a senior at SJU who has seen action in two of his team's first three games this fall. Frankie is now a sophomore at Creighton in Omaha and Will is a senior tight end at Fenwick.

But the memory of their father remains strong, and it's why being part of the Johnnies' Tackle Cancer efforts means so much to Ed's oldest son.

"Cancer doesn't just impact the person suffering, it affects everyone attached to them as well," E.J. said. "Trying to help find a cure, so other families don't have to go through what mine did, is really important to me."

Michael Beckius
Growing up as a kid in New Prague, Michael Beckius struggled with a stutter.

And it was his grandmother Pat, an elementary literacy teacher for 40 years at Eagle View Elementary School in nearby Elko New Market, who worked with him to help overcome it.

"She was definitely a huge part of my life," said Beckius, a junior wide receiver for the Johnnies majoring in elementary education. "She's actually the reason I am who I am today. She was a teacher for 40 years. Now I'm planning on following in her footsteps and being a teacher too. That's all I've really ever wanted to do and the credit for that goes to her.

"She helped me so much growing up. She'd have me read out loud to her and really helped fix my stutter. But when she passed away, it took a toll on me. I got insecure with the stutter again and I had to work through it all over. But I learned how to live with it and it was her example that was my inspiration."

Pat Beckius died at age 62 in November 2013 after having been diagnosed with brain cancer in January 2012.

Her passing left a huge hole, but her family has kept her memory alive in the years since - forming the Pat Beckius Memorial Foundation, which works to honor her legacy "by advancing educational opportunities, supporting educators and students and fostering a lifelong love of reading and learning through scholarships, grants and literacy initiatives."

"We do things like get books into the school system," Michael said. "We have a little book bus that goes around to all the different elementary schools and parks in the summer. There's a memorial golf tournament every year and everyone in our family comes up to help out. It becomes a big reunion. There's also a scholarship in her name for students from New Prague and Jordan."

But Beckius is also throwing himself into his team's Tackle Cancer efforts, hoping one day all that work will help yield a cure.

"Screw cancer … honestly," he said. "I know it's something we can't really control. But it is something we need to fight. Everyone can be impacted by this disease. It doesn't matter who you are. And the more donations we can get, the more research that can happen. That gives us a better chance to prevent cancer from happening and to stop it when it does.

"I want to see families have more and more time with the people they love."

Ryan Warford
If you were standing on the sideline at one his grandchildren's sporting events, you knew Randy Hanson was there.

His trademark voice and laughter gave him away.

"He was a big supporter of ours and he was a loud cheerer," said one of those grandchildren, Ryan Warford, now a senior wide receiver at SJU. "He had one of those really rugged voices. It was easy to recognize. If you heard him once, you knew him. It was always so much fun having him there."

Hanson - whose wife Denise remains a regular at Johnnie football games every Saturday - would make the trip down from his home in Onamia to support his grandchildren. 

And they, in turn, looked forward to trips to his house on the shores of Lake Mille Lacs near Onamia.

"He was the one who taught me all of my favorite hobbies," Warford remembered. "Fishing, mudding, riding ATVs. Anything outdoorsy. We were from the suburbs so those weren't typically things we had access to. But we had so much fun when we went up to visit him. He always had such great stories. He never failed to make me laugh."

Hanson passed away at age 65 in December 2015 after having been diagnosed with prostate cancer just over two years earlier. Warford was 10 years old at the time and his grandfather's death had a big impact.

"It was really tough," he recalled. "My mom (Cherise) and he were especially close and that bond got translated down to me. I still miss him every day."

And it is his grandfather's memory that inspires Warford's work with SJU's Tackle Cancer efforts.

"Having gone through that process with my own family, I know it would mean the world if we could find some way to get closer to a cure," he said. "That's what makes every donation to a cause like this so important. It really can make a big difference."