ST. PAUL, Minn. – The St. Olaf College football team closed out its season with a 28-7 victory over Hamline University during Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Championship Week on Saturday afternoon at Klas Field.
In his final game as an Ole, fifth-year senior
Jordan Embry carried the load offensively with 42 carries for 169 yards and two rushing touchdowns for St. Olaf (5-5, 3-4 MIAC), which won at Hamline (4-6, 2-5 MIAC) for the second time this season. The Oles claimed a 49-25 victory in the first matchup at Klas Field back on Sept. 30.
Embry's 42 carries were the second-highest total of his career – behind only a 51-carry effort at the College of St. Scholastica on Oct. 22, 2022 – as he went over 100 yards for the eighth time in nine games this season with a season-high 169 yards. Embry finished the season with 245 carries for 1,167 yards and 12 touchdowns, ranking tied for second on St. Olaf's single-season list in carries, fifth in rushing yards, and ninth in touchdowns.
Junior
Theo Doran was 13-for-22 for 200 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions through the air to finish off a junior campaign that saw Doran set single-season program records with 209 completions and 2,822 passing yards. Doran threw touchdowns to senior
Derek Hansen and sophomore
Will Skemp in the win.
After getting a three-and-out defensively to start the game, St. Olaf marched 49 yards in nine plays for the game's first touchdown, as Embry got into the end zone from eight yards out with 10:25 to go in the opening quarter. Later in the quarter, the first of two interceptions by senior
Deonta Thomas set up the Oles at the Hamline 35-yard line, leading to a seven-yard touchdown run by Embry a play after Doran hit Hansen for a 29-yard gain.
The lone score of the second quarter was a 15-yard toss from Doran to Skemp with 9:36 to go in the quarter, as the Oles took a 21-0 lead into the halftime break. The scoring pass completed an 11-play, 89-yard drive for St. Olaf, which outgained Hamline by a 401-244 margin in the game, and came following a 38-yard pass from Doran to junior
Evan Hammonds on the previous play.
Hamline got its lone points of the game on a 46-yard touchdown run by quarterback Alejandro Villanueva a minute and a half into the fourth quarter. St. Olaf answered just 2:13 after the long run by Villanueva, as Doran found Hansen for a 23-yard touchdown for Hansen's fourth touchdown of the season.
In addition to Thomas' two-interception day, senior
Ben Hestorff had a team-high nine tackles for the Oles defensively, while senior
Luke Stanga recorded a sack as part of a four-tackle afternoon. St. Olaf held Hamline to 1-for-12 on third down and converted 10 of its 16 third downs in the game.
