MIAC Roundup: St. John’s pitches a shutout in opener

Gustavus’ Brayton Finch runs the ball Saturday against Martin Luther. Finch caught two touchdown passes and ran for another in the Gusties’ victory at New Ulm, Minn. (athletics.blog.gustavus.edu)

 

MIAC SCOREBOARD
Thursday

  • Buena Vista 39, Hamline 27

Friday

  • St. Olaf 49, Crown 14

Saturday

  • Concordia 28, Neb. Wesleyan 3
  • Augsburg 31, Ripon 28
  • Gustavus 32, Martin Luther 20
  • St. John’s 27, Wis.-Stout 0
  • Bethel 41, Simpson 29
  • St. Thomas 76, Trinity Int’l 7
  • Macalester 48, Carleton 38

Saturday, Sept. 8

  • Augsburg at Concordia (Wis.), 1 p.m.
  • Concordia at Wis.-Whitewater, 1 p.m.
  • Wis.-Stout at Gustavus, 1 p.m.
  • Luther at St. Olaf, 1 p.m.
  • Wis.-River Falls at Bethel, 1 p.m.
  • Lawrence at Carleton, 1 p.m.
  • Macalester at Hamline, 7 p.m.

Jackson Erdmann threw four touchdown passes, two to Will Gillach, and defensive back Max Jackson led the St. John’s defense with six tackles and an interception in a 27-0 victory over Wisconsin-Stout on Saturday at Collegeville, Minn.

Erdmann completed 14 of 22 passes for 241 yards with the four touchdowns and an intercpetion. He hit Jared Streit with a 12-yard scoring strike four minutes into the game, then added an 8-yarder to Tommy Auger with 57 seconds to go in the first quarter.

With 6:13 to go in the third quarter, Erdmann passed 22 yards to Gillach, then five minutes later, he hit Gillach again from 25 yards out to close the scoring.

Gillach caught four passes in all for 75 yards as Erdmann spread the load among six receivers.

Although the time of possession was nearly even, St. John’s out-gained Stout 358 yards to 213.

St. John’s is off next Saturday before opening the MIAC season Sept. 15 at Gustavus.

Macalester 48, Carleton 38

Quarterback Cody Petrich set a Macalester record with six touchdown passes, three to Alec Beatty to lead the Scots under the lights at Macalester Stadium. The victory gave Macalester the Book of Knowledge trophy for the third year in a row.

Petrich completed 21 of 29 passes for 368 yards and did not throw an interception interception while breaking the school record of four TD passes in a game held by several players.

Bethel 41, Simpson 29

Sam Gibas rushed 22 times for 108 yards and three touchdowns to lead Bethel at Indianola, Iowa. Gibas ran for two short touchdowns in the first half as Bethel overcame an early 6-0 deficit to lead 14-9 at the half. Gibas’ 6-yard run with 4:01 left in the fourth quarter gave Bethel a 35-22 lead.

Bethel’s Jaran Roste threw only six passes but completed five for 90 yards and two touchdowns.

Concordia 28, Neb. Wesleyan 3

Rylie Sheridan gained 128 yards on only six carries, including a 91-yard touchdown run, and Blake Kragnes passed for two touchdowns and ran for another in Concordia’s home opener at Moorhead, Minn.

On first down from the Concordia 9-yard line, Sheridan went the distance to give the Cobbers the lead for good with 10:09 to play in the first quarter.

Gustavus 32, Martin Luther 20

Quarterback Michael Veldman rallied Gustavus with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Brayton Finch four seconds before halftime, then hit Finch with a 20-yard scoring strike two minutes into the third quarter that put the Gusties ahead for good at New Ulm, Minn.

Austin DeNoyer ran two yards for a score, his second of the game, with 2:21 to go before the half, giving Martin Luther a 20-12 lead. But Veldman drove the Gusties 66 yards on six plays to cut it to 20-18 at the intermissison. Veldman capped the scoring with a 6-yard touchdown run with 2:46 to play in the third quarter.

For the game, Veldman completed 20 of 35 pases for 248 yards and three touchdowns.

Augsburg 31, Ripon 28

Tyler Hanson kicked a 29-yard field goal with 5:44 to play in the fourth quarter, giving Augsburg the victory at Minneapolis.

After Hanson’s kick, Ripon drove to the Augsburg 42, aided by a face-mask penalty. But with 1:50 to play, the Auggies caught Ripon’s Brent Anderson in his own backfield, causing a fumble that Matthew Kreye recovered. Augsburg ran out the clock from there.

Quarterback Quinn Frisell led Augsburg by passing for 239 yards and two touchdowns, and running for another.

Buena Vista 39, Hamline 27 (Thursday)

Beavers quarterback Cole Miller completed 25 of 40 passes for 382 yards and five touchdowns to outgun Hamline’s Justice Spriggs at Storm Lake, Iowa.

Eric Pacheco caught eight of Miller’s tosses for 242 yards and three touchdowns, including an 87-yard catch and run with 3:40 to play in the second quarter.

Spriggs completed 25 of 52 passes for 326 yards and two touchdowns, but he was intercepted twice. His longest was a 70-yard scoring strike to Tanner Lunceford less than a minute into the game.

St. Olaf 49, Crown 14 (Friday)

Ricardo Johnson III threw for 298 yards and four touchdowns as St. Olaf took a 35-0 halftime lead and cruised from there at St. Bonifacius, Minn.

Johnson connected with first-year Gabe Alada for two touchdowns while posting his best passing-yards total at St. Olaf.

Alada caught five passes for 119 yards. Gonzalo Pirela and Ben Smithson also caught touchdown passes from Johnson.

On defense, the Oles held Crown to 107 yards of offensive while the St. Olaf offense put of 403 yards on offense.