Whoever coined the phrase “The sun always shines on Johnnie football” may well have been making a philosophical statement considering the longevity of success over the past half of a century in Collegeville under the direction of John Gagliardi. There was no sunshine, instead there was a steady rain falling throughout the game on Saturday between the University of Wisconsin River Falls Falcons and our beloved Johnnies. The Johnnies defeated the Falcons by a score of 22-6 and some questions were answered along the way.
Coming into this game I had four concerns, lets just refer to these concerns as The Four Horsemen of Doubt. The first of the four horsemen was the Gunderson factor. How would the Johnnie defense, specifically the defensive line, answer the bell after losing their All American lineman for the season? The second of the four horsemen was the Zweifel factor. How would the Johnnie secondary contain the UWRF All American receiver? The third of the four horsemen was the ball control running game and how would the offensive line respond to their lack luster execution of the running game last week against ETBU? The final doubt was the Quarterback situation and how this open audition would work out. As you remember, last week three Quarterbacks saw similar amounts of playing time. Jordan Hansel started the game, followed by Joe Boyle and the final Quarterback into the game last week against ETBU was Michael Crees. Crees engineered the scoring drive in which the Johnnies reclaimed the lead and was awarded the starting spot on Saturday.
The Gunderson factor: I felt that the defensive line played well and stuffed the run of UWRF. The defensive line also didn’t let UWRF field general, Storm Harmon, feel too comfortable in the pocket. The Johnnies surrendered only 10 first downs to the Falcons and allowed just 86 yards rushing. Four players, Noel Meyer, David Burns, Jeff Bohlman and Kyle Schroeder, rotated in the nose tackle position in place of the injured Gunderson.
The Zweifel factor: I felt the combination of a strong pass rush by the defensive line and the increased confidence and experience of the secondary kept the UWRF All American receiver in check. Zweifel had two receptions for 38 yards.
The offensive line: Ben Dimond, Dan Gamache, Tim Juba, Erik Kottom and Greg Sowden did a fine job of controlling the line of scrimmage which allowed the Johnnies to accumulate 361 yards of total offense and more importantly 215 yards rushing. Jakob Reding had 71 yards on the ground and Jeff Schnobrich had 69 yards on the ground as the two rushing leaders for the Johnnies. Considering the weather conditions and the fact that next week the Johnnies begin the MIAC schedule at home by hosting Concordia the presence of a ground game was an accomplishment the was a welcome sight. The tough running inside yardage gained by Reding was a flashback to Johnnie teams of the past. Schnobrich once again showed his versatility and value to the offensive scheme not only on the ground but also in the passing game with his ability to block.
The Quarterback situation: Michael Crees was awarded the starting spot and played the entire game. The rainy conditions made for a tough day to play Quarterback and Crees made the most of his opportunity. On the opening drive of the game, while eating up 5:43 of the game clock, Crees threaded the ball to Brett Saladin for the first score of the day. Crees went on to post 13 of 21 passing with the touchdown pass to Saladin being the one passing score of the day. Crees did throw two interceptions but considering the weather conditions the Johnnie coaching staff did not substitute either Jordan Hansel or Joe Boyle into the game. Comments made by Jim Gagliardi during the post-game radio show, on the flagship station WBHR home of the Johnnies, leads one to believe that the victory over UWRF does not anoint Crees as the successor to Alex Kofoed. Gagliardi noted, and I’m paraphrasing his comments, “Crees is our starting Quarterback; for now” and “with the weather conditions today, it wouldn’t have been fair to put another kid into the game”. I would suspect that if the weather were dry on Saturday, Crees would not have been allowed to throw his second interception of the day.
I feel that two of The Four Horsemen of Doubt have been sufficiently subdued. Those two being the offensive and defensive line play. The Gunderson factor may pop up at some point during the season, but the depth of the defensive line makes replacing an irreplaceable player a bit easier. The offensive line rolled up their sleeves and did what they love to do, control the line of scrimmage. The secondary controlled the UWRF All American receiver on Saturday but was this an issue of the weather or the front seven getting a good pass rush? I’m feeling more comfortable with the secondary after watching them play together for two games. I’ll feel even more comfortable after they shut down some of the highflying passing oriented offenses of the MIAC. This leaves us with the Quarterback situation. I feel that Crees has the job until he shows the coaching staff otherwise. If he plays mistake free football and keeps the offense moving it’s his job to lose.
