On a sun drenched afternoon opening day for the 2007 version of the Johnnies football team did not disappoint the Johnnie Nation. The reported attendance of 7,764 inside Clemens Stadium saw plenty of offensive firepower as 12 Johnnies recorded rushing opportunities, 9 Johnnies caught passes and 3 Johnnie quarterbacks directed scoring drives. The end result was 484 yards of total offense.

The defense played well recording 9 tackles for loss as well as intercepting 3 passes. Sophomore linebacker Ethan Eid returned his interception 89 yards for a touchdown. The Johnnies allowed 187 yards to the Pioneers. The two scores for the Pioneers came late in the 4th quarter as many of the younger Johnnie players were seeing their first live game action.

The time of possession was not as one-sided as the score might indicate with the Johnnies holding the ball just under 3 minutes longer than the Pioneers.

The typical first game mental mistakes of penalties and fumbled snaps occurred for both squads and this is something I feel confident the Johnnie coaching staff will address and eliminate during film and practice sessions next week.

The ability of Alex Kofoed to feel pressure and roll out as he improvised on the fly was quite successful during the game. Brian Weber was the target on several of these improvised plays.

I want to reiterate a point made earlier in the week about the opening game being an audition of sorts for many players who are in competition for starting positions. Ben Vanderheyden stepped forward to make his presence known in the ranks of the receivers. Mike Patnode did not play as he was out with a hand injury; Aaron Blackmore took on the role of featured running back. Jeff Schnobrich and Nick Murray have also given notice that when given the opportunity they will make the most of it.

The kicking game that has for many years been an adventure, to say the least, seems to be in as stable of a condition as it has been since the 2003 National Championship season when Brandon Keller handled place kicking duties and Charlie Carr handled the punting.

The kickoff depth during that year was suspect as Keller was a very accurate field goal and point after touchdown kicker, but did not have the leg strength for booming kickoffs. Keller holds the school record for most field goals made in a season with 11 in 2003.

This season the Johnnies have one player handling kicking and punting duties and his name is Russell Gliadon. Russell kicked 2 field goals of 34 and 35 yards, was perfect 6 for 6 on point after touchdown that he attempted and had 5 kickoffs with a 64.6-yard average with 2 touchbacks. Russell also punted for the Johnnies, his long punt was 60 yards. Russell could become a very valuable piece of the puzzle when playoff time rolls around. John Gagliardi needs to feel comfortable with his kicker to continue giving him opportunities to attempt field goals. Russell Gliadon executed flawlessly doing everything a coach could ask on opening day to gain confidence and trust in his kicker. For the record, I predicted that Gliadon would set a school record for successful field goals at 15 prior to the start of the season. Having two attempts and two made field goals in the opening game I am feeling pretty good. Time will tell how the rest of the season unfolds.

Next stop for the Johnnies is River Falls, Wisconsin on September 8th. Until then, Go Johnnies!

—TC

DuffMan: Alex Kofoed exploits the young Pioneer DBs and throws for 3 TDs before getting yanked. The running game struggles a bit. Kicking woes continue for the Johnnies. Marietta scores two TDs and a field goal while the Johnnie defense works out the bugs. St. John’s 39, Marietta 17.

Mr.Shoes: I have three expectations for the game: 1) I’ll be standing on the track at the southwest 12 yard line watching 2) nearly 200 guys in red—many of whose names I have never heard of before—execute like the finely tuned machine I’ve grown accustomed to seeing and 3) beat an opponent I know nothing about. Oh, and…
3b) I’ll be full, fat, and happy with food from the Stiftungsfestivities. Go Johnnies!
St. John’s 46, Marietta 17.

RetiredOldRat: I fear, in the words of that great philosopher Yogi Berra, this could be “deja vu all over again”. I’m referring to opening games against UW-Eau Claire which resulted in loses in 2001, 2002 and 2004 and too-close-for-comfort victories in 2005 and 2006.

Brian Weber will run wild through the Marietta secondary. Marietta QB Dexter Hughes will have nightmares about Nick Gunderson for years to come. St. John’s 26, Marietta 16.

Sjusection105: I will not pretend that I have been breaking down film on the Marietta Pioneers for the last 2 weeks as I am waiting for the beginning of another Johnnie football season. So what I will give you is some opinions about the known and the unknown.

The known is John Gagliardi. Heck, John could take the 8 of us writers for this site, along with 3 real football players and teach us enough not to get Monkey Stomped. Well, good thing John has a lot more to work with than this rag tag bunch of hacks.

The known is Alex Kofoed, Mike Patnode and Brian Weber. There will be other unknowns who will step forward and say, “I am a Johnnie football player, I score touchdowns” and so it will be. That’s the beauty of opening day. Discovering who will step up.

The known is Nick Gunderson, Josh Rose, Ryan Wimmer and John Cloeter. Pressure the passer, shut down the run and pick off passes. There are vacancies to be filled and game time auditions will be taking place. Who will step up to fill those vacancies? Somebody will step up, that’s all I have to say about the Johnnie defense.

Another surprising known is the kicking game. The kicking game is and has been an adventure at SJU over the years. Russell Glaidon has helped to steady that aspect of the game. For this, my wife is thankful. You see, she usually covers her eyes every time the field goal unit comes onto the field. Russell made her much more at ease last season. St. John’s 35, Marietta 10.

TC: I’m afraid that St. John’s recent season opener struggles will continue with a slow first half, but the Johnnies will open it up enough in second half to rotate in some backups by the 4th quarter. There will be a lot of new faces at the skill positions on offense, but Alex Kofoed, Brian Weber, and Mike Patnode are enough returning talent to patch over the rough spots. The Johnnies get aggressive on defense–led by Nick Gunderson–totally stopping the Marietta run game and disrupting the timing of the Pioneers’ inexperienced QB. St. John’s 27, Marietta 6.

Touchdown Tommy: The Johnnies are perennially slow starters. Some claim the lack of hitting and great physical contact at Johnnies’ practice contributes to the “learning curve” when it appears the Cardinal and Blue are most vulnerable early in each season. I see the Johnnies bringing the blitz and pressure early in the game to shake up and rattle the Marietta attack early on (1st game starting for their QB). There are usually a few kinks in the armor that work themselves out. Should be a gorgeous day in Collegeville. St. John’s 37, Marietta 17.

Ric Brienza: I haven’t seen the Johnnies since the 2003 Stagg Bowl so I can only go by the team’s history as a guide for this year. That history tells me St. John’s will be a solid, very well coached team, with a good tackling defense and a balanced offense that makes few mistakes.

Look for Marietta to struggle to move the ball with a young offense. Gone is quarterback Jason Vrable, Marietta’s all-time leading passer, who attempted all but five of the Pioneers passes last season and led the team in rushing. The leading running back managed less than 20 yards a game, meaning this was a one dimensional offense in 2006. This young Marietta offense should struggle early in the season, and with the first test coming against St. John’s, it means it will need to jell quickly and not turn the ball over.

On the other hand, St. John’s should be able to move the football on the ground. The Pioneers were second to last in the Ohio Athletic Conference in 2006 in rush defense, allowing nearly 150 yards per game. Overall Marietta ranked eighth out of nine teams in total defense.

The Pioneers won with an explosive passing offense last season and without Vrable to lead the way, they will need to find themselves in a hurry. I expect that will be hard to do in Collegeville. St. John’s 38, Marietta 13.

Jay Cutler: Marietta has been a team that appears to be moving up in the OAC ladder with three straight non-losing seasons (6-4, 5-5, 6-4). The coach is an Eau Claire grad and I would assume that is how they are familiar with St Johns. Last year they had a pretty good run and beat two of the OAC’s upper level teams, Baldwin Wallace and Ohio Northern.

After graduating an All Conference QB, they will be breaking in a new QB against St Johns…..not a place I would want to be. Their defense appears to be a strength again and will carry whatever early success they may have. SJU has a few issues, too, with the need to find a starting running back and some new receivers. The SJU defense will also be key in the early games of the season until Alex Kofoed finds his “go to guys” on offense. As long as SJU does not play give away with turnovers I think there is too much talent on SJU to allow Marietta to be much of a threat. St. John’s 21, Marietta 7.

Randy Lowe: The Johnnies will be tough on offense and defense, based on their tradition of good teams. If an upset is in the making it will start with the defense. Catching the Johnnies early in the season should help the Pios D because their offensive timing may be off. The Marietta defense needs to play like they did at #20 Ohio Northern last year (a 16-6 Marietta win). The special teams will also have to step up and help with field position. If either of those 2 units fails, it will be a long day.

The Marietta offense cannot put the defense in bad positions such as turnovers or a lot of three-and-outs. The offense has some special athletes such as transfer #4 Ryan Dawson, WVU scholarship wideout, and returning wideout #5 Chad McDaniel. QB Dexter Hughes has a strong arm but he cannot afford to make any mistakes. If the play calling is anything like what I saw last year and so far this year, Coach Wiese will have the Johnnies’ D guessing a lot.

Marietta was a second half team last year so if they can keep it close until the second half, I like their chances. I also like the fact they have won their last 13 out of 14 openers. The Johnnies Avg. Pts. given up a game last year was 11.8 so I am going to predict: Marietta 10, St. John’s 7.

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Just under 24 hours till kick-off!

Count the Rings: Marietta is no stranger to playing successful programs. St. John’s is 12th school with an NCAA National Championship pedigree that Marietta has played. The Pioneers’ composite record against Allegheny, Baldwin-Wallace, Central (IA), Dayton, Marshall, Michigan, Michigan St., Mount Union, Ohio State, Penn State, and Wittenberg is a paltry 36-107-5 (.260). By comparison, the Johnnies have compiled a winning record (18-9, .667) against the 9 NCAA Champions they have played—Albion, Augustana, Central (IA), Dayton, Linfield, Mount Union, North Dakota, Pacific Lutheran, and UW-La Crosse.

Thanks for Coming: As far as I can tell, the 965 miles between Marietta, OH and Collegeville, MN is the furthest the Pioneers have ever traveled for a football game. In fact, the total mileage traveled to all 5 of Marietta’s road games last year was only 883 miles. The last time St. John’s hosted a team that made a longer trip was December 13, 2003, when the Johnnies destroyed RPI 38-10 to earn a date with Mount Union.

Re-Blazing the Trail: Marietta is one of at least 31 colleges to use “Pioneers” as their nickname. There are 7 other packs of Pioneers playing Division III football this year—Carroll (WI), Grinnell, Lewis & Clark, UW-Platteville, Utica, William Patterson, and Widener—making it one of the most common nicknames in the country.

Cause or Effect?: The Pioneers have won their last 7 season openers (and 12 of their last 13). The combined season records of the 7 vanquished opponents? 23-47 (.329). Obviously, this streak will be in serious jeopardy in Collegeville.

Thanks for Nothing: Marietta College has never produced an NFL player but 7 Pioneers did go on to play Major League baseball. Twins fans can thank the Pioneers for rubber-armed batting practice pitcher Terry Mulholland. Ban Johnson, the founder of the American League, Kent Tekulve, who threw sidearm in over 1,000 MLB games, and Jim Tracy, current manager of the Pirates, also graduated from Marietta.

If Losing Builds Character…: Marietta’s only undefeated season was 1942, a 2-0 effort with both wins coming against something called the University of Rio Grande. For a stretch in the early 1980s, however, they nearly perfected the art of the winless season. The Pioneers didn’t win a game 1981, 1982, or 1983, part of a string of 41 winless games. In 1981, they were shut out in 7 of 9 games and outscored 314-16.

Here’s hoping the Pioneers can build a little more character on Sunday. Be sure to check back later in the week as I hope to discuss some regular season stats that could give us an idea of how far the Johnnies will go this postseason.

When we have the ball

Two big strengths for us coming into this game are Alex Kofoed and our offensive line.  If Kofoed is a new name to you, then you have been hiding under a rock for the past three years.  The senior QB has been named a preseason all-American and threw for 2805 yards in 2006.  He’ll be protected by seniors Andrew Salvato (preseason all-American), Jason Brodmerkel, Jason Primus, and junior Dan Gamache, all who return from 2006.  Seniors Mike Patnode and Brian Weber will take on lead roles at running back and wide receiver, respectively.  Patnode had 102 carries for 446 yards and Weber had 32 receptions for 508 yards in 2006.

The Pioneers look to be solid in their linebacking corps, and they return two key defensive linemen, as well.  Seniors Brian Hahn (preseason all-American), Carter Shaver, junior Grant Cowell, and sophomore Braden Schaad all return as linebackers with varsity experience.  Hahn and Cowell were the top two tacklers for the Pioneers in 2006.  Up front, seniors Clay Ream (preseason all-American) and Pete Hashman return.  In the backfield, senior Cody Venderlic is the lone returner.  I like our chances throwing the ball in this game.  Kofoed should be able to pick the secondary apart, and I like our offensive line’s chances against a defensive line with 2 newcomers.  Add to that the fact that the Pioneers only recorded 18 sacks as a team in 2006, and I feel like the Saint John’s offense will shine.

When they have the ball

Like Saint John’s, the Pioneers will return experience up front with four returning linemen, 2 of whom were named all-conference in 2006.  Seniors Jason Mackay (all-OAC), Lance Parrish (all-OAC), Brad Roberts, and Steve Kwolek will lead the charge.  The only other real threat I see from the Pioneers is wide receiver Chad McDaniel.  McDaniel was named all-OAC in 2006 after hauling in 49 catches for 741 yards.  There looks to be a QB battle between 4 players, but only one of them has thrown a varsity pass for Marietta.  They do return running backs Garret Banks, George Davis, and Joe Webb, but they only rushed for 240, 108, and 56 yards respectively in 2006.

Defensively for the Johnnies, juniors Nick Gunderson and Mike Schumacher return on the defensive line.  Gunderson was named a preseason all-American this year, and I predict big things for him in 2007.  Sophomores Josh Rose and Ryan Wimmer will return at linebacker, and seniors John Cloeter and Kevin Boegel are back at the safety positions.  There will be plenty of players starting for their first time at Saint John’s University, so mistakes will be made and the Pioneers will gain yards, but I like our chances.  I think a big key to the game will be shaking up their QB.  If the newcomers on the defensive line can step in and take some pressure off of Gunderson and Schumacher, good things will happen.

I foresee things falling into place and the Johnnies recording their first “W” for the 2007 season, although the past has shown that the season opener is often the best time to knock SJU off.  Marietta won’t be a powderpuff team (Mount Union is a regular season opponent for them, so they see some very good competition), but I think we have enough experience returning this year to get over the opening game jitters.

Bottom line:  Johnnies win.

Enjoy the game!