It was a beautiful day for football in Saint Peter today, and the Johnnies quickly dispatched the Gustie’s hope for a homecoming victory. The Johnnies started strong and never looked back as they notched a 40-0 defeat of the home team.
The game started on a sour note as Gustie John Ostertag’s opening kickoff sailed out of bounds, giving the Johnnies the ball at the 35. Alex Kofoed quickly put on the hurt by completing a 54 yard pass to Ben Vanderheyden on the very first play from scrimmage. Luckily for the Gusties, the ball was underthrown, or Vanderheyden would have walked into the endzone. It took just three more plays for Kofoed to find Aaron Blackmore in the endzone for the score.
The remainder of the first half was much of the same, capped off by a slashing 27 yard touchdown run by Jeff Schnobrich followed by a Russel Gliadon kick (and re-kick, due to a penalty) to make the score 33-0 going into the break.
The defense played a remarkable first half, as well. The new scoreboard informed me that the Gusties had less that 50 total yards in the first half. The guys looked like they were having the time of their lives out on the field. Nick Gunderson was blowing up double teams, Ryan Wimmer was shooting gaps, and John Cloeter was laying the wood if Gustie QB Jordan Stolp dared to throw his way.
The second half saw mass substitutions by the Johnnies. The only scoring of the second half came early as Kofoed completed another TD pass to Blackmore. The remainder of the half was pretty much played between the 20 yard lines.
Offensively, Kofoed completed 25 of 37 passes for 332 yards and 5 touchdowns. The receptions were spread out, with 9 players catching passes. Most notably, Brian Weber had 6 catches and 1 touchdown, Blackmore had 6 catches and 2 touchdowns, Brett Saladin had 5 catches and 2 touchdowns, and Vanderheyden had 4 catches. Schnobrich lead the rushing totals with 51 yards. Mike Patnode added 45 yards, and freshman Bryan Virnig added 26 yards to the total.
Defensively, the game was never in question. The no-huddle offense that the Gusties employed seemed to hinder them more than help them. It was slow and cumbersome, and it didn’t seem to confuse anyone. Wimmer lead the team with 9 tackles. Gunderson recorded 1.5 sacks. The defense flat-out looked good. It’s tough to point to any individual performance because when things go well, everyone has done their job.
When the dust had settled, the Johnnies racked up 508 yards to the Gustie’s 133 yards.
Random Thoughts
- The new GAC stadium is really nice. The stands are close to the field for an intimate atmosphere. They could have benefited from more restrooms, concessions, and ticket booths, though
- Saladin went down with a knee injury. Preliminary word is that it’s nothing serious.
- Senior offensive lineman Jason Primus seemed to re-aggravate some injuries, as well.
- Kofoed underthrew quite a few passes early in the game, but the receivers helped him out by making some ridiculous catches.
- Gliadon drilled the upright with one PAT and had another blocked. The Gusties were getting some great penetration on PATs. Unfortunately for them, that is the only place they excelled.
- The Johnnies nearly blocked several punts. I don’t know if Gunderson needs bigger hands or what, but he was pretty much on top of the punter on more than one occasion.
- The fearsome duo of Stolp to WR Chad Arlt didn’t prove so fearsome. Arlt finished with just 4 catches, with the majority coming later in the second half.
