NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College football team suffered a 49-10 loss to fifth-ranked Saint John's University in a Northwoods Division game in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) on Saturday afternoon at Klein Field at Manitou.
Aaron Syverson was 26-for-40 for 351 yards and five touchdowns to lead Saint John's (5-1, 3-1 MIAC) to the win, with three of the touchdowns going to tight end Alex Larson. Senior
Payton Schott hauled in a 40-yard touchdown from sophomore
Theo Doran in the third quarter for the lone touchdown of the game for St. Olaf (3-3, 2-2 MIAC).
Doran was 13-for-28 for 235 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions and connected with Schott for the pair's sixth touchdown in the last five games. Sophomore
Evan Hammonds had the first 100-yard game of his career with six receptions for 117 yards for the Oles, while Schott had four receptions for 73 yards.
Saint John's piled up 585 yards of total offense in the win, rushing for 234 yards in addition to Syverson's 585 passing yards, and averaged over seven yards per play on the afternoon. St. Olaf averaged 5.4 yards per play but was plagued by 13 penalties for 92 yards and was just 1-for-12 on third down.
After getting a three-and-out from its defense to start the game, Saint John's scored on its second offensive snap (first play due to a penalty), as Syverson hooked up with Nick VanErp for a 58-yard touchdown just 1:10 into the game. The St. Olaf defense settled in after the big play, which was the lone scoring of the opening quarter.
Junior
Collin Swan got the Oles on the board with 8:44 remaining in the second quarter with a 33-yard field goal to cut the Johnnies' lead to 7-3, but Saint John's answered with a 13-play, 70-yard drive that ended with a two-yard touchdown run by Henry Trost to make it a 14-3 game. The visitors stretched their lead to 21-3 at halftime when Syverson found Larson from 17 yards out for the duo's first score of the game with 1:15 to go in the half.
The score remained 28-3 until Doran found Schott in behind the Saint John's secondary for a 46-yard touchdown with 3:47 to go in the third quarter for Schott's fifth-straight game with a touchdown. Schott's four receiving touchdowns in conference play rank tied for second in the MIAC this season.
Larson hauled in the game's next two touchdowns from Syverson, scoring on catches of nine and 15 yards late in the third quarter and early in the fourth. Caden Wheeler broke loose for a 68-yard touchdown run in the final minute to cap the scoring.
Juniors
Ben Hestorff paced the St. Olaf defense with seven tackles, including 1.5 tackles for a loss, and broke up a pass, while classmate
Luke Stanga had six tackles, including one for a loss, a fumble recovery, and a pass breakup.
St. Olaf travels to Duluth to face the College of St. Scholastica on Saturday, Oct. 22 at 1 p.m.