COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – There were plenty of things Thomas Jacobs noticed about Riley Schwellenbach when the two wide receivers first arrived at SJU as freshmen in the fall of 2023. 

Obviously, there was the speed and agility that has made Schwellenbach such a valuable part of the Johnnie passing game the past few seasons. 

But the thing that stood out most may have been the magic tricks. 

"He showed us this trick freshman year and none of us could figure out how he did it," Jacobs said. "It wasn't until last summer that he ended up showing us how it worked. 

"He has all kinds of tricks like that up his sleeve." 

Schwellenbach, who first took up magic as a freshman in high school to pass the time during the COVID-19 lockdown, has also been known to make some defensive backs disappear … from the play at least. 

That included during his team's 24-21 season-opening victory over Wisconsin-La Crosse on Sept. 5 when the 5-foot-9, 160-pound East Ridge High School graduate hauled in a short pass from senior quarterback Trey Feeney, spun away from the grasp of a defender and sprinted 35 yards down the opposing sideline for a touchdown that tied the score at 7. 

"He's so fast," Jacobs marveled. "I mean, when he gets loose, no one can catch him. He runs really good routes and he's so dangerous that other teams are going to have to try and double cover him this season. And as we saw (against La Crosse), even when he's taking a big hit, he'll still come down with the ball." 

The increased defensive attention comes with his expanded role. Schwellenbach, who as a sophomore and junior played the understudy to fellow wide receiver Dylan Wheeler and tight end Joey Gendreau in the Johnnie passing game, has taken over center stage this fall. 

"Riley's our No. 1 option now, but he's already proven over the years that he can make big plays," SJU head coach Gary Fasching said of Schwellenbach, who had 50 catches for 817 yards and six touchdowns as a junior last season and 34 catches for 531 yards and five touchdowns the year before.  

"You saw that again Saturday when he made a great play to avoid being tackled. With the speed he has, he's capable of running away from anybody. His role is going to be even bigger this season and he knows that. He worked really hard in camp this preseason. You can tell it's a responsibility he takes seriously." 

"I learned a lot from having guys like Dylan and Joey (both All-Americans) around the past couple of seasons," Schwellenbach added. "Now I'm trying to do the same thing with some of the newer guys and help them as well." 

One of those newer faces is Jacobs. The 5-foot-10, 175-pound Stillwater High School graduate has had a handful of catches in each of the past two seasons. But he's stepped into a starting role this fall after Wheeler and other receivers graduated. 

He made the most of that opportunity against Wisconsin-La Crosse, leading SJU in receiving with seven catches for 96 yards. 

"It was really exciting coming into this season knowing the chance was going to be there to really show people what I'm capable of doing," he said. "We lost some really talented receivers, and those are big shoes to fill, but I worked hard in the offseason to be ready for this." 

Schwellenbach and Jacobs played against each other in high school but didn't really have the chance to bond. 

"I just knew him as No. 1 at East Ridge," Jacobs said with a smile. 

"And I only knew him as No. 4 at Stillwater," Schwellenbach added. "That was about the extent of it." 

But they've become good friends over their time at SJU and Schwellenbach said it's exciting they're now getting the chance to share the field more frequently. 

"Thomas has always been a great player," said Schwellenbach, who is also a baseball standout for the Johnnies, batting .320 last spring with 33 runs scored and 29 RBI. "Just go back and look at what he did in high school. Every time he gets the opportunity, he makes plays. So I'm not surprised he did that again (in the season opener). He's a really talented receiver." 

Jacobs had a full high school career, playing for former Johnnies All-American linebacker Beau La Bore at Stillwater. Schwellenbach, though, didn't come out for football until his junior season, and didn't really make a big impact until his senior year. 

That gave him something in common with Wheeler, who didn't play high school football until his senior season at Mounds View before going on to become an All-American several times over at SJU. 

"I played youth football until like third or fourth grade," he said. "But after that I was playing basketball and baseball. After my sophomore year, though, I decided I wasn't going to play basketball anymore. I could see I wasn't good enough to make varsity. But I didn't want to be a single-sport athlete, and I started talking with our quarterback Tanner Zolnosky (who now plays at Western Illinois). He told me to come and run routes with him that summer. So I did that and really enjoyed it. 

"That's the beauty of football. It's a sport you can join late and still have a lot of success in because so much is based on pure athleticism. Look at the best high school programs. They're the ones that are able to convince the best athletes at the school to come out for the team." 

Athleticism is something both Schwellenbach and Jacobs possess plenty of, and Johnnies offensive coordinator Kole Heckendorf said they complement each other nicely. 

"They're both such talented players and hard workers," said Heckendorf, himself a record-setting receiver at North Dakota State who spent time in the NFL.  

"Each of them stayed up here all summer and worked twice a week with the quarterbacks getting that rapport down. They both worked their tails off and it was fun to watch them have the success they had (against La Crosse)." 

Now both Jacobs and Schwellenbach are hoping that symmetry leads to, well … more magic in the SJU aerial attack this season. 

"I think our passing game can be one of the best in all of Division III," Schwellenbach said. "That's the goal here every season. We lost some really good receivers from last season. But we have so much talent back. Our coaches do a great job of knowing who they have and placing them in the best possible spots to succeed. 

"All the tools we need are here. Now it's up to us to execute."