The Gustavus football team is giving first year head coach Peter Haugen quite an introduction to college football with two dramatic finishes in his first two games. Last week, the Gusties suffered a heartbreaking loss to Coe College in the final seconds, however this week, Haugen’s squad turned the tables and scored on its first offensive play of the second overtime to claim a thrilling 30-24 win over Hamline in St. Paul. Freshman running back Kendrick Hall provided the winning score as he broke through the line and sprinted 25-yards for a touchdown giving the Gusties the win after Hamline had missed a field goal on its offensive possession in the second overtime. Gustavus improves to 1-1 overall and 1-0 in the MIAC.
The Gusties led 7-0 after one quarter and 14-7 at the half thanks to a 39-yard touchdown pass from Jordan Becker to Cameron Maurer in the first quarter and a blocked punt by Lucas Armstrong that was recovered in the end zone by Mike Mohs in the second quarter.
Gustavus extended its lead to 17-7 in the third quarter when Tom Huepenbecker made a 42-yard field goal, however the Pipers closed the gap to 17-14 when Sean Traynor scored his second rushing touchdown of the game midway through the third quarter.
Clinging to their three-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, the Gusties were deep in Piper territory and appeared poised to ice the game with a touchdown, however Hamline’s Dante Guther intercepted a Jordan Becker pass on the one-yard line with 8:54 left in regulation play. The Piper’s responded with a 16-play, 87 yard drive that resulted in a 30-yard Derek Johnson field goal that tied the game at 17-17 with 1:50 left to play. The Gusties were unable to move into scoring position in the final 1:50 and regulation play ended with the score tied at 17-17.
In the first overtime, Gustavus took offensive possession first and scored on a five-yard pass from Jordan Becker to Elliot Herdina (Huepenbecker converted the PAT) and the Gusties led 24-17. The Gusties got a break on the play as Becker’s pass deflected of fullback Brandon Jonker’s hands and off the helmet of a Hamline player before ending up in Herdina’s hands for the score.
Hamline countered with a score of its own on its offensive possession when Alex House caught a six-yard touchdown pass from Adam Meyer.
In the second overtime, the Pipers took offensive possession first and the Gusties forced Hamline to attempt a 39-yard field goal which was missed wide left.
On its first offensive play, Gustavus running back Kendrick Hall broke through a hole on the left side of the line and raced 25 yards for the score giving the Gusties their first win of the season.
Statistically, the game was as close as the final score with Gustavus compiling 328 yards of total offense compared to 320 for Hamline, while the Pipers ran 70 plays to 67 for the Gusties. Time of possession was also nearly identical with Gustavus maintaining the ball for 45:25 compared to 44:35 for Hamline.
The Gusties were able to run the ball against the Pipers compiling 180 yards on 45 carries for an average of 4.0 yards per carry. Hall led Gustavus for the second straight week with 22 carries for 120 yards and one touchdown.
Gustavus has now won three straight against Hamline and nine of the last 11.
Next week, Gustavus returns home to face Saint John’s on Saturday at 1:00 pm