Coe College started the scoring for the day in the 1st quarter on a 13 play, 61 yard drive which was capped off by their QB Brad Boyle finishing the drive on a 1-yard run. The SJU defense blocked the PAT and the score was Coe 6- SJU 0

SJU took the next possession and put on a drive that ended the 1st quarter and continued to the 2nd quarter.At the 14:45 mark of the 2nd quarter, SJU QB Joe Boyle had a pass tipped and picked off by Coe LB Calvin Thomas who returned the ball 93 yards for a Coe TD. The PAT was good and Coe was up 13-0 at this point of the game.

SJU took possession and put together an 8 play ,61 yard drive where Joe Boyle was scrambling and found Sam Pederson open for a 43 yard TD pass at 10:13 of the 2nd quarter. The PAT by Russell Gliadon was good and the score was Coe 13 SJU 7.

At the 2:58 mark of the 2nd quarter Brad Boyle of Coe found Ryan Jones for a 10 yard TD pass. The PAT was good and Coe increased it’s lead over SJU by a score of 20-7.

SJU kept pace with the Kohawks as Joe Boyle, again on a broken play, found Ben Vanderheyden open on a 58 yard TD pass at the 2:01 mark of the 2nd quarter. The Gliadon PAT was good and the halftime score would be Coe 20-SJU 14.

Coe was the first to score in the 3rd quarter as Brad Boyle found Michael Rozum on a 19 yard scoring pass at the 7:43 mark of the 3rd quarter. The PAT was good and Coe increased it’s lead to 27-14.

With 48 seconds remaining in the 3rd quarter Joe Boyle found Andrew Rotschafer open in the end zone on a 7 yard pass play. The Gliadon PAT was wide and the score was Coe 27-SJU 20.

At the 10:06 point of the 4th quarter Coe’s Calvin Thomas scored his second defensive TD of the day on a 76 yard fumble recovery. SJU’s Joe Boyle was helped off the field the play prior with a lower back injury suffered as he scrambled for yardage near the 1st down marker. Back up QB John Ries was forced into action. The following play a fumble occurred on the hand off exchange, as Thomas picked up the ball he broke two SJU tackles and was off to the races. The PAT was good and Coe increased it’s lead 34-20.

Joe Boyle was able to return to the game later in the 4th quarter as the Johnnie defense forced a fumble at their own 3 yard line with Coe looking to score again. Joe Boyle engineered a 16 play 97 yard drive in 3:18 seconds. Joe Boyle had found Kellen Blaser in the end zone on a 2 yard TD pass. The Gliadon PAT was good and SJU narrowed the Coe lead to 34-27 with 1:09 remaining.

SJU attempted an onside kick, but Coe was able to recover and from there the Kohawks ran the clock down to seal the victory.

Statistically SJU led in every category, including turning over the ball which turned out to be the difference maker when you play a team like the Kohawks.

Stephen Johnson ran the ball 24 times for a net 101 yards for the Johnnies. Kellen Blaser was the leading receiver on the day with 6 catches for 69 yards and the TD. Josh Overman caught 4 balls for 54 yards. Joe Boyle threw 34 passes, completing 20 for 285 yards and 4 TD. Boyle also threw the interception that Thomas of Coe returned for a Kohawk TD.

Defensively Bobby Klint had 10 tackles and a fumble recovery. John Stanton had 7 tackles. Jeff Bohlman had 5 tackles, a forced fumble and blocked the PAT on Coe’s first TD. Ryan Wimmer had 5 tackles and a forced fumble. Dan Franta had 4 tackles. David Burns had 3 tackles, a tackle for a loss and a QB sack. Mike Bonynge had 3 tackles and a fumble recovery . Griffin Hayes, Kyle Schroeder and Jimmy Sharpe combined for an additional 2 QB sacks and 2 additional tackles for loss.

For the seniors who played their last game,the finality of it all is tough. Every year only one team is happy at the end of the season and that is the Stagg Bowl champions. The sting will diminish after a couple of days and the good memories you have of SJU and the years you had playing football will remain. The friendships you have made over your years at SJU will be some of the strongest friendships you will form over your lifetime. Look back not with what could have been, but with fond memories of your accomplishments.

The seniors have now entered into the next chapter of their lives,that of Johnnie football fan. You are now part of the Johnnie Nation, welcome. You are St. John’s.

The Johnnies took on the Carleton Knights in the season finale and prevailed 41-14 in a game that saw a little bit of everything. The Johnnies were playing without starting QB Joe Boyle, Starting RB Jakob Reding and starting MLB Ryan Wimmer, but their back ups played well.

Billy Lawrence stepped in for Wimmer and he had 2 interceptions and 3 tackles. During the return of the second interception Billy appeared to  be channeling J.C. Watts, the great Oklahoma Sooner QB of the late 1970’s who ran the option offense to perfection. After Lawrence made the interception he saw he was about to get tackled,  as he was in the grasp of two Carleton defenders he pitched the ball to Nate Anderson who took the ball to the end zone for the first score of the game with 2:44 remaining in the 1st quarter. The Russell Gliadon PAT made the score SJU7-Carleton 0

After Carleton scored early in the 2nd quarter, the Johnnies Stephen Johnson scored from 2 yards out with 7:51 remaining in the 2nd quarter. The half time score was SJU 14-Carleton 7 after another successful PAT by Gliadon.

At half time the Johnnie coaching staff made some nice adjustments and put in a new “triangle” formation to create space for the outside running game. Greg Sowden played an instrumental role in the success of this scheme. Sowden, who was projected to play left offensive guard this season, is back from early season injuries and really is a sixth offensive lineman in this type of a running formation. When the coaching staff put in this package, I’m sure they thought only of the blocking ability Sowden brought to the table. What the team also inherited  was a precise route running, sure handed, pass catching tight end as Sowden showed off his skills in the pass catching game later in the contest. After running the ball exclusively to the left side and seeing Stephen Johnson make nice gains each time,  QB John Ries found Josh Overman open on the right side for a 21-yard TD pass on this opening drive of the 3rd quarter.Gliadon again made the PAT for a 21-7 SJU lead.

Ethan Eid had missed several games early in the season recuperating  from a groin as well as a shoulder injury. Being held together with duct tape and baling twine, Eid has returned to action and is in fine form. At the 7:02 mark of the 3rd quarter, Eid stepped in front of a Carleton pass and bumbled, rumbled and stumbled 59 yards for the second SJU defensive TD of the afternoon. Followed by another Gliadon PAT the score was 28-7 in favor of the Johnnies.

The 4th quarter saw Carleton score again and the Johnnies scoring twice more. The second running TD by Stephen Johnson, as his star continues to rise for the Johnnies heading into the play offs, was from 2 yards out with 6:20 remaining in the game. Again, Gliadon made the PAT.

Scott Ramey scored the final TD of the day with 1:33 remaining in the contest on a QB keeper. The PAT was wide to the right making the final score SJU 41- Carleton 14.

The leading tackler for the Johnnies again was John Stanton with 11 tackles. Andrew Pierskalla had 4 tackles and 2 sacks. Noel Meyer also had a sack and Griffin Hayes had a fumble recovery to highlight the defensive statistics beyond what was mentioned earlier with Lawrence, Anderson and Eid.

The offensive statistical leaders were John Ries who was 9 of 16 passing for 119 yards with 1 TD and no interceptions.  Stephen Johnson has 128 yards on 26 carries and 2 rushing TDs.

The passing game saw Josh Overman with 3 catches for 73 yards and a TD. Kellen Blaser caught 2 balls for 22 yards.

The play offs begin next Saturday November 21. At the time of this writing it is not known where the Johnnies will play and who their opponent will be. With an undefeated record and being ranked in the top four teams in the nation over the past several weeks, conventional wisdom says the Johnnies should have their first round game at home., but  as goes the saying “time will tell”.

If you are an early morning reader of this column, don’t forget to check back on JohnnieFootball.com later today as our panel will discus the Johnnies first round opponent and the Road to Salem.

From the opening kick off the Johnnie fans inside the H.H.H. Metrodome knew this would be a game the Johnnies would not take lightly. Augsburg received the opening kick from the Johnnies and put on a fake reverse. The player who fielded the ball faked to his teammate, but he ball slipped out of his hands and bounced on the turf to the waiting arms of pursuing Johnnie special teams ace Kevin Wenner, who sprinted to the end zone with a touchdown, 7 seconds into the contest! Russell Gliadon kicked the PAT and the Johnnies were up 7-0 and would never trail in this contest.

Kevin Wenner TD/Photo courtsey of GoJohnnies.com

This opening play surely had to help calm the nerves of Freshman QB John Ries who was waiting to take the field in his first collegiate start for the Johnnies. With starting QB Joe Boyle sidelined with a thumb injury on his throwing hand, Reis had two full weeks to prepare with the first unit offense for this game.  If the coaching staff put together a game plan that involved eating time from the clock with the running game and  putting Augsburg in difficult down and distance situations with the Johnnie defense, then both sides of the ball performed well for the Johnnies. The Johnnies controlled the ball 38 minutes 51 seconds compared to Augsburg 21 minutes 9 seconds.

After the initial score on the kick off, the Johnnies Kellen Blaser finished off a 7 play 59 yard drive with a 2 yard run at 6:49 of the 1st quarter.

The Johnnies next score was late in the 2nd quarter as they traveled 98 yards in 18 plays and ate up 10:28 from the clock. Blaser scored on a 21 yard pass play from Ries making the score at halftime 21-0 in favor of the Johnnies.

The Auggies got on the board mid-way through the 4th quarter as Ries threw an interception as the Johnnies were knocking on the door once again. The interception was returned 93 yards by the Augsburg defender for their only scoring for the day.

With 58 seconds remaining in the contest, the Johnnies scored their final points as Kerry Daigs lowered his shoulders and scored from 3-yards out. The Gliadon PAT made the final SJU 28- Augsburg 7.

Ries was 8 of 15 for 91 yards passing. He threw one TD for the Johnnies and threw one interception that was returned for a TD by Augsburg.

The running game was shared evenly by Jakob Reding who had 10 carried for 69 yards before leaving the game in the 4th quarter with a leg injury. Reding’s status for next week is unknown at this time. Stephen Johnson carried the ball 15 times for 65 yards and Kellen Blaser carried 15 times for 59 yards and a rushing TD.

Through the air Josh Overman caught 2 balls for 29 yards and Sam Pederson also had 2 receptions for a total of 10 yards.

The Johnnie defense was again led by John Stanton who had 5 tackles and an interception. Mike Bonynge, Billy Lawrence and Ethan Eid also had 5 tackles. Eid and Griffin Hayes had 1.5 sacks each.Noel Meyer had a fumble recovery and a sack. As mentioned earlier, Kevin Wenner started the scoring with a fumble recovery that he turned into a TD on the opening kick off.

Next week is the final MIAC game of the season back in Collegeville against the Carleton Knights. The Johnnies will need to continue to focus as they will most likely be without Joe Boyle and the status of Jakob Reding is unknown at the time of this writing. Of course the X-factor with the Knights is head coach Kurt Rambler and his roots as a standout player and later an assistant coach for the Johnnies. The bottom line is, the Johnnies need to win and if they do, they’ll most likely get a #1 or #2 seed in the West Region of the NCAA Division III Play-offs. If the unthinkable happens, the Johnnies still get into the play-offs, as they defeated UST head to head,but would most likely be on the road for the play-off run.

For coaches, players, medical staff and fans it time to Johnnie up!

John has been the head coach of the St John’s University  Johnnies since the 1953 season. Prior to taking the coaching vacancy at St. John’s there was a 4 year stint at Carroll College in Helena, Montana where John compiled a 24-6-1 record and winning 3 conference championships.

At the ripe old age of 16, John broke into coaching as the player -coach of the Trinidad Catholic High School team, in Trinidad, Colorado, as his coach was called into service during World War II. John continued to coach  at Trinidad Catholic High School while obtaining his degree at Colorado College.

In 2006 John was inducted into The College Football Hall of Fame.

I’m sure all John would really like for his birthday is another MIAC Championship!

Happy Birthday John

The Johnnies got on the board first as the defense created a short field when John Stanton forced a fumble which was recovered by Ryan Wimmer. From there the Johnnie offense with Boyle at the helm went on an 8 play 44-yard scoring drive capped off by a 1-yard  scoring run from Jakob Reding. Followed by the sucessful PAT from Russell Gliadon making the score 7-0 in favor of the Johnnies.

The Oles would get on the board at the 4:16 mark of the 1st quarter with a 47 yard field goal. This would be the end of the scoring for the Oles as the Johnnie defense turned away a couple of scoring threats  with big plays both at the end of the 1st half and at the end of the game.

The first serious threat of an Ole score was  with 13 seconds remaining in the 1st half  as Mike Bonynge stepped in front of a St. Olaf receiver at the goal line and returned the ball  66 yards to the St. Olaf 34-yard line with .9 second remaining on the clock . The Johnnie coaching staff sent out the field goal unit to attempt a 52-yarder as time expired. In a season fill with many dramatic plays and last second heroics the new school record 52-yard Russell Gliadon field goal ranks right near the top. The kick, not as dramatic or with as many “style points”  as the game winner against Bethel, cleared the cross bar to end the first half and would close out the scoring for the game. Half time score SJU 10- St. Olaf 3.

Russell Gliadon record breaking field goal

The second half was a a series of stalled drives by both teams. An opportunity for Freshman  QB John Ries to get adjusted to playing with the first unit at game speed and he played as well as can be expected under the circumstances. The Johnnie defense came up with big plays and took advantage of poor clock management by St. Olaf to end a late threat as the Oles had driven into the SJU red zone in the closing seconds of the game. SJU defensive end Jeff Bohlman sacked the Ole QB on the last play of the game to extinguish any upset bid the Oles may have had designs in the closing seconds of the game.

The Johnnie offensive line, affectionally known as The Collegeville Moving Company, consisting of Tim Juba, Blaine Anderson, Eric Dirkes, Jeff Gilbertson and Drew Percival were able to control the clock for 35 minutes 22 seconds allowing the Johnnie defense to remain fresh enough to hold off the late rally by the Oles. Coming into the bye week will be very valuable for Boyle’s replacement to work with the line and the running backs and receivers. The play of the offensive line has been the deciding factor in winning the close games this season as time of possession has proven to be a very important statistical category to be in control of.

The Johnnies again were led by the running tandem of Kellen Blaser who had 17 carries for 71 yards and Jakob Reding who had  18 carries for 44 yards and the lone touchdown on the day. John Ries was 5-9 passing for 40 yards.The leading receiver for the Johnnies was Josh Overman with 3 catches for 25 yards.

Defensively the Johnnies were led by Ryan Wimmer who had 7 tackles and a fumble recovery. Dominic Haik and Bobby Klink each had 6 tackles. John Stanton and Mike Bonynge each had 5 tackles. Stanton had a forced fumble and Bonynge had the 66 yard interception return that made the 52-yard field goal possible to end the 1st half. Jeff Bohlman had a fumble recovery and a QB sack. David Burns had a forced fumble and a QB sack. Nick Gunderson took more defensive series playing with a torn ACL in his right knee and also recorded a QB sack.

With two more MIAC games remaining, the Johnnies have their work cut out. In a season of injuries to key players, the injury to Joe Boyle is just another to add to the list, for now all the team and fans can do is to wait for the results of the MRI on Monday. The timing of bye week is a silver lining in a gray cloud as having two weeks to prepare for the next game at this stage of the season certainly is better than only having one week.

It’s time to Johnnie up everybody!

The Tommies came into the 2009 version of this rivalry game leading the MIAC in points scored at 44 per game, total offense at 466.8 per game,rushing offense at 259.2 per game which featured the MIAC leading running back in Ben Wartman who had 668 yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground. Also on the offensive side of the ball the Tommies had the luxury of the best wide receiver and top punt returner in the league  with Fritz Waldvogel. This was before the Tommies faced the Johnnie defense.  The Tommies could only garner up 239 yards of total offense and the celebrated Mr. Wartman  was held to 80 yards rushing and no touchdowns on 24 carries.  The very talented Mr. Waldvogel was limited to 4 receptions for 24 yards and no touchdowns and on punt returns he was able to return 2 punts for a total of 16 yards.

The game saw no scoring in the 1st quarter as both teams were able to move the ball, yet would stall out offensively before being forced to punt. The first scoring of the game was the continuation of a 6 play 69 yard drive that had started in the 1st quarter and was capped off on a 5-yards pass from Joe Boyle to Kellen Blaser who caught the ball in the right flat and stretched out to break the plane of the goal line of the south end-zone at the 12:37 point of the 2nd quarter. The Russell Gliadon PAT made the score 7-0 in favor of the Johnnies.

As the 1st half was winding down, the Tommies positioned themselves to attempt a field goal, but the kick by Brady Beeson would sail wide left as Beeson kicked to the north goal post. Looking into a sea of red and hearing thousands of cheering fans may have had some physiological effect on Beeson, or maybe not. For those of you with a long memory of Johnnie football, Beeson had been a Johnnie football player for three seasons before transferring to St. Thomas for this, his senior year. Beeson has been excellent for the Tommies so far this season, earning MIAC Player of the Week honors twice this season, but the sights and sounds of Clemens Stadium from the opposite sideline may have been just enough to break his concentration for just one kick.  Halftime score SJU 7 UST 0.

The Johnnies would get onto the scoreboard again in the 3rd quarter as Jakob Reding finished an 11 play-39 yard drive  on a 1 yard run with 2:20 remaining in the quarter. The Gliadon PAT made the score 14-0 with the Johnnies looking to win in a comfortable fashion. Not so fast, games with a team the caliber of the Tommies or the Bethel Royals are not won or lost until the final seconds have ticked off the clock and so would be a very eventful and exciting 4th quarter and overtime period in this 2009 version of the Johnnie-Tommie game.

The Tommies would score twice in the 4th quarter on punting team miscues for the Johnnies. The first was an 11-yard shanked punt off the side of Russell Gliadon’s foot which gave the Tommies a short field and the Tommie offense took just 1 play to cut the score to 14-7 in favor of the Johnnies. Later in the 4th quarter near mid-field, the Johnnies had a fake punt go terribly wrong.  The original call by the coaching staff was to short snap the ball to the up back, as the Tommies defensive alignment was not conducive to a running play to pick up the 1st down, the coaches sent a signal from the sideline to call off the fake, instead to punt the ball deep. There was only one small problem, not everyone on the punt team received the signal and the ball was short snapped and ended up bouncing all the way to the Johnnie 17 yard line.  With 2 seconds on the clock the Tommies scored again and the PAT from Tommie kicker Beeson was perfect, bringing the score to 14-14 and an overtime period.

The Johnnies won the toss in overtime and elected to go on defense first. College overtime is not sudden death as it is in the NFL, each team gets the ball at the 25 yard line and by electing to play defense first, the Johnnies would know what they had to do offensively based on the results of the Johnnie defense.

The Johnnie defense held tough in the overtime period by forcing the Tommies to settle for a field goal, setting up the drama that would unfold as the Johnnies took the field on offense. As the offensive line was able to create running lanes for the backs through out the game, why change anything in the overtime period? After three consecutive running plays to Jackob Reding, Kellen Blaser took a pitch on the left side  and ran and dove 8 yards for the score, again to the south end-zone. The official on the play was dwarfed by players on the field, so the 12,903 in the stands and surrounding the field had a delayed reaction before the official call of TOUCHDOWN was announced.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Johnnies were led by QB Joe Boyle who was 9 of 21 passing for 78 yards and 1 touchdown. Rushing leaders were Jakob Reding with 32  carries for 124 yards and a TD, Kellen Blaser had 15 attempts for 74 yards and the overtime game winning TD. Receiving the ball  for the Johnnies were  Reding, Ben Vanderheyden, Josh Overman and Blaser who also had the 5 yard TD to open the scoring.

Defensively the Johnnies were led by Ryan Wimmer and Dominic Haik with 7 tackles each. Bobby Klint had 6 tackles, John Stanton had 6 tackles and an interception. Alex Powell had an interception and Kevin Wenner added a fumble recovery.  The entire defense played well to holding the big stars for the St. Thomas offense well under their season averages.

After an emotional win in this fashion over a team like St. Thomas, the Johnnies know from years of experience that there are three very important MIAC games to play and unless they win those, their post season fate is out of their control. Going into the stretch run of the MIAC season, it appears even with bumps and bruises to key players the Johnnies are playing their best football. Being able to control the clock with a ground game will go a long way to determining how far this team can go as the weather turns cold and the winds of  autumn turn to winter in the Johnnie football season.

The Johnnies won the coin toss and elected to defer their choice until the second half. The Pipers elected to receive and the Johnnies chose to defend the north goal, with the north wind gusting through out the day, this was a decision that proved to be most productive.

The Johnnie defense forced a 3-and-out after the opening kick off and with the Pipers punting into the wind, the Johnnies took advantage of a short field. On their very first offensive play of the ball game, Jakob Reding took a hand off down the left side 45 yards to pay dirt in the south end zone and following a successful PAT by Russell Gliadon the score was 7-0 in favor of SJU.

After  the Johnnie defense forced another 3 -and-out the Johnnie offense took a bit more time to score by stringing together an 11 play drive which was capped off by a 1-yard TD run by Stephen Johnson followed by the Gliadon PAT bringing the score 14-0 in favor of the Johnnies.

Following the kick off, the Johnnie defense struck again as David Burns forced and recovered a fumble to give the Johnnie offense yet another short field. Joe Boyle took advantage of the momentum and tossed a scoring pass to Andrew Rotschafer. The one armed grab by Rotschafer has to be one for the highlight reel 2009 as he snared the ball with his left hand and then cradled it against his body while retaining possession as he landed on the end zone turf. After the Russell Gliadon PAT the score was SJU 21-0 over Hamline. This ended the scoring for the 1st quarter.

The Pipers were to score their only touchdown of the day as they blocked a Russell Gliadon  punt early in the 2nd quarter as the Johnnies were now operating into a persistent north wind.

The Johnnies did answer by running 8 consecutive plays covering 48 yards, being capped off by a 3 yard Kellen Blazer touchdown run. The PAT by Gliadon was not successful making the score SJU 27-Hamline 7.

The Johnnies would score one more time prior to intermission on another short field opportunity set up the the Johnnie special team unit as Dan Franta blocked a Hamline punt. Joe Boyle scored just as time expired in the 1st half, followed up by the PAT from Gliadon making the halftime score SJU 34 -Hamline 7.

The Johnnies elected to take the wind at their back to begin the 2nd half  but were unable to score in the 3rd quarter. The Johnnie defense set up the final score of the day as linebacker Billy Lawrence intercepted a pass and returned it to the 1-yard line. The following play Jimmy Loonan scored on a 1-yard run followed by the PAT from Gliadon to make the final score SJU 41 Hamline 7.

Offensively the Johnnies were led by Joe Boyle who was 8 for 16 for 85 yards and 1 touchdown passing through the air. Boyle also ran for a touchdown.

The ground game was led by Jakob Reding who had 8 attempts for 78 yards and a touchdown. Kellen Blaser had 13 attempts for 76 yards and a touchdown.

Andrew Rotschafer was the main target through the air finishing the game with 3 catches for 58 yards and a touchdown.

The defense played like they had something to prove after some sub-par performances,by SJU standards, in earlier games and they were very successful in that regard.

The team was led statistically by Evan Cobb who had 9 tackles, an interception and a sack.  John Stanton had 5 tackles and a sack. Kyle Schroeder had 4 tackles and a sack. Dan Franta had 4 tackles, a blocked punt and 1/2  sack. David Burns had 3 tackles a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Other Johnnies contributing to this statistical masterpiece were Billy Lawrence with an interception as well as Ryan Wimmer,Phil Orzechowski, Jack Daggett, Luke Sweeter and Jeff Bohlman all contributing to the sack total and Nate Anderson also recovering a fumble.

The Johnnies took this opportunity to rest some players that had nagging injuries as well as getting some valuable game experience for some younger players. This was a good win with some teachable moments for the younger kids as well as the more experience players. The team will savor this victory over the weekend, but come Monday they will review film of the game and then press “erase”. Next week brings another opponent who also has an undefeated record and a national ranking along with revenge for a game last year that was played in St. Paul. It has been many years since a Johnnie-Tommie game has had conference title along with national ranking implications associated with it, but Johnnie fans know one thing that doesn’t seem to change over the years which is Tommies will be Tommies….take that for what it’s worth!

]]> http://johnniefootball.com/archive/sjusection105/2009/10/11/johnnies-drum-pipers-41-7/feed/ 0 http://johnniefootball.com/archive/sjusection105/2009/10/04/from-devastation-to-jubilation-gliadon-kicks-game-winner/ http://johnniefootball.com/archive/sjusection105/2009/10/04/from-devastation-to-jubilation-gliadon-kicks-game-winner/#comments Sun, 04 Oct 2009 17:07:39 +0000 sjusection105 http://johnniefootball.com/?p=1772 After having a field goal attempt deflected in the first half, to pushing the game tying PAT wide right with 1:47 remaining in the game, all looked lost for the Johnnie Footballers and the Homecoming crowd of 10,567 in attendance. The ensuing kick off to the Royals, with the Johnnies trailing 14-13, and a three and out forced by the determined Johnnie defense set the stage for a record breaking field goal for Gliadon with 8. 7 seconds remaining on the clock when the field goal team raced onto the field. The snap by Cody Socher, the hold by Andrew Gurbada, the protection by the field goal team and the leg strength and kicking  technique of Russell Gliadon combined for a 49 yard (school record setting) game winning field goal with 2.8 seconds remaining on the  game clock when the officials raised their arms toward the sky in the south end zone signaling “score”. Spontaneous celebration erupted from the stadium.  The student section could not be contained as hundreds of students poured onto  the field. This little celebration forced the officials to penalize the Johnnies 15 yards on the ensuing kick off. After an attempted, lateral intensive, return the Royals were finally corralled and the Homecoming victory secured for the Johnnies 16-14 over the Bethel Royals.

Video Courtesy of GoJohnnies.com/Russell Gliadon

The Johnnies trailed the entire game until the game winning FG by Gliadon. The Johnnies actually did not get on the score board until QB Joe Boyle scored with 9:25 remaining in the game on a 3 yard touchdown run.  Senior RB, and one of the cover boys for the game day program,Kellen Blaser scored with 1:47 remaining in the game on a hard fought 4-yard run to bring the game to a 14-13. The forgone conclusion by many in the stands was that Gliadon would convert on the PAT, after all he was a perfect 17-17 on the season going into this attempt, and the two teams would slug it out in overtime. There were other forces at work and Gliadon pushed the PAT to the right of the uprights and Bethel,at this point, held the upper hand.

In a bizarre twist,  what was he thinking, the Bethel return man took the kick and as he approached the 15-yard line  covered the ball tightly and dropped to the ground, ending the play. Perhaps he was playing overly cautious and not wanting to risk a fumble in a collision,instead  he went to the turf. I guess nobody but the return man will ever know the answer to that question. In retrospect it probably seemed to be a good strategy, after all, Bethel simply needed one first down in order to force the Johnnies to use all their remaining timeouts and to then simply watch as the clock ran to 0:00 and chalk up their 4th consecutive victory over the Johnnies.

As the Johnnies took the Bethel punt at their own 35 yard line, the sun began to peek out of the clouds in the western sky. As any good Johnnie fan knows, “the sun always shines on Johnnie Football” and so it would be on this Homecoming day 2009.

The defenses of both teams played well and forced numerous fumbles, interceptions and blocked or deflected kicks and punts.Ryan Wimmer led the Johnnies with 13 tackles. Kyle Schroeder and John Stanton each had 7 tackles as well as each forcing a fumble. Bobby Klint had 7 tackles and an interception. Dominic Haik had an interception. Noel Meyer and Dan Franta each recovered a fumble. Big Jack Daggett blocked a punt. I want to give special recognition this week to the defensive line who lost  All-American Nick Gunderson during pre-game warm ups to an ongoing nagging knee injury, for which he is scheduled to have an MRI on Monday. The play of Kyle Schroeder, Noel Meyer, Griffin Hayes, Jeff Bohlman was elevated to the next level in what has been, to date, the toughest game of the season.

The Johnnie offense was held in check by a tough Bethel defense until the 4th quarter when SJU scored all their points. Joe Boyle was 13 of 27 passing for 150 yards,while throwing 3 interceptions and being sacked 4 times.

Rushing leaders for the Johnnies were Stephen Johnson with 19 attempts for 79 yards, Jakob Reding had 10 attempts for 41 yards and Kellen Blaser had 4 attemps for 34 yards and a TD. The 8.5 yard per carry average only tells part of the story for Blaser on the day, as the Senior from Austin put forth a  tremendous effort in opening up holes for his fellow running backs.

Receiving leaders for the Johnnies were Ben Vanderheyden with 4 catches totaling 60 yards and Josh Overman also had 4 catches while tallying 58 yards.

Twenty years from now people will be talking about the dramatic come from behind 16-14 victory and the 49 yard record setting field goal by Gliadon for the victory over Bethel in the 2009 Homecoming game. Some will call it luck, some will call it Divine Intervention,some will call it  hard work paying off. As for me, I will remember the sun that began to peek out from behind the clouds in the western sky and I will call it Johnnie Magic!

After receiving the opening kickoff the Johnnies came out throwing,but the upstart Gusties picked off  Joe Boyle’s first pass of the day and put the Johnnie defense in a hole to begin the game. The Gusties took over at the 30 yard line. The Johnnie defense held tough and the Gusties had to settle for a field goal, GAC leads at this point 3-0 over the Johnnies. This will be the last lead of the game for the Gusties. 

The Johnnie Defense played well with many of their starters sidelined due to injuries or in the case of Dominic Haik, taking the Law School Admission Test. Three of the four players in the defensive secondary and one of the linebackers were not starters at the beginning of the season, but as a credit to the players stepping in, as well as the coaching staff, the  defense kept pressure on through out the game and limited the Gusties to 190 total yards of offense.

The  Johnnies began their scoring in the first quarter on a 2-yard pass from Joe Boyle to Josh Overman which was followed by the PAT by Russell Gliadon. From this point the Johnnies never trailed, mixing the pass with the run along with a pressure defense kept the game entertaining for members of the Johnnie Nation who followed the team to St. Peter.

The Johnnies would score three times in the 2nd quarter.The first came on a 8-yard run by Jakob Reding  followed by the PAT from Gliadon. Later in the 2nd quarter, Boyle again found Overman in the end zone and Gliadon kicked the PAT. Gliadon concluded the scoring for the 1st half by connecting on a 33 yard field goal. The score at halftime was SJU 24 GAC 3.

The Gusties came out to  begin the second half with a 12 play 70 yard drive capped off by a 26 yard touchdown pass,which would be the final points in the game by the Gusties.

The Johnnies scored later in the 3rd quarter on a 19 yard touchdown pass from Boyle to Jimmy Loonan, followed by another Gliadon PAT.

The Johnnies wrapped up their scoring with 1:23 remaining in the game on a 21 yard scoring pass from Boyle to Harry Awe, followed again by the Gliadon PAT.

Enough can not be said about the play of the offensive line, of Andrew Ghostley,Blaine Anderson, Tim Juba,Eric Dirkes,Drew Percival along with substitutes Ben Dimond and Greg Sowden  who gave Boyle plenty of time to throw as well as blowing open holes for the running backs. The offensive line sets the tone for the game and has made tremendous improvements from last year in allowing the Johnnies to present a more balanced offensive game plan.  

The Johnnies leading tackler again this week was John Stanton with 7. Mike Bonynge also had 7 tackles and a fumble recovery which set up the first Johnnie touchdown,while starting in place of Dominic Haik. Kyle Schroeder had another fumble recovery this week, making 3 recoveries in the past two games. Ryan Wimmer and Dan Franta also had recoveries. The defensive line was very active causing match up problems for the Gusties all day long.Quarterback sacks were recorded for the Johnnies by Nick Gunderson,Griffin Hayes, Noel Meyer and David Burns.

As the MIAC season gets into full swing, the Johnnies will face their toughest test to date next week in Collegeville against the Bethel Royals. The Royals have had the upper hand as of late by winning the last three meetings in this series. Add to the three game winning streak, the  growing list of injuries for the Johnnies and on paper one might believe that the Royals will come to Collegeville next week and spoil Homecoming for the Johnnies and the Johnnie Nation. As the story goes,back in 1953 when John Gagliardi was interviewing for the head coaching job at St John’s and he was asked by the monks if he thought he could beat St. Thomas and Gustavas, the young Gagliardi  responded by saying “Sure”. Something tells me that if Athletic Director Tom Stock were to sit down with John on Monday and ask him if he thinks he can beat Bethel for Homecoming,that he would give the same reply 56 years later.

The Johnnies received the opening kickoff and moved the ball nicely maintaining possession for 6:24 ,but the Cobbers dug in and made the Johnnies settle for a Russell Glaidon 33 yard field goal to put the Johnnies up 3-0.

The Cobbers got on the board with 1:36 remaining in the 1st quarter, their PAT was blocked by big Jack Daggett who continues to impress Johnnie fans far and wide with his kick blocking capabilities. At this point of the game, Cobbers lead 6-3.

Moving to the 2nd quarter the Johnnies again put together a nice 63 yard drive capped off with a 25 yard TD pass from Joe Boyle to Josh Overman, followed by a Russel Glaidon PAT to make the score SJU 10-Concordia 3.

Midway through the 2nd quarter the Johnnie defense made another big stop with Kyle Schroeder making his second fumble recovery of the game,inside the 10 yard line, to foil a Cobber touchdown. The Johnnie offense then took over and drove 95 yards in 10 plays, capped off by another Boyle touchdown pass, this time to Ben Vanderheyden. Glaidon added the PAT to remain perfect for the day and to bring the score to 17-6 in favor of the Jays. 

The Cobbers were not ready to lay down, with the Family Day weekend crowd of 6,000+ looking on the Cobs marched down the field and scored with 10 seconds remaining in the 1st half. After exchanging timeouts, the Cobbers finally settled on an attempt for a 2-point conversion which was unsuccessful making the halftime score 17-12 in favor of the Johnnies.

Late in the 3rd quarter the Johnnies got on the board this time with a 10 play 80 yard drive. Boyle found Jimmy Loonan open in the  left flat for a 15 yard touchdown pass. Glaidon again added the PAT making the score SJU 24 Cobbers 12.

Boyle was not done for the day,later in the 3rd quarter he tucked the ball while weaving through traffic 42 yards for the touchdown. Glaidon added the PAT for the final SJU points of the game.

Midway through the 4th quarter Boyle did throw an interception resulting in a 65-yard Concordia touchdown and the final score SJU 31 Concordia 19.

The defense had a couple of breakdowns in coverage, but with injuries depleting the defensive side of the ball  and what appears to be a flu bug traveling around the team the Johnnie defense stepped up when it needed to to turn back an always tough Concordia Cobber squad on their home turf.

As mentioned earlier Kyle Schroeder had a huge day, putting himself in the right position to recover 2 fumbles in the 1st half to stop the Cobbers as they were inside the SJU 10 yard line both times. Schroeder also recorded 2.5 sacks for the day. The leading tacklers for the Johnnies were John Stanton with 10,Noel Meyer with 8, Kevin Wenner,starting in place of an injured Bobby Klint, had 7 tackles and Dominic Haik had 6 tackles. In addition to Schroeder’s sacks, Noel Meyer added 1.5 and Ethan Eid added the other as the Johnnies notched 5 sacks for the day.

Offensively the Johnnies were led by Joe Boyle who was 13 for 23 with 1 interception,while tossing the 3 touchdown passes.The rushing leaders were Jakob Reding 19 for 80 yards and Boyle 6 for 72 with the lone Johnnie rushing touchdown. Also adding to the ground attack for the Johnnies were Jimmy Loonan, Harry Awe and Kellen Blaser. The receiving leaders for the Johnnies were Jakob Reding 4 for 27,Vanderheyden 3 for 52, Andrew Rotschafer 2 for 50 and Overman 2 for 40.

Completing the non-conference schedule undefeated and beginning the MIAC  regular season schedule 1-0 is all that any Johnnie fan could ask for 3 games into the season. Accomplishing this with the early season illness and injuries  only adds to this accomplishment. Winning the 600th game he has coached on the collegiate level for John Gagliardi was a nice added bonus. As John has said countless times through the years, “they’re all big games” and now the game plans and attention are focused to the next big game which is next Saturday in St. Peter against the Golden Gusties.