NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College football team led fourth-ranked Saint John's University, 17-13, early in the second quarter before the Johnnies pulled away in the second half for a 54-17 victory on Saturday afternoon at Klein Field at Manitou.

St. Olaf (5-2, 3-2 MIAC) trailed 13-3 after the first quarter before scoring two touchdowns in the span of 14 seconds early in the second to take a 17-13 lead. Saint John's (7-0, 6-0 MIAC), however, grabbed a 20-17 lead at the half and scored 34 unanswered points in the second half to remain unbeaten.

Jackson Erdmann, last season's D3football.com National Offensive Player of the Year, was 25-for-36 for 496 yards and four touchdowns for the Johnnies, throwing touchdowns to four different receivers in the win. Kai Barber ran for two touchdowns and caught another, as he was one of four Johnnies with at least 94 receiving yards in the game.

Sophomore Lars Prestemon accounted for both of St. Olaf's touchdowns in the loss, throwing for 199 yards and a touchdown, while rushing for another score. Prestemon's passing touchdown was a 40-yard strike to senior Gonzalo Pirela that put the Oles ahead, 17-13.

Prestemon's favorite target in the game was sophomore tight end Isaac Coutier, who caught six passes for 84 yards. Sophomore Gabe Alada had three receptions for 67 yards for the Oles.

After Barber got the scoring started on a six-yard touchdown run with 8:31 to go in the first quarter for Saint John's, Ethan March connected on a 35-yard field goal, his seventh of the season, with 1:07 left in the quarter to make it a 7-3 game. On the next play from scrimmage, Erdmann hit Barber for an 88-yard touchdown to give the Johnnies a 13-3 lead after one quarter.

St. Olaf got the ball right back and marched 75 yards in eight plays, scoring on a four-yard run by Prestemon after the sophomore completed passes of 15 and 20 yards to Coutier and 37 yards to Alada on the drive. Prestemon's rushing touchdown was his second of the season and cut the Saint John's lead to 13-10.

On the ensuing kickoff, sophomore Brandon Foster jarred the ball loose and first year Kris Kurtz recovered, giving the Oles the ball at the Saint John's 40-yard line. On the next play, Prestemon found Alada in behind the Johnnies' secondary on a flea flicker for a 40-yard touchdown that put St. Olaf ahead, 17-13, with 11:58 left in the half.

Saint John's responded with a 13-play, 74-yard drive that took just over five minutes to take the lead back. Erdmann either threw or rushed for 65 of the 74 yards on the drive before Barber found the end zone from nine yards out for his third touchdown of the half.

Henry Trost scored back-to-back touchdowns to start the third quarter for the Johnnies, scoring on a 26-yard pass from Erdmann less than two minutes in and getting in from a yard out on the ground seven minutes later.

Erdmann threw touchdowns of four yards to Ravi Alson and 92 yards to Matt Mohr late in the third quarter and early in the fourth before Will Kleinschmidt ran for a six-yard touchdown with 3:14 remaining in the game to close the scoring.

Saint John's totaled 749 yards of offense in the win while averaging 11.0 yards per play. St. Olaf's 17 points were its most against the Johnnies since a 38-35 victory in Collegeville on Sept. 29, 2012.

The Oles host nationally-ranked St. Thomas on Senior Day on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 1:10 p.m.