Photo By Biasi – SJU Athletics
For those among the estimated 6,000 in attendance (yeah, 6,000 at Carleton!) at Laird Stadium in Northfield on Saturday for the coronation of an MIAC champion, numbers can do little quantify what you saw. Not only did the Carleton Knights, lowest of the lower class in the conference caste system, have a shot at the perennially powerful St. John’s Johnnies, at home, for the championship, but they had them on the ropes in the last minute. In the end, Kurt Ramler, a spread offense, trick plays, and a hearty helping of pluck weren’t enough to topple some well timed Johnnie Magic. Here’s a look at some numbers from Saturday’s 14-10, come-from-behind win and the regular season as a whole.
Ground-ed Attack?: The Johnnies completed the regular season without a single rushing topping 100 yards on the ground in any game. That’s not to say the running backs weren’t instrumental to the win over the Knights. Senior Jeff Schnobrich topped 100 yards receiving for the third time on the season, with 9 receptions for 145 receiving yards. Sophomore Jakob Reding contributed 5 catches for 59. While the running backs totaled 14 catches for nearly 200 yards, quarterback Joe Boyle completed only 4 passes for 67 yards to his receivers and tight ends.
Schnobrich, who was named MIAC offensive player of the week for his effort, also lead the Johnnie with 34 yards on the ground. It was his fourth game as the leading rusher this season and the second time he had both the most rushing and receiving yards for the Johnnies. His 3 100+ yard receiving days matched Ben Vanderheyden for the team lead. Schnobrich finished the regular season as the Johnnies’ leading rusher with only 444 yards. By comparison, Mike Patnode rushed for 260 yards against Carleton last season for St. John’s.
No Fingernails Left: Saturday’s 14-10 win was the Johnnies’ 6th game decided by 7 points or less, tying a school record set in 1975 and matched in 1989. Of the six games, all decided in the final minutes of regulation or overtime, the Johnnies lost two. Potential game-winning drives fell short against Concordia (9-6 loss) and Bethel (14-9). There would be no such heartbreak this week as the Johnnies went 62 yards in 5 plays and 34 seconds to take the lead after falling behind 10-7 with only 50 seconds to play. In the Johnnies’ three other nailbiting wins, they survived a goalline stand aginst St. Thomas (12-9), overtime against St. Olaf (20-14), and an onside kick against Augsburg (28-21).
Power Outage: The Johnnies have scored only 211 points, an average of 21.1 points per game, their lowest totals in decades. The last time the Johnnies scored fewer points in a season was 1984, when they tallied 205 points in a 9 game season (22.8 ppg). The season before, they managed only 192 points over an 11 game schedule, good for only 17.5 points for game.
1983 was also the last season that St. John’s failed to score at least 40 points in a single game. The Johnnies nudged that streak to 25 straight seasons by scoring exactly 40 points against Hamline in a 40-7 win at Clemens stadium.
Longtime readers of this column will remember that Alex Kofoed and the Johnnie offense played much better at home than on the road in 2007. It appears that a change (well, changes) at the quarterback position wasn’t enough to shake that trend. The Johnnies averaged 26 points per game in Collegeville, while mustering about half that total (13.8 points per game) on the road. It will be interesting to see how the offense adapts to playing at UW-Whitewater this weekend, where the much more prolific offenses struggled in 2005 and 2006 playoff games. The 2005 team averaged 45.2 points per game before playing the Warhawks, who dismantled them 34-7. A year later, an offense averaging 30.7 points per game managed less than half of that in a 17-14 loss in Whitewater for the West Region championship.
On the Flipside: While St. John’s is scoring few points than past seasons, their defense has remained as stingy as ever and kept them in every ballgame. The Johnnies’ 12.2 points per game allowed ranked first in the MIAC and tied for fourth in the nation. Unfortunately, the Johnnies have the unenviable task of playing one of the three stingier defenses this Saturday, as UW-Whitewater has allowed only 10.7 yards per game, second in the nation. Conversely, the Warhawks have scored 35.2 points per game.
Amazingly, the stingiest team in Division III is also the second highest scoring. Mount Union, the Johnnies’ foil in their two most recent Stagg Bowl appearances, is at it again this season. The Purple Raiders have allowed an amazing 6.0 points per game, barely half the total of #2 UW-Whitewater, while scoring an equally impressive 46.8 per game (Monmouth leads the division at 49.1 ppg). Not surprisingly, the Purple Raiders are 10-0 and have earned the top seed in the entire NCAA tournament.
Quick Hits: The St. John’s defense ranks 15th in the nation in yards per game allowed (253.3), one spot ahead of UW-Whitewater (254.7). The offense (308.3 ypg) ranks 147th in the nation and 6th in the MIAC… The Johnnies take a 15 game first-round playoff winning streak into this Saturday’s game against the Warhawks. The Johnnies have lost two of three past meetings with UW-Whitewater. Their only win was a 42-18 home win in the 2002 regular season… St. John’s remains undefeated alltime against Carleton, pushing their record to 26-0. This is the third time the Knights have stayed within 7 points of the Johnnies (36-35 in 1990, 10-7 in 2007)… The win gave St. John’s its 30th MIAC Football conference title, the most in conference history. Gustavus has 22 and Concordia has recorded 18 titles. Only Gustavus Men’s Tennis, with 39 MIAC championships, can claim such conference dominance, though Augsburg did record 31 titles before the MIAC discontinued its sponsorship of the sport in 2003.
