A great season for graduating senior Kellen Blaser ends in disapointment. Photo courtesy of GoJohnnies.com

It took nearly 36 hours and lots of guts, perhaps the same guts Joe B. Quarterback lost early in the afternoon Saturday to even have the nerve to glance at the St. Cloud Times website and review of the Johnnies first round playoff game.  As I gradually moved closer to my desk, instinctively my computer mouse finally found it’s way back home, home being the D3Football.com website and Post Patterns message board. 

The process is always the same anytime the Johnnie Football team suffers an excruciatingly painful loss or equally maddening early exit from the Division III playoffs.  If the agony from the Johnnie playoff loss to the Coe College Cohawks was devastating for committed fans of St. John’s University you can only imagine what it felt like for returning starter Joe B. Quarterback. 

After sitting out nearly a full month with his right thumb in a cast, Joe Boyle was almost immediately greeted with a helmet to the gut and Johnnie fans wondering why he was sitting on the bench with his head between his legs and Johnnie staffers washing down the tartan track directly beneath the bench.  With an icepack stacked high on the back of his neck it looked as though Johnnie playoff prospects would be left to a handful of backup quarterbacks  hurriedly tossing passes back and fourth along the sideline.

Managing to return to the field shortly after, Joe lasted well into the final quarter before dropping back to pass on third down and seeing no one open took off running with his exceptionally quick feet only to be violently speared in the back by the knee of one of the Coe defenders. Sliding within inches of the first down, Boyle was now on his side with legs squirming and pain piercing his lower back and hip.

Staggering off with the help of SJU medical staff and a right leg stiffened and locked in place to guard from any additional agony, Joe B’s 2009 season was about to end.  Not from the numerous injuries wracking his body or the confusion his brain must have been in from the multiple neurons each sending their own message of anguish, but from the fumble committed on the very next play by his freshman understudy. 

Could fate be so crule?

Just as the Johnnies were driving deep into Coehawk territory late in the fourth quarter and trailing by one touchdown,  linebacker Calvin Thomas picked up the fumbled 4th down snap from the substitute Johnnie QB and bolted 70 yards for another defensive touchdown.  On this day it would take two crazy defensive touchdowns by the same player for nearly 170 yards and an underwhelming Johnnie performance to help register the Coe College win.

How do we fill the void and emptiness of an unfulfilled playoff season?  Let’s begin by giving praise and thanks for Collegeville football Saturdays and the astounding performance throughout the 2009 season.  Let’s give thanks too for The MIAC rule change allowing transfer students to gain an extra year of eligibilty that up until this point would have been forfeited.  The change in policy will dramatically enhance the Johnnie football roster in 2010.

Change we can believe in will also be achieved by inserting freshman running back Harry Awe as the full-time slot receiver and kick returner.  This year the Johnnies ran the ball in aggressive fashion and are plenty stacked with returning ball-carriers including “break-out” frosh Stephen Johnson.  What the offense lacks is the game-breaking downfield passes that excited fans and devastated opponents thrown from the wings of this decade’s past quarterbacks Linnemann, Denne, Keating and Kofoed.

Running the ball on the end around with Harry Awe should be at the top of offensive play chart along with reincarnating the smallish style and explosiveness of late 90’s Johnnies superstar wide receiver Adam Herbst.

With one year left in his quarterback career Joe Boyle can guarantee the Johnnies another MIAC championship and pull them from their recent first round playoff dull-drums.  He’ll need to retire his scrambling style and rely on an experienced offensive line and pocket passing to minimize the injuries he suffered during the 2009 season.

In the end we’ll all give thanks to Boyle, Awe and Johnson for leading us past the first round of the playoffs and onwards toward another Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl.

Thanks indeed.

*  Stay tuned to JohnnieFootball.com throughout the off-season for postings from TC, TDT, JohnnieTats and our newest contributor, Pure Bred Johnnie – Matt Melsen.  Happy Thanksgiving!

The Johnnies also retained their number four ranking in the AFCA and D3Football.com polls.  Poll positions first ascended to with their win over St. Olaf during week eight of the regular season.

Representing the west region, St. John’s carries the tradition of it’s legendary coach John Gagliardi and decades of success and championship seasons as one of the unofficial criteria elevating it’s self ahead of other equally potent football programs also in the west region.

With a slightly better Strength of Schedule than other west region teams Central College and Linfield, St. John’s was designated as the number one seeded team and third ranked team overall of the four top teams selected. 

As in years past Mount Union College finished #1 in the small college polls and received the overall #1 seed.  The University of Wisconsin Whitewater followed close by all season and received the #2 seed, ranked fourth nationally in the polls St. John’s received the #3 seed sliding past #4 seed Wesley College of Dover, Delaware which was third ranked throughout the regular season polls.

Unbelievably,  of the eight teams selected for the west region bracket six are top ten ranked teams.  The University of Mary Hardin Baylor was shifted from the south region, was ranked #7 nationally and seeded # 7 in the west.

Also unbelievable was former Johnnie quarterback Tom Linnemann who had no idea who the Johnnies’ first round opponent was when asked by Star Tribune columnist and KSTP radio host Patrick Reusse during Linnemann’s regular Monday morning appearance.  As in an originally printed Reusse column, Linnemann was still hoping for a first round match-up with The Tommies.  Unlike Linnemann, Reusse at least knew now it wouldn’t be St. Thomas. 

St. John’s begins tournament play this coming Saturday at noon in Collegeville hosting The Coe College Kohawks of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The complete Division III football playoff bracket can be viewed here.

Photo by Sowden

This past weekend was perhaps some of the most spectacular weather in all of 2009 here locally in the state of Minnesota.  For those of you who lamented a summer in which temperatures were unpredictable, your reward was 3 consecutive days of autumn bliss and excess.

Minnesotans this weekend selected from traditional and timely activities such as bagging fallen leaves beaten down earlier in the month by wind and rain, northerly treks to family hunting shacks for the stalking of white tail deer and of course high school and college football.

On Friday evening here in the western suburbs the best high school football team in the state, The Eden Prairie HS Eagles, manhandled and dominated their way thumping Minnetonka 38 – 7 in weather conditions that normally only appear on fall Saturdays in Collegeville.  A packed crowd with more rug rats milling about than what you’d find in a certain west suburban household added to the bountiful harvest that was in full gear on the green synthetic field.

With rumors of EP head coach Mike Grant heading to Collegeville next fall here’s one Johnnie fan who hopes he packs his trailer and saves room to bring along a few of his football playing graduates.

There are Eagle players so dominating from Friday’s game that with the arrival of the Grant household in Collegeville next fall including ’83 CSB grad Colleen Remitz – Grant, the cross-town and suddenly resurgent UST Tommies would sniff no better than second place the next 4 years.  Perhaps coach Gagliardi could also make room for Colleen’s son and seldom used Gopher backup linebacker Ryan Grant.

And with Saturday morning temperatures perhaps too warm for a thoroughly enjoyable deer hunt, the other half of Minnesota moved over to TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis to continue bathing and lavishing themselves in stunning southern California like weather. 

Stunning too was the Division I University of Minnesota Golden Gopher performance who were equally amazed with the glorious morning as they stood by amidst spectacular surroundings watching The Big Ten’s Fighting Illini rake them for a 28 – 7 halftime lead and early afternoon victory.

Traveling west from the U of M on Washington Avenue on this splendid day the elite of Minnesota’s small college football fraternity found themselves in the most undesirable environment of any indigenous football fan – indoors.

Johnnie fans accustomed to the spiritual surroundings and mystical Collegeville grounds were instead covered in Teflon and seated among blue plastic seats in distances so far from Coach John Gagliardi it was difficult to tell how steamed he was at freshman quarterback John Ries for giving up 7 points on a 93 yard pass interception.

Fortunately for SJU, defense will advance them in the upcoming DIII playoffs and on Saturday linebackers, tackles and corners limited the top rated MIAC passing attack to a mere 100 yards.  No yards rushing and no fun for anyone as both the Auggie and Johnnie fans were wishing they were somewhere else on Saturday.

Adding at least some entertainment to Saturday’s victory was Star Tribune columnist Patrick Reusse leaping to the Tommie bandwagon and inaccurately announcing in his Sunday morning column the possibility of a first round match up with the third ranked(regionally) Johnnies. 

The Johnnies, actually ranked #1 regionally, will enter the final game of the season this coming Saturday with a perfect record, their 31st conference championship secured and a likely shot at a number one seed in the DIII playoffs. 

We’ll see if the UST Tommies can hang on long enough to make their way back to St. John’s for a more likely third round rematch and playing conditions much different than the sun bath most college football fans enjoyed on Saturday.

In predictalbe fashion..... Johnnie Defense

Frosh Steve Johnson, Photo courtesy of GoJohnnies.com

We’re never quite satisfied with the absolute condition of The Johnnie Football team regardless of how many wins have been notched, rushing yards gained, passes completed or record setting field goals converted with less than 10 seconds left on the clock.

As Johnnie Football fans we’d design our own template that would create the type of game that not only would end in victory but would have enough rushing yards to balance the explosive passing game we knew with Stagg Bowl quarterbacks Tom Linnemann and Ryan Keating.

Even the record setting quarterback AK-11, Alex Kofoed, as recently as two seasons ago was continuing the stereotype of big passing, big play, high scoring signal callers in Collegeville. 

To continue our expectations the opposition would rarely cross midfield and victory would be comfortably in hand before the 4th quarter with margins of victory of at least 21 points.  The regular season would end with a perfect record and the NCAA DIII playoff committee would grant SJU a number one seed.

The 2009 chapter of Coach John Gagliardi’s continuing career can’t be called typical and certainly hasn’t been textbook, however the results are precisely what we’ve expected.  Through eight regular season games and as coach Gagliardi would say himself, “You can’t be any better than 8 – 0”.

We know coach, but couldn’t you tell your quarterback to throw a few more down field passes for pretty completions and spectacular touchdowns? 

Exciting downfield passes and long touchdown receptions have suddenly become a distant memory as The Johnnies Joe B. Quarterback finds himself on the sideline with a severely injured thumb.  The injury reports swirling on the internet are better suited for the spare parts room in Jeffry Dahmer’s Milwaukee apartment. 

The luck and magic that accompany Johnnie Football year after year cannot be denied and the past two seasons have seen their share of miracle finishes.  From a cascade of improbable wins and losses across the conference in the last four weeks of the 2008 season and heart thumping field goals of 49 and 52 yards this season, there is no template that exits to detail the unexplainable.

With Joe B.’s throwing hand in questionable health for the rest of the season you can expect the improbable Johnnie running game to continue its dominance and mastery of MIAC opponents.  With untested back-up talent at quarterback don’t be surprised if The Johnnie offense installs The Miami Dolphin version of the Wildcat with one of The Johnnie jumbo backs Jakob Reding or Kellen Blaser taking the direct snap.

And when Joe B. Quarterback reappears on the 21st of November with his dangling thumb partially healed and slapped together with a heavy dose of athletic tape,  we certainly won’t see anything resembling 21st century football.

Just more of the improbable.  Improbable enough to find the Johnnies deep into the DIII playoffs while relying on early 20th century technique.  Now that’s scary!

Jeff Gilbertson paving the way for jumbo back Kellen Blaser

Gorgeous Bennie Babes dotted the SJU campus on Saturday. Where was TDT?

The story du-jour this past week has been the many fans and tailgaters making their way to Collegeville for the 2009 chapter of John Gagliardi’s 61 year career.  Never at a loss for the dramatic, Johnnie Football has provided fans with enough entertainment this season alone to replace their collection of Vince Flynn novels.

The latter of course hitting the top of the New York Times best sellers list each fall as he releases a new international anti-terrorist thriller.  Unfortunately for Vince, a proud graduate of The University of St. Thomas, and unlike his superhero character Mitch Rapp, UST’s  new hero and Coach Glenn Caruso found his first trip to Collegeville a long bus ride home.

In fact with folks trying to leave the Collegeville campus all at once Saturday afternoon, it took nearly as much time to reach the highway 94 exit as it would to reach the west  Minneapolis suburbs.  Now that’s a painful ride home if you’re 0-2 your first two seasons, losing one on a controversial game ending call and another in overtime.

Not that it was a complete loss for the Tommie fans as plenty of them arrived well before the traffic jam that was still forming at 1:30pm and backed its way into St. Joseph.  Those early visitors may have been tipped off late in the week by SCTimes reporter Frank Rajkowski and knew they’d find an inviting atmosphere to relax prior to taking their seats.

While some fans arrived early enough to find frost covering the plastic grass of Clemens Stadium, others grabbed their favorite gathering spot to begin the traditional art of cooking meat over burning coals.  On this day the planetary alignment of the college football world was pointing quite obviously toward The Johnnie’s version of Touchdown Jesus – The Abbey Bell Tower and The Collegeville Campus.

Only once before in the long history of Johnnie Football had there been more fans in Collegeville.  With bright sunshine, blue skies and two undefeated teams – Saturday’s game defined the big time atmosphere that exists at only a handful of small college campuses and surpasses the environment at just about anything you’ll find in a pretty wide swath through the midsection of Minnesota.

Glenn Caruso said it earlier in the week when he mentioned his goal is to play in 5 or 6 big games every year.  Most teams are lucky if they get one or two games of importance in a season and that includes plain ole rivalry games.  At St. John’s, one of the great allures of Johnnie Football is the pure rush that comes with 49 yard field goals, the first ever overtime game in home history and real playoff football.

Adding to Saturday’s ideal climate and traditional fall foliage was a dominating defense and punishing ground game that featured two experienced running backs with a combined weight approaching 450 pounds.  A load that may well deliver another MIAC Championship and number one seed in the NCAA DIII playoffs.

And as far as our preference in superheroes? We’ll take ours over the NY Times Best Sellers List any day of the week.

Kellen Blaser takes flight as one half of the Johnnies backfield and dynamic duo.

As the most widely read contributor to this website you may have been surprised to see my writing partner TouchDownTommy, AKA Nacho Libre, posting first thing Monday in place of my typical early morning composition.

As a budding college football observer, TDT is finding his niche among the writers at JohnnieFootball.com and was in creative mode following his attendance at the Cobber game Saturday on the UST campus. 

With stubby pencil in hand our junior writer did a thorough job recording the UST Homecoming events and also managed to start a bit of controversy on the D3Football.com message boards with his less than complimentary description of those in attendance.

Not that TDT was critical of those in attendance, just the number of folks who decided to show up. 

For the record and for all the hardcore Johnnie fans that show up consistently for games, we take none of this dedication for granted.  For the unbelievable numbers that make the trek to Collegeville and establish St. John’s as the attendance leader in Division III football, we salute you.

What must be considered seriously however is a St. Thomas football team that’s burning for a signature win in a season that may also deliver a conference championship and postseason play to their university and second year coach Glenn Caruso.

My absence from Monday morning “Paydirt with DustySJU” was a brief departure from the Johnnie football Saturdays I practice ritually.  Instead of Veek and Johnnie Red’s selection of bratwurst, pork patties and Stiftungsfest, I was having my own “Jager-fest” four hours northwest of the metroplex.

This past weekend was also spent attempting to connect with the college football world via dialup and AM radio while prepping the Hacienda Del Mar for it’s winter nap. 

A few passes around the lake Friday and Saturday afternoon snagging jumbo perch and northern pike was a perfect respite before the important stretch run beginning with the Toms this weekend.  The quick departure from my Saturday habit also gave TDT the opportunity to go live Monday morning, catch my many readers by surprise and introduce them to his own impending superstardom.

No one’s accusing the staff at JohnnieFootball.com of challenging the A-Man, Austin Murphy, college football’s premier writer, but we sure are having fun pretending.  You can catch The A-Man’s genius insight weekly in Sports Illustrated Magazine.

One thing we don’t pretend about however is the tradition of Johnnie football, the faithful fans and readers that take interest in the point of view presented here and most importantly, we don’t pretend about the real challenge St. John’s University faces this Saturday.

From the Johnnie photographers showing up and providing a glimpse into the game and pregame activity, to the team of writers consistently making deadline to the webmaster who glues it all together, we applaud you our fans. 

We also thank the advertisers who believe enough in what we do to help support the JohnnieFootball.com site.  The team at JohnnieFootball.com is proud of what we do and proud to do it on behalf of our fans and our team.

We’ll be even prouder come Saturday when our boys stop another challenger dead in their tracks.

History making moments abounded Saturday throughout the Minnesota sporting community and none were heard from louder than the thousands of fans and alumni gathered at Clemens Stadium. 

But then again history making moments are precisely the reason thousands make the pilgrimage each fall for football Saturdays.  Those who’ve marched regularly to Collegeville tell tales of a 2001 playoff melee where a young wide receiver returned a punt 80 yards through the mud and rain for a game winning touchdown.

Other followers point to a lengthy field goal with time running out in 1985 versus St. Thomas, on the opponent’s home field, to win 16 – 15.  Some perhaps look fondly on the day Coach Gagliardi grasped the record as the winningest football coach of all-time against this weekends same opponent – The Bethel University Royals.

Despite the more than 10,000 fans that sojourned Saturday to the place of Benedictine rule, there were plenty of reasons to seek more comfortable surroundings. Temperatures stayed near 40 degrees with looming rain threatening throughout the day.

The weather for Homecoming is traditionally sunny as is the disposition of those attending given the Johnnies penchant towards winning these early October contests in front of its most valued supporters. 

Homecoming at St. John’s in recent years has also become a Renaissance Festival of sorts with inflatable castles dotting the post game event and plenty of grog and ale available to alumni and friends.

Despite the less than ideal party conditions the formula for another successful University Annual Fund Drive was well in place as the Johnnies notched  a touchdown late in the 4th quarter to make the score 14 -13. The guaranteed extra point to tie the game was soon to be racked up by senior place kicker Russell Gliadon.

Like the sun nearly breaking through the southwest horizon just beyond The Quadrangle, Russell Gliadon’s extra point nearly went through the uprights.

 Along with Russell’s unexpected miss so went the party atmosphere and hopes of meeting donor goals in an already economically challenged time, replaced instead by horror, disbelief, anger and a rapidly dwindling interest in contributing to the educations of future Johnnie students.

However to be called “The Greatest Game” in Johnnie football history requires the unexpected, and in this case a record breaking 49 yard field goal with time expiring is qualification enough.

Pass the pledge cards please.

Sunny Days in Cobberland

For the second week in a row, having just been discovered in a football meeting in the Alcuin Library Auditorium, reserve sophomore defensive lineman Jack Daggett blocked another extra point.  This time it was on the opening touchdown by the Concordia Cobbers and kept the Johnnie footballers within a field goal.

With road trips to Milwaukee, Sioux Falls and Chicago scheduled over the next seven days I figured saving myself another eight hours in the car with my daughters made  Saturday’s game worth monitoring via the Stiftungsfest party machine – The Outcast.

As I mentioned to Nacho Libre this morning, tending to my perennials and securing my “hall pass” for the remainder of the season took precedence over traveling to Mick’s Office in Moorhead for another morning of Johnnie “pregaming”.

The “Voice of Johnnie” football, Mark Lewendowski however assessed the Johnnie contingent in Moorhead at somewhere around 300 people with additional Cobber fans filling in the visitors section with maroon and gold.  

Given the three and a half hour one-way drive from the west suburbs, Saturday’s crowd will definitely be the smallest of the season even if John Gagliardi is cursed with a fourth post-season trip to southeastern Wisconsin.

Despite the lengthy drive west, JohnnieFootball.com was there to cover the game and a team that is showing strength and confidence, missing components from the past two seasons.  Be sure to check the JohnnieFootball.com’s game recap by “sjusection105” and action photography by “JohnnieDad”.

Reports from The St. Cloud Times to The BEAR’s Saturday game day broadcast gave accolades to a Johnnie defender that recovered two fumbles inside the Johnnie 20 yard line and the junior quarterback from Minneapolis whose gaining fans by the corn field.

Maybe you even checked the official game report and saw SJU’s leading defender with 10 tackles was linebacker John Stanton.

But what the heck – why not Jack Daggett!

The big story in week two was John Gagliardi capturing another freshman Johnnie football class by amazingly plunking a 6’ 7” reserve lineman from the 200 or so seated for the early week meeting.  This same freshman class watched Daggett block the game tying extra point late in the 4th quarter against the UW Eau Claire BluGolds, affirming these fuzzy skinned players of Gagliardi’s legendary status.

“Listening” to Jack Daggett block another extra point in week three only furthers the Gagliardi legend and secures an already mystical 600 game career.

"Fear the Ear" - The always prepared and buttoned up Terry Horan works the sideline

HA25 - Photo By Biasi

All right, most of you have probably already uttered these headline words first carved from a presidential era seemingly decades ago and who mimic the smashing and slashing style of sophomore running back Harry Awe. 

Merely uttering the phrase “Shock and Awe” brings smiles to faces and a sense of overwhelming power just as Harry’s Collegeville debut elicited Saturday afternoon in the hot and humid theater called The Natural Bowl.

Photo by "Johnnie Dad"

Following the River Falls victory 8 days ago it was declared a backfield of senior running backs, Jokob Redding and Kellen Blaser, would occupy much of the offense for the 2009 season. Shocking was a noticeably missing Kellen Blaser who was nowhere to be seen among the 200 or so University players and personnel roaming the sideline. 

With the SJU Final Participation Report showing no sign of Blaser you’d wonder if the super sized version of Chris Moore, SJU ’01, forgot to show up for Saturday’s game.  Perhaps it was something else he forgot.

Two Schools - One Passion!

Just when it seemed another messy talent debate was brewing on the west sideline, a series of fumbles, injuries and a missing player has sprung the running back to starting running status.  It’s certainly not official yet, and of course both senior runners Blaser and Redding will see plenty of action this season however look for an increasing roll by HA25 and the entire running game.

Watching the game from just above the 50 yard line was Tom Awe and the rest of the Awe clan.  Even while viewing Mr. Awe and a senior member of the Awe family from several rows above it was apparent the family experienced a nerve wrenching jolt every time Harry touched the ball.  The University of St. Thomas graduate’s red hat bobbed up and down throughout the game and was sandwiched for support front and center by two other female family members.

Other Johnnie offensive family members viewing the game for fun was Dan Vanderheyden who not only enjoyed winning a free pizza from the House of Pizza but also witnessed a spectacular end zone catch by son Ben for 2 points late in the 4th quarter.

If next weekend’s Cobber fans are still recovering from the graduation of spectacular running back Corey Johnson(C’09) they’ll have plenty of reason to remember as the newest member of the Johnnie offense burns down Jake Christiansen Stadium on Saturday.

Go Johnnies! Photo by Murphy

Photo by Maurer

As Johnnie fans lay waste to their summer of 2009, visions of boating, lake time, cabin frolicking and barbecues laden with bratwurst, meat market specials and corn on the cob give way to dreams of an approaching season of stalwart efforts by the heavily talented defensive unit.

Trailing its way into the psyche of SJU fans is a renewed hope of offensive reliability and excitement productive enough to keep pace with their brother defenders credited with winning so many games in past seasons.

If the slow start of the defense, multiple defensive injuries and a suddenly interesting offensive attack are accurate indicators, then 2009 has begun in wildly unlikely fashion.

With SJU trailing 17 – 0 well into the 2nd quarter it appeared as though Johnnie defenders would not be counted on Saturday to hold down the UW-RF Falcons and their dream to win their home opener at soon to be renovated Ramer Field.

Luckily on this day however sharp shooting QB Joe Boyle and senior wide receiver Ben Vanderheyden, who worked throughout the summer perfecting their passing game, decided to reincarnate a simpler time when Johnnie offenses were considered gluttonous with productivity.

Firing passes with authority and exclusively from under center QB Boyle reached WR Vanderheyeden with scoring passes of 24 and 46 yards to pull the Johnnies within 3 points at the half. Had senior Russell Gliadon converted on an attempted 30 yard field early on, the game would have been tied.

The choice to forgo establishing a starting quarterback in ’08 was a critical error which bore compounded indenture and controversy throughout. The same decision awaits offensive coordinator Jimmy Gagliardi only this time it involves his roster heavy in talented running backs.

With an All-American Chris Moore ‘00 like flash around right end in the 4th quarter, Johnnie senior Kellen Blaser surprised everyone on the field and in the bleachers with his unlikely scoring sprint. Returning starter Jakob Reding provides durability despite a 3rd quarter fumble which completely brought the game to a standstill. Toss in frosh Steve Johnson for speed and you have your early season backfield.

No dreamin’ required.