The Johnnie gods and Bennie goddesses along with the Johnny Bloods’, Austin Murphys’ and of course the immortal one himself – John Gagliardi, have aligned themselves in such a manner as to position the St. John’s University football team for a potential MIAC crown next Saturday in Northfield.
You say what? Who else but the sons and daughters of Johnnie Football could account for a two loss team playing for the conference championship on the final day of the season.
To make the matter even more confounding The Johnnies will be facing one of their own alumni this coming Saturday in former record setting Johnnie quarterback and current Carleton Knight headman Kurt Ramler.
Improbable as it may appear, the Knights created their own bit of hijinx by having the audacity to travel onto the Concordia College campus this past weekend and slam the door on the Cobber’s hopes of crowning themselves MIAC champs and making the DIII playoffs. A mere week ago these same Cobbers were tied for first place staking their own claim on the MIAC championship.
What made all of this possible was a Johnnie offense that was forced to keep pace with Augsburg College’s scoring machine WR Royce Winford and top rated passing attack. On this day the Johnnies could not merely rely on their league leading defense to stave off an Auggie offense averaging nearly 30 points per game.
Johnnie football is known for attendance figures of 10,000 fans on warmish September days when the skies are blue and the grass as green as the Clemens field’s artificial surface.
On this day however in early November, with fans numbering closer to 4,000, a thick grey sky with fallen oak leaves replaced the comforts of the long Indian summer. This is the joy of Johnnie football as a season within a season fades and reappears.
The splendor of spending hours outside absorbing 30 degree temperatures and 20 mile an hour winds is indeed “Johnnie soup for the soul”. The therapeutic effect of cold weather coupled with a winning Johnnie football team should not be discounted. The opportunity to potentially host a Division III football playoff game at Clemens Stadium is the medicine needed to survive the ominous Minnesota winter.
Playing catch-up the entire season the Johnnie offensive line has gradually begun to adapt to their play making quarterback Joe Boyle and hard running halfbacks Kellen Blaser, Jeff Schnobrich and Jakob Redding. Playing at home Saturday was the perfect opportunity to display the polish an extra week of practice had offered and turning their study into an improbable shot at the conference championship.
It’s a satisfying experience to sit in Clemens Stadium on a brisk Saturday afternoon. It’ll be an equally satisfying experience next Saturday watching the Johnnies continue their rise to the MIAC championship and march to the Division III playoffs.
