GAC took the opening kickoff and marched 51 yards in 9 plays and took a 3-0 lead on a 27 yard FG. On the  ensuing kickoff, GAC used the element of surprise and pooch-kicked,which was miss handled by the Johnnies and the Gusties recovered on the SJU 44 yard line. The Gusties scored on a 1 yard run 7 plays later. The PAT was no good and the Gusties lead was 9-0.

The Johnnies got on the board as Kicker Jimmie Mattson, paying tribute to his grandmother by wearing bright pink shoelaces, hit a 52-yard FG with 3 seconds remaining in the 1st. Qtr. The FG tied a school record and set at stadium record for Hollingsworth Field, which was opened in 2007.

Jimmie Mattson Jr. Kicker

The Johnnies took the lead at the 11:51 mark of the 2nd Qtr. on a 3 yard run by QB Ben Kresbach. The TD was set up by an interception by Bobby Fischer. The Johnnies increased their lead to 17-9 with 46 seconds remaining in the half on a 45-yard TD pass from Connor Bruns to Sam Pederson. All three QBs played for SJU in the 2nd half as John Ries led the Johnnies on their final TD drive of the day in the 4th Qtr. as GAC had narrowed the margin,at that point to 17-16. For the day, each QB brought something different to the game, Krebsbach has the  ability to run effectively, Bruns has a strong arm and Ries has game management skills. If the Johnnies coaching staff could somehow morph these attributes together they would have former Johnnie QB  Kurt Ramler, but that is not possible so they are doing the next best thing by inserting players into situations to allow the team to win. This is not an ideal situation but it did work against GAC. With 3 games remaining in the season,who knows what the game plan will call for from this point forward.

Then Johnnie defense obviously took the bye week to work on an overall change of focus and it showed on the field against GAC. The team recorded 5 sacks, 2 by Connor Grill. There were Johnnie defenders in the GAC backfield all day,recording 12 tackles for loss. Bobby Fischer recorded 2 interceptions and Joe Donner had a fumble recovery.

Bobby Fischer Jr. DB

This was a win the Johnnies desperately needed and one that took a team effort to achieve. With three games remaining in the 2011 season, the Johnnies have pride and tradition to play for. Two of the remaining games are at home but one is against a team, St. Olaf, currently ranked in the NCAA Division III Top 25. With a legendary coach rotating QB, RBs and offensive linemen coupled with a defense that is finally playing as a unit along with some Johnnie Magic, I like the Johnnie’s chances the rest of the way.

It’s been nearly two weeks since the last Johnnie Football setback against Bethel however there are slivers of hope.  Back to back games against MIAC powerhouse schools UST and BU certainly could have left our footballers maimed and mumbling but for more than 3 quarters SJU showed BU a decent fight.  A few plays here and there and our team might be looking at just a disappointing year and not the near disaster we’re witnessing right now. 

The trip to St. Peter on Saturday morning offers the J’s the opportunity to demonstrate improvements they’ve made the past two weeks and their desire to get back to winning MIAC football games.

For those of you looking for some pre-game beef and banter consider joining SJU fans at Patrick’s on 3rd in St. Peter beginning at 10:00am.  The underground Johnnie network seems to have worked another deal with Patrick’s and have encouraged them to open at this earlier A.M. hour.

Keep the Johnnie vibe high, wash the slate clean and anticipate a new Johnnie Football team beginning tomorrow!

JohnnieUp Everybody!

UST Game

No fear Johnnie Nation- I am alive and kicking…just have had one crazy month of October.

First, I took the UST game pretty hard.  For one, it was a streak that ended while I was at SJU.  How many graduating classes hold the lifelong claim that they did not see the Johnnies lose to the Tommies in their time at SJU?  Another, it was the second loss of the year putting most playoff hopes in the trash aka no deep playoff run in my time at SJU.  Last, I returned to my apartment to see Tommie fans (roommates’ friends)…one of which had the game ball that deflected off the post.  Nothing like stabbing the wounded even more.

Record Crowd

It took a few days to really get over that UST game.  In all reality, it took a late night excursion by my apartment to get over it.  Around 2am, Monday night, we decided to head to the football field with ball in hand.  6 people, 16 tries, 6 extra points.  We knew it could be done.  Was there a snap?  No.  Was there a defensive unit on the field? No.  But at least we could put closure to the event.  Plus, we lost to a top 5 team meaning the playoffs were not completely out of reach, right?

Wrong.  Then came Bethel.  I fortunately missed this game completely due to my cousin’s wedding.  What happened?  I heard the last drive on the radio as my family moved from the ceremony to the reception.  Sounded like the Johnnies played much better on the last drive than any other drive in the game.  Well, there goes any hope of the playoffs.  So the Johnnies are out earlier than ever meaning attendance and general interest is at risk, right?

Wrong again.  Over 9,000 people showed up to the Gustie showdown.  I understand it was Family Weekend but it was miserable weather!  Anyway, the Johnnies got back on track with a victory against the Gusties and are going into the Carleton game with confidence.

"Ah...so this is what they call Johnnie Nation"

So what’s my point?

How many programs would jump for joy over our season?  Can you imagine the feelings of most teams around the nation if two of their losses came against ranked teams in down-to-the-wire games?  Heck, a winning record would be a perfect reason to celebrate for many teams.  Last, 9,000 people would have many institutions writing that game in the record books.

Regardless of this season, Johnnie football is still a winning tradition and it is still a tradition worth visiting every weekend in the Fall.  Exhibit- .500 team playing in the rain and drawing 9,000 people.

Simply put- Johnnie football is an unrivaled tradition.

More from me next week- after a Johnnie victory over Carleton (42-20).

PB&J

Click HERE to view full screen images as a slide show. Look for “slideshow” near the upper right of the screen.

The 1st qtr. saw the Johnnies come out and move the ball at will on their first drive,moving 64 yards on 8 plays capped off by a 10 yard TD run by Jakob Reding. The PAT was unsuccessful and the Johnnies were off and running 6-0.

The Johnnie defense came out fired up and ready to shut down any offensive scheme the Gusties would throw at them. After the Johnnie defense forced a 3 and out the Johnnie offense took over and moved the ball on the ground and in the air, ending with a 12 yard TD pass from Joe Boyle to Brent Graboski, the PAT was good and the Johnnie held a 13-lead.

The 2nd qtr. was and abrupt about face as the Johnnies committed multiple turnovers and went into the half-time break clinging to a 13-6 lead.

Halftime adjustments have long been a strong point of the Johnnie  coaching staff, and this game was no different. The Johnnie defense created turnovers and the Johnnie offense took advantage of holes created in the Gustie defense along with  the hard running of Nick Schneider.  Schneider  had scoring runs of  44 yards,32 yards and 10 yards as the SJU ground game became more valuable as the rain began falling at a steady pace through-out the second half. For the day, Schneider had 14 carries and accumulated 179 yards on the ground.

Nick Schneider FR RB

Next week the Johnnies travel to Northfield, to take on the Carleton Knights. The Knights have a scrappy squad who will be playing their first game on their home field since the devastating flooding of the Cannon River that has taken place in Northfield this fall.

*Photo courtesy of gojohnnies.com

And for me this proposed definition would be just fine. Being a second generation Johnnie (My Dad is Col H.F Hacker ’62) who is married to a Bennie (Catherine CSB ’87) and has a daughter who will (hopefully) be CSB class of 2020 you can see where my loyalties were nurtured and where without a doubt they lye.

I was originally introduced to the Johnnie family during my childhood via acquaintances with a very special group of Johnnies. This group, which includes my own Father, also counts as members: Col. Norm Lorsung, Mr. Gary Chalupsky, Mr. Jack Curtis and Mr. Denny Weimerskirch, or as they are more commonly known in Johnnie lore “The Council”.

And to this day, some 48 years after he left Collegeville my Dad will say this about the above mentioned legends of the 56321. “Those are my Johnnie buddies; they are the best damn guys on the planet.” And I would venture a bet that any of us in the Johnnie Nation, regardless of our generation can say the exact same thing about our Johnnie buddies. It is without a doubt I can say that about the class of 1962 and my class of 1988.

In my household when my Daughter hears names such as Mike Carlson, Dean Danninger, and Bob Kapla, she may give her Dad a bit of a look and a sigh (typical teenager attitude now that she is 13) but deep down as she completely understands that these guys are Dad’s Johnnie buddies, and they are the best damn guys on the planet! Why do all who have graduated from SJU and therefore proudly call themselves Johnnies have this attitude?

Well because as all in the Johnnie Nation already know, there is nothing that can compare to those life long friends ones makes during those magical four years spent at Collegeville. As a group we lived thru all of the trappings of becoming adults (or so we thought at the time), skipped classes together, went to the LA and Sal’s together, hitched hiked home from St. Joe in the dead of Winter together, and usually (and dare I say luckily for many of us) found our spouses over at St Ben’s together!

Others familiar with the Johnnie Nation sometimes do not fully understand how Johnnies are. I have a very good friend (she is married to a Johnnie) who likes to say this about SJU and being a Johnnie: “it is not a school, you all are not Alumni, and it is one big cult of insanely dedicated and loyal (to one and another) guys!” Maybe this is what Webster’s should publish in their next edition under Family? I am not sure about all of you but I am 100% good to go with this.

Johnnie Nation, it is our FAMILY weekend at the best zip code in the world. It is time to get back to our HOME, so come see the best damn buddies you have and will ever have, come have a ice cold beverage in a red cup, enjoy some burgers and wings, then let’s cheer on the 2010 edition of the Johnnie Football Team to a victory of the Golden Gusties from St, Peter!

Gustie Offense: The Gusties are led by freshman RB Jeffrey Dubose who is averaging 79 yards a game with 4 TDs on the season. Sophomore WR Muresuk Mena has 43 catches for 258 yards and 3 TDs. QB Logan Becker leads the Gusties with 8 TDs, 8 INTs, and has thrown for 169 yards per game. They continue to run a pro-style offense which has been feast or famine for them this season.

Johnnie Offense: The Johnnies offense has to find a way to right the ship and put some big points on the board. One of the keys to the great Johnnie squads of year’s past was the ability to get out to big leads thus allowing the underclassmen valuable playing time against the opposition’s #1 unit.

Gustie Defense: The Gusties are led on by LBs Zach Lundquist and Paul Stommes. CB Dustin Kammerer leads the team with 50 tackles including 4 for loss. They’ve held a very good Wartburg team to 27 pts and an equally solid Bethel squad to 20 pts. Look for them to bring pressure and try to create turnovers to swing the momentum of the game early in the contest.

Johnnie Defense: The defense will have to force the Gusties to throw the ball. The Johnnies always have a strong gameplan versus Gustavus and this week should be no exception. Look for them to focus on stopping the run early in the game forcing GAC into uncomfortable 3rd and long situations.

Gustie Special Teams: Tom Huepenbecker handles the kicking and is 2-6 in FGs and 15-17 in PATs.  The Gusties have had 2 punts blocked on the season.  If the game comes down to special teams that would mean Gustavus is where they want to be.

Johnnie Special Teams: The SJU special teams can tilt the field with excellent field position with some quality kick coverage and nice returns themselves. If this game comes down to the kicking game the advantage is to the Johnnies.

Prediction: The Gusties have played some quality teams this season and played decent. I think they’ll hang around for a half on Saturday. However, if the weather is nice I see lots of built up frustration being exercised onto the Gustavus squad.

St. John’s 42 – Gustavus 7

Glorious sunshine and a Johnnie win set the stage for a Homecoming showdown above the south endzone at the Collegeville Grill.

Bring it on Freebird!

Johnnie Up Everybody!

Click HERE to view full screen images as a slide show.
(Look for “slideshow” in the upper right area of the page.)

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.

With trips to UWRF, Concordia and this week’s trek to St Peter the 2009 Johnnies are logging miles much akin to what Clark and Noel Stanton book as they travel to Johnnie games from their home in the Bay Area, of course watch our own John Stanton #13 wreak havoc at Outside Linebacker (once a young man comes to Collegeville the family looses them as their own as they become once and forever a JOHNNIE). And I thought the Saladin’s had some long trips last year!

Regardless of where the Johnnies have kicked it off in 2009 they have taken care of the business at hand. Either behind an offense that is in synch behind Joe Boyle’s leadership or a defense that has seen its line (Schroeder, Sharpe, Bolhman and Gundy) stalwarts lives up the pre-season expectations of the league, and the Johnnie Nation.

So as the Johnnies and its unrivaled Nation make the drive down 169 to St. Peter this Saturday I know that we will roll into town (and into Patrick’s) proudly represting all that is SJU. The Nation will welcome (with chants of D-Fence from Mrs. Wimmer) the new Golden Gustie Coach (Peter Haugen, Bethel ’91) to what the MIAC, its student-athletes, and of course its avid fan base is all about, pure and unadulterated College Football.

At least the MIAC was kind to (new) Coach Haugen by not making his first tilt against the Johnnies take place up in Collegeville at the Natural Bowl! Rather this week’s game is scheduled for that new Taj Mahal of a stadium in St Pete. But then again no points are awarded for the amenities of the venue in the MIAC!

It’s time to saddle up for all in the Nation, no matter if you are traveling by plane, train or automobile. It is time to support our 2009 squad with such fervor that we all need at least 2 days to recover our vocal abilities. It is time to finish this early season road tripping with a victory against the Golden Gusties and get back to Collegeville and the Natural Bowl. And it is undoubtedly time to Johnnie up in St Peter!