The wait is over. Another beautiful fall Collegeville afternoon greets the St. John’s Johnnies and Marietta Pioneers as they kick off their 2007 seniors. We thought it might be fun to have the JohnnieFootball.com contributors post their gameday predictions prior to each game this year. Hopefully if we don’t dazzle you with details, we’ll at least baffle you with bullsh… oh, yeah, family site.
With that said, let the season begin…
DuffMan: Alex Kofoed exploits the young Pioneer DBs and throws for 3 TDs before getting yanked. The running game struggles a bit. Kicking woes continue for the Johnnies. Marietta scores two TDs and a field goal while the Johnnie defense works out the bugs. St. John’s 39, Marietta 17.
Mr.Shoes: I have three expectations for the game: 1) I’ll be standing on the track at the southwest 12 yard line watching 2) nearly 200 guys in red—many of whose names I have never heard of before—execute like the finely tuned machine I’ve grown accustomed to seeing and 3) beat an opponent I know nothing about. Oh, and…
3b) I’ll be full, fat, and happy with food from the Stiftungsfestivities. Go Johnnies!
St. John’s 46, Marietta 17.
RetiredOldRat: I fear, in the words of that great philosopher Yogi Berra, this could be “deja vu all over again”. I’m referring to opening games against UW-Eau Claire which resulted in loses in 2001, 2002 and 2004 and too-close-for-comfort victories in 2005 and 2006.
Brian Weber will run wild through the Marietta secondary. Marietta QB Dexter Hughes will have nightmares about Nick Gunderson for years to come. St. John’s 26, Marietta 16.
Sjusection105: I will not pretend that I have been breaking down film on the Marietta Pioneers for the last 2 weeks as I am waiting for the beginning of another Johnnie football season. So what I will give you is some opinions about the known and the unknown.
The known is John Gagliardi. Heck, John could take the 8 of us writers for this site, along with 3 real football players and teach us enough not to get Monkey Stomped. Well, good thing John has a lot more to work with than this rag tag bunch of hacks.
The known is Alex Kofoed, Mike Patnode and Brian Weber. There will be other unknowns who will step forward and say, “I am a Johnnie football player, I score touchdowns” and so it will be. That’s the beauty of opening day. Discovering who will step up.
The known is Nick Gunderson, Josh Rose, Ryan Wimmer and John Cloeter. Pressure the passer, shut down the run and pick off passes. There are vacancies to be filled and game time auditions will be taking place. Who will step up to fill those vacancies? Somebody will step up, that’s all I have to say about the Johnnie defense.
Another surprising known is the kicking game. The kicking game is and has been an adventure at SJU over the years. Russell Glaidon has helped to steady that aspect of the game. For this, my wife is thankful. You see, she usually covers her eyes every time the field goal unit comes onto the field. Russell made her much more at ease last season. St. John’s 35, Marietta 10.
TC: I’m afraid that St. John’s recent season opener struggles will continue with a slow first half, but the Johnnies will open it up enough in second half to rotate in some backups by the 4th quarter. There will be a lot of new faces at the skill positions on offense, but Alex Kofoed, Brian Weber, and Mike Patnode are enough returning talent to patch over the rough spots. The Johnnies get aggressive on defense–led by Nick Gunderson–totally stopping the Marietta run game and disrupting the timing of the Pioneers’ inexperienced QB. St. John’s 27, Marietta 6.
Touchdown Tommy: The Johnnies are perennially slow starters. Some claim the lack of hitting and great physical contact at Johnnies’ practice contributes to the “learning curve” when it appears the Cardinal and Blue are most vulnerable early in each season. I see the Johnnies bringing the blitz and pressure early in the game to shake up and rattle the Marietta attack early on (1st game starting for their QB). There are usually a few kinks in the armor that work themselves out. Should be a gorgeous day in Collegeville. St. John’s 37, Marietta 17.
