It’s a little known fact that I was a member of the St. John’s University football team once-upon-a-time. It was for only one season, 1999 (”The Sweet Season“), and I never did step foot on the field in an actual game situation. But I got to meet a bunch of awesome guys, get an inside look at one of the best college football programs in the country, and learn from some truly brilliant football minds (Need proof? Find #33 here). It was a phenomenal experience.
So what does that have to do with anything in the fall of 2007? In 1999, Augsburg had won its first three games against Mayville State (N.D.)(29–27 OT), Hamline (15–10), and St. Olaf (30–27). They came into Collegeville feeling confident and with visions of an upset.
As you may have already guessed (or assumed), things didn’t go as planned for the Auggies. It was 21–0 after one quarter, 42–0 after two, and 55–0 after three. The Johnnie offense was on a roll and the Johnnie defense was its typical stingy self.
Now, by halftime, I had dreams of playing time and figured it was a given that Jerry [Haugen] would holler “Schou!” sometime in the second half. After all, Augsburg showed no signs of life and the Johnnie reserves to that point had picked up where the starters left off.
Unfortunately for me, my day ended the same way Augsburg’s did: in disappointment. If you check the box score from that game, you’ll see that the Johnnies got stuck on 55 and didn’t budge from there. The substitutions that looked to be fast and furious in the second half instead went slowly and conservatively as Jerry was intent on preserving the donut. As the fourth quarter ticked down, more guys got to see the field. One of the starting corners grabbed me and dragged me over to Jerry and started whispering in his ear to put me in. It never happened; a fellow freshman defensive back picked off Augsburg’s last pass of the day and the Johnnie offense ran out the clock. I never got any closer than that to playing the rest of the season.
Now, eight years later, Augsburg comes into Collegeville feeling pretty confident yet again. It’s my hope that some freshman defensive back gets the opportunity I never did. Go Johnnies!
