Even though St. John’s ended up winning the conference title last year, the ride sure was bumpy. Anchored by a tenacious defense, the team struggled offensively. Looking like Harry Potter and his 3-headed dog, the offense seemed out of sync and the play calling was questionable. The offensive line took a lot of heat from us geniuses in the stands for poor blocking and pass protection.
Led by big-dog Joe Boyle, this year’s Johnnie offense looks like a completely different animal. Boyle’s leadership and talent notwithstanding, much credit has to be given to the offensive line for the outstanding play so far in the trenches. I’m sure Jakob “Otis” Reding would agree that the line deserves an awful lot of credit for his being named MIAC Player of the Week on Monday.
In the big showdown of unbeaten teams last Saturday, SJU was facing the conference’s #1 passing defense and #2 scoring defense in St. Thomas. Rising to the occasion, the Johnnies running game ground out the yards as the line opened hole after hole and pushed the Tommie D back on their hinders. Even though the Tommies forced the game into overtime, after the Johnnie D held UST to a field goal, when the offense took the field it was clear that the boys on the line were going to take care of business. And did they ever! Four straight rushes covered the 25 yards to a touchdown. The almost 13,000 in attendance on a beautiful autumn afternoon were treated to a terrific game and, a great overtime victory.
With 3 games to play, St. John’s must guard against a let-down after such an emotional game. St. Olaf comes to the pines as no pushover. Statistically this year they’re a middle-of-the-pack team, but they have some playmakers on their squad. Remember Johnnies, for the other team against SJU, it’s their superbowl. Continue to play like champions.
I will be off chasing partridges this weekend, but Saturday afternoon will find me emotionally and technologically connected to the cardinal-clad lads.
GO JOHNNIES!
finsleft@johnniefootball.com