Twenty-five times the St. John’s Johnnies and Carleton Knights have met on the football field and twenty-five times the Johnnies have come out the victor. This year may be different, though. The Knights have rarely had such high hopes entering a showdown with the Johnnies–and have never had such a big stage.
Like nearly every other time the teams have met, it will be a game of contrasting styles. However, this time the Knights are the team with the high-scoring offense looking to light up the scoreboard while the Johnnies are the team that will try to grind out the clock, keep the game close, and minimize mistakes.
While the Johnnies find themselves in an unfamiliar position of having to fight for their playoff life during the last week of the season, after the way the year started with two early loss to conference rivals Bethel and Concordia turning every week in to a do-or-die game, the team is happy to just control its own playoff destiny. The season comes down to one game: the Johnnies and the Knights, the conference championship and playoff berth at stake. Let’s play ball.
DuffMan: The Johnnies have amazed me by just getting to this point. Earlier in the season, I figured they’d end the season around .500. The MIAC race has been crazy this year, and while neither team has an unblemished record, the MIAC title means just as much if you’re 6-2 as if you’re 8-0. That being said, I think the Johnnies have been living on borrowed time. They’ve escaped with wins over Carleton the past two years, and they’ve squeaked out a few wins in the latter half of the 2008 season. While they have a defense that should slow down the Knight offense, I am not sure the Johnnie offense is up to the task. I think it’ll be another close game, but I think the Knights will prevail. Carleton 35, St. John’s 27.
DustySJU: As odd as it may appear to those who regularly attend Johnnie football games and follow the MIAC conference race, the Johnnies are in the conference championship today. We’ve questioned everything, including the starting quarterback, lack of offense, challenges on the offensive line and, of course, the play calling. The one aspect of Saturday’s win that cannot be challenged is the energy and spirit the team displayed in keeping pace with the fast-scoring Auggies. Today the Johnnies will sport a perfect 25 – 0 record versus the Carleton College Knights. St. John’s 19, Carleton 17.
Johnnie Tats: Pick your big game cliché for this week’s game. “Winner take all”, “win or go home”, “just win, baby” and so on. Well, as all in the Johnnie nation know, this is the exact type of situation we expect to be in each season. With that said, Joe Boyle has now taken control of the eam, the line is coming together and let’s (please) put John Stanton, #13, out there to continue to wreak havoc on the defensive side of the ball! We can run the ball all day on the Knights and then stop the aerial attack with a defensive scheme akin to the one we leveraged in the Auggie game. Johnnie seniors know what needs to be done and are highly motivated. Johnnies take their 30th MIAC title and 26th under Gagliardi. St. John’s 24, Carleton 10.
Mr.Shoes: We’re not losing to ****ing Carleton. St. John’s 27, Carleton 20.
(It better work for championships…)
SjuSection105: This game really has me wondering. I wonder. how good are the Knights? I wonder, is the Johnnie offense going to open the floodgates or play it close to the vest? I wonder, will field conditions affect the outcome of the game? I wonder, has the best MIAC officiating crew been assigned to this game or will a random cast of characters be deciding the outcome of this championship game? I would not be surprise if this game went either way today. With that being said, I feel there is just enough Johnnie magic left. St. John’s 14, Carleton 13.
TC: 2008 has not been a typical season for the St. John’s Johnnies. After decades of hearing how John Gagliardi and the team have needlessly run up the score on helpless opponents, it seems that this year’s team’s goal is to run as few plays as possible and keep the games as close as possible. While one of the Johnnies’ most familiar blowout victims, Carleton, gets a chance at retribution this weekend, don’t expect either team to run up the score. The cold, windy and potentially wet weather will keep the Johnnies’ offense grounded and should temper the Knights’ ability to move the ball through the air. Expect the Johnnies to keep things conservative in an attempt to minimize mistakes and the St. John’s defense to come up big. Unless the offense gets careless with the ball—which has happened regularly in big road games of late—the Johnnies should have enough to eek out another close one. St. John’s 14, Caleton 10.
Touchdown Tommy: The MIAC title game fell right into the laps of the Johnnies. Carleton has a fairly potent offense and the coveted home field advantage. They have the former Johnnie at the controls and have played St. John’s very tight since Ramler took over in Northfield. I believe the team that gets out to a good start (see: grabs the lead) and wins the turnover battle will win the game. The Knights are the trendy pick this week as they are having an unbelievable season while the Johnnies have looked quite ordinary. That being said… St. John’s 20, Carleton 19.
