Box Score
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Saint John's quarterback
Trey Feeney (Moorhead, Minn.) tied a single-game school record for touchdown passes in his team's 62-6 win over Macalester Saturday afternoon.
Two of his receivers had three touchdown catches each, and the Johnnies - ranked No. 3 in the nation in both national polls - piled up 581 yards of total offense en route to improving to 5-0.
And yet …
"It's one of those days when it doesn't feel quite as good as maybe it is actually," said Feeney, who finished 37 of 42 passing for 483 yards to lead his team in its first visit to Macalester Stadium since 2001.
"We got off to a slow start honestly. We turned the ball over on downs on our first possession and we had to punt on another drive. We just weren't all that sharp. But we got ourselves back on track and found a little rhythm. So that was good to see."
The Johnnies (5-0, 4-0 MIAC) spread the ball around Saturday, with 12 players making at least one catch and six recording three or more. But seniors
Thomas Jacobs (Lakeland, Minn./Stillwater Area) and
Sam Nolan (Lakeville, Minn./North) had huge days, finishing with a career-high three touchdowns each.
Jacobs ended the afternoon with 10 catches for 169 yards while Nolan had six catches for 53.
"It's all starting to come together for us as an offense," Jacobs said. "Everyone is making plays when they get the chance."
"That's what makes us super dangerous," Nolan added. "Last year, we had (All-Americans) like
Dylan Wheeler and
Joey Gendreau and we really focused on those guys. But this year, we have a lot of weapons and we're using them all. It's really hard to defend a team that has five or six guys who can make plays. Defenses can't focus on just one or two people."
Despite all that, though, Feeney and company felt like they came out flat against the improved Scots (3-2, 2-2 MIAC), who came into play boasting the MIAC's third-best passer in Jack Scully and its top receiver in Paxton Boyd.
The Johnnies took a 7-0 lead when Feeney connected with Jacobs on a 24-yard touchdown pass with 8:24 to play in the first quarter. But Macalester cut the gap to just four on a 27-yard field goal from Andrew Wetherill.
Senior
Corey Bohmert (Mahtomedi, Minn.) scored on a 2-yard run on the first play of the second quarter and Feeney connected with Nolan and senior Riley Schwellebach (Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge) on scoring strikes of 4 and 17 yards.
But a 23-yard field goal by Wetherill in the final seconds of the first half cut the gap to 27-6 at halftime. And the Johnnie defense - which entered play allowing an average of just 201.5 yards of offense per game - surrendered 157 to Macalester in the first two quarters alone.
SJU was also called for 71 yards worth of penalties on the afternoon.
"If you look at the first half, especially defensively, I just didn't think we were into the game," SJU coach
Gary Fasching said. "We made a lot of errors even just lining up correctly. When you come off a big win like last week's (42-16 victory over Bethel), where we were really good in our execution, that was really disappointing to see.
"But I will say that in the second half, I thought we came out and played the way we expect to play. That was encouraging."
Indeed, SJU did not allow another point after halftime. And the defense did come up with three turnovers - interceptions from senior
Vincent Pyne (Rosemount, Minn.) and junior
Westin Hoyt (Forest Lake, Minn.) and a fumble recovery by senior
Andrew Molenaar (Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View) - all of which set up touchdowns.
Molenaar led his team in tackles with eight.
"It was more just mental mistakes in the first half," Pyne said. "Nothing they were doing was really confusing us. They have some really talented skill position players. But we came out kind of lackluster. Coach Herb (defensive coordinator
James Herberg) was telling us we didn't have the best week of practice this week and some of that trickled into the game during the first quarter. They came out playing harder than we did.
"We adjusted in the second half, which was good to see. But we can't have letdowns like that. We have to come out strong right away."
Feeney continued to look strong in the second half, throwing four more touchdown passes - two each to Jacobs and Nolan - before he and the rest of the starters left the game leading 55-6 early in the fourth quarter.
"That's the beauty of our team this year," Feeney said. "We have so many playmakers. Today the wide receivers had big games. Next time, it could be the tight ends or the running backs. There are a lot of guys here who can make plays and we're trying to get them all involved."
Now the Johnnies look ahead to another big MIAC showdown next Saturday (Oct. 17) when Concordia-Moorhead (5-0, 4-0 MIAC) visits Clemens Stadium for Homecoming. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. The Cobbers are averaging 45.8 points per game and have scored 50 or more three times.
"The winner of this game will have the inside track on the conference title," Fasching said. "Concordia is coming in undefeated and they circle this game every year. This is their Super Bowl. So we know we're going to get their absolute best. They're a well-coached team. They have a ton of talented players. (Head coach) Terry Horan always does an amazing job. So we're going to have to be at the top of our game if we want to come away with a win."
"We have to get better this week," Feeney added. "We need to learn from this film and make sure we have a good week of preparation. Because Concordia is going to be ready to go. They're an undefeated football team for a reason and we have to be able to match the intensity we know they're going to bring."
It was a pretty good day for senior kicker
Matt Hansen (Longmont, Colo./Niwot), whose eight extra points moved him into eighth place on the school's career list with 114. But Hansen did see his streak of successful extra-point attempts snapped at 107 after his kick was blocked following the Johnnies' second touchdown of the game in the second quarter. He also kicked seven touchbacks on the afternoon.
2 With 3
The last time two Johnnies caught three receiving touchdowns (or more) each in the same game was in a 55-6 home win over St. Olaf on Nov. 9, 2024: Marselio Mendez (nine catches for 180 yards and three touchdowns) and
Dylan Wheeler (seven catches for 158 yards and three touchdowns).
7 TD's
Feeney's seven passing touchdowns tied the program record owned by Aaron Syverson (Oct. 28, 2023 vs. St. Scholastica) and Jackson Erdmann (Nov. 10, 2018 vs. Thomas More, Ky.). His 483 passing yards were the third-most in an SJU game, behind Syverson's 498 against Concordia on Oct. 7, 2023 in Collegeville, and Erdmann's 496 at St. Olaf on Oct. 26, 2019.
Triple Tom
Jacobs' career day Saturday in St. Paul, combined with his seven catches for 82 and three scores in last Saturday's 42-16 win over then-No. 7 Bethel, enabled him to become the fourth Johnnie to record three receiving touchdowns or more in back-to-back games and the first since
Dylan Wheeler in 2024 (three vs. St. Olaf on Nov. 9 and three vs. Bethel on Nov. 16). The other two were Blake Elliott in 2022 (three vs. St. Thomas on Nov. 2 and three vs. Bethel on Nov. 8 at the Metrodome) and Adam Herbst in 1996 (three vs. Hamline on Sept. 28 and three vs. Carleton on Oct. 5).
2001
The Johnnies faced Macalester for the first time since 2001 last season when they defeated the Scots 70-0 in Collegeville. But this was their first trip to Macalester Stadium since that game 25 years ago - a 56-7 SJU victory. The Scots then left the conference in football, playing first as an independent, then as members of the Midwest Conference. They returned to MIAC play in 2021, but because of the divisional scheduling format, they did not face the Johnnies until a year ago. SJU is now 56-17-4 all-time against Macalester with wins in each of the last 35 meetings.
Another Scorigami!
Saturday's score of 62-6 was the first of its kind in Saint John's football history. The Johnnies have won every game with exactly 62 points scored - the most recent, a 62-0 win over Carleton on Oct. 15, 2016. SJU is 10-0 when scoring exactly 62 points.
