A week after opening the season with an underwhelming 28-24 win at UW-River Falls, the Johnnies return to Collegeville to open the home portion of their 2009 schedule against the UW-Eau Claire Blugolds. The Johnnies should be used to facing off against WIAC opponents—dating back to last season’s playoffs, this will be St. John’s third straight foe from what is widely considered the strongest Division III conference in the country. While the UW-River Falls Falcons haven’t fielded a winning team since 2000, the Blugolds should provide a much stiffer challenge.
UW-Eau Claire is coming off of a 6-4 season in which they finished in third place in the WIAC. The Blugolds lost to the first and second place teams in their conference by a combined 3 points, 16-14 to eventual national runner-up UW-Whitewater and 21-20 to national playoff participant UW-Stevens Point. (UW-Eau Claire actually played UW-Whitewater twice last season in order to fill their 10-game schedule, also falling to the Warhawks 40-10 in Whitewater.) The Blugolds made the NCAA tournament as recently as 2007, when they parlayed an 8-2 regular season record into an at-large bid and a playoff win at St. Norbert before they fell to eventual national semifinalist Bethel.
The Blugolds started the 2009 season off on the right foot, beating Bethel (TN, an NAIA program) 21-7 in Eau Claire in last week’s season opener for both schools. This weekend’s game marks the 11th time the Johnnies and Blugolds have met on the gridiron, with the Johnnies holding a 6-4 edge in the all-time series. The two schools met every year from 1998 to 2006, with the Johnnies winning 5 of the 9 games. The 1998 meeting, a 10-7 Blugold win, was a second round playoff matchup, while the other 8 recent meetings were non-conference games.
In their season opener, UW-Eau Claire jumped on Bethel (TN) early with a pair of first quarter touchdown passes. The second of those scores was a 44-yard pass from senior quarterback Kyle Paulson to All-WIAC senior running back Cory Sartorelli, the focal point of the Blugold offensive attack. Sartorelli rushed for 1,288 yards last season and lead UW-Eau Claire in both rushing (27 carries for 107 yards) and receiving (4 catches for 59 yards and a touchdown) against Bethel (TN). UW-Eau Claire also returns their 3 leading receivers from 2008, seniors Brett Schreiner (an All-WIAC pick in 2008) and Spencer Kahoe and sophomore David Goodman. All three are expected to start Saturday to lead one of the most experienced offenses the Johnnies will face this season.
The equally experienced, and arguably more talented, Johnnie defense is looking to rebound from a slow start a week ago against UW-River Falls. After digging themselves a 17-0 hole in the first half, the St. John’s defense allowed only 7 points and 95 yards in the second half. They will need to show that kind of effort for four quarters if they hope to beat UW-Eau Claire—and they’ll have to fight some significant injuries to do so. According to the St. Cloud Times, the Johnnies defense will be without 3 starters on Saturday: sophomore cornerback Adam Weber will miss the season with a knee injury and will be replaced by freshman Alex Powell, senior linebacker Ethan Eid has torn a labrum for the second straight season and will be replaced by experienced senior Stephen Foertsch on Saturday, while senior defensive end David Burns will be missing from the Johnnies’ defensive line rotation. Griffin Hayes and Jeff Bohlman are expected to see extra playing time in his absence.
While the Blugolds return an experienced offense, they are looking to fill some substantial holes on the defensive side of the ball. The team graduated their leaders in tackles, sacks, and interceptions from 2008. In fact, their returning starters accounted for only 2 interceptions all of last season. It will be interesting to see if the Johnnies can build on last week’s success in the passing game this week against UW-Eau Claire.
The Blugolds’ most notable returning defensive starter is senior outside linebacker Ryan Leis. He was second on the team with 48 tackles and 2.5 sacks in 2008. UW-Eau Claire recorded only 1 sack and did not have an interception in their season-opening win over Bethel (TN).
The Blugolds’ inexperience also extends to their kicking game, where freshman Spencer Jacobson (3-for-3 on extra points last week, but a missed 33-yard field goal try) is expected to handle the kicking duties while sophomore Ryan Peterson (7 punts in 2008) handles the punting.
This game should serve as a good measuring stick for the Johnnies before they begin conference play. The Blugolds were picked by WIAC coaches to finish third in the conference and currently reside just outside of the D3Football.com Top 25. Still, there is reason for optimism on both sides of the ball for St. John’s. When the Johnnie defense is at the top of their game, they have the talent to play with anybody in the country. If their lackluster performance against UW-River Falls served as a wakeup call, they could be primed for a strong performance against the Blugolds. The surprisingly plucky St. John’s offense will try to maintain their momentum from last week against a relatively inexperienced defense.
A game this evenly matched could come down to the Johnnies’ home field advantage on Sunday. Regardless of an outcome, the game will serve as a good early season tune-up for two teams with playoff aspirations. Expect a close St. John’s win, but don’t be surprised if the Blugolds escape Collegeville with a W.
