Mitch Hendricks threw for a school-record 443 yards in Gustavus's 48-19 win over Hamline on Saturday.
St. Peter, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus football team’s early-season air raid led by junior quarterback Mitch Hendricks (Jr., Laporte, Minn.) continued terrorize opposing secondaries in a 48-19 victory over Hamline University on Saturday afternoon at Hollingsworth Field. Hendricks threw four touchdown passes for the second straight weekend and completed 31-of-43 passes on his way to setting a new school-record for passing yards in a game with 443. With a victory in their opening Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game of the year, the Gusties improve to 3-0 for the first time since 2007. Hamline suffers its first loss and is now 2-1 overall and 0-1 in the MIAC.
Not since Dean Kraus ’89 lit up Bethel for 403 yards in 1985 has a Gustavus quarterback broke the 400-yard passing mark in a game. With 281 yards and five touchdowns in week one, and 356 yards and four touchdowns last weekend, Hendricks solidified himself as one of the hottest quarterbacks in the country with today’s record-breaking performance. He finished the day just two completions shy of Gustavus’s single-game record, and now has reached the 1000-yards passing mark with a total of 1,080 on the year. Hendricks has yet to throw an interception and now has 13 total touchdown passes.
Gustavus’s big first half began almost immediately. After the defense forced on three-and-out on Hamline’s opening possession, the offense took over and scored the opening touchdown of the game on a drive that took just 3:37. On the possession, Hendricks connected with Gabriel Boyce (Jr., Excelsior, Minn.) on a 40-yard skinny post that gave Gustavus 1st-and-goal on Hamline one-yard-line. Two plays later, David Cliett (So., Maplewood, Minn.) plunged over the goal line for the first touchdown of his collegiate career. After the extra point by Thomas Schleusener (Sr., Rapid City, S.D.), Gustavus was on top 7-0 with 9:20 on the clock.
Matt and Gabriel Boyce celebrate following one of Matt’s two touchdown catches.
With fourth-and-inches deep in Gustavus territory later in the quarter, the defense once again came up with a big stand on a quarterback sneak to force the Pipers to turn the ball back over on downs. Six plays and 61 yards later, the Gusties were into the end zone for the second time. Matt Boyce (Jr., Excelsior, Minn.) got over the top of the Piper defensive backs on a play-action stutter-and-go for a 35-yard touchdown. Schleusener converted the extra point to give the Gusties a 14-0 lead :10 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
On Hamline’s opening drive of the second quarter, safety Jake Forcier (Sr., Watkins, Minn.) picked off quarterback Tim Bona at the Piper 30-yard-line and returned in nine yards to the Hamline 21.
Following Forcier’s interception, his first of the season, and a personal foul on Hamline, Gustavus was set up with 1st-and-10 on the 11-yard-line. On the first offensive play, running back Luke Martinez (Jr., Lenexa, Kan.) took a handoff on a draw, spun away from a tackle, and dove into the end zone for the score. Schleusener’s converted extra point gave Gustavus a 21-0 lead with 14:35 left in the second quarter.
Hamline was able to stop the bleeding and cut the lead to 21-7 at the 9:51 mark of the second quarter when Austin Duncan scored on a 12-yard run. Duncan finished the game with 99 yards on 20 carries with another touchdown, which came with :25 left to go in the third quarter.
After Duncan’s score, the Gusties responded two drives later with a 15-yard touchdown connection between Hendricks and Matt Boyce. Hendricks put a back shoulder throw in a place where only his intended target could get it, and Boyce did the rest – catching the pass outside his body and touching one foot down in-bounds for the touchdown. With Schleusener’s extra point, Gustavus led 28-7 with 4:57 left to go in the half.
Hamline cut the lead to 28-13 with 1:06 left in the half on a Tim Bona touchdown pass to Hoyfal Adam from 18 yards out. Bona finished the game 20-for-36 for 222 yards with one touchdown and an interception. He was sacked twice – once by Travis Pepper (Sr., Overland Park, Kan.) and again by Barret Panning (Sr., Ham Lake, Minn.).
With the ball back in the possession of Gustavus and 1:00 remaining in the opening half, Hendricks went to work. He orchestrated a three-play, 69-yard drive that was capped off with a 15-yard touchdown pass to running back DaiVon Poole (San Angelo, Texas). Pool caught a drop-off screen out of the backfield and had nothing but daylight in front of him as he ran in for the score. Schleusener missed the extra point, as Gustavus went into the locker room with a 34-13 halftime advantage.
After trading possessions to start the third quarter, the Gustie offense got back into rhythm with a 15-play, 89-yard scoring drive. A 23-yard pass to Gabriel Boyce set up a three-yard touchdown run for running back Leeland Lauti (Fr., Ewa Beach, Hawaii) with 2:52 left in the frame. The touchdown was also Lauti’s first of his college career. Schleusener tacked on the extra point to up give Gustavus its largest lead at 41-13.
Travis Pepper celebrates his first sack of the season.
Hendricks made the most of his last offensive series of the day early in the fourth quarter. On 2nd-and-6 from the Hamline 49-yard line, the junior from Laporte, Minnesota broke Gustavus’s single-game passing mark on a 40-yard completion to Matt Boyce who once again got open on a seam route. In a fitting end to the drive, Hendricks completed a one-yard, play-action pass to Jake Douglas (Jr., Montevideo, Minn.) for the touchdown. Schleusener added the extra point to bring the score to a final at 48-19 with 12:55 left to play.
By the end of the day, the Gusties racked up 603 total yards of offense (451 passing, 152 rushing). It is the first time that a Gustavus offense has totaled more than 600 yards since a 650-yard performance against Concordia on Oct. 24, 1998.
Hendricks connected with seven different receivers throughout the course of the afternoon. His top targets included Matt and Gabriel Boyce who combined for 18 catches and 299 yards. Matt made two touchdown grabs and finished with 156 yards on a eight receptions, while Gabriel tallied 143 yards on 10 receptions. George Buchner (So., Excelsior, Minn.) was next in line with five catches for 66 yards.
Gustavus’s ground game was headed up by Luke Martinez and DaiVon Poole. Martinez ran for 76 yards on nine carries with his one touchdown, while Pool collected 56 yards on 12 carries.
Defensively, Gustavus allowed 338 total yards (222 passing, 116 rushing). Matt Keller (Sr., Eagan, Minn.) led the way with nine tackles (5 solo), while Zack Martinez (Jr., Lenexa, Minn.) finished with eight (5 solo). The Gustie defense registered nine tackles for loss and broke up a total of seven passes.
The Gustavus Adolphus football team will take its aerial capabilities on the road next weekend when it travels to Minneapolis to face Augsburg College at 1:00 p.m. Augsburg is 2-1 overall and 1-0 in the MIAC after rolling past Carleton 42-14 today in Northfield.
Gustie Coaches and Team,
What a thrill to witness the most productive offense in 16 years of Gustie Football and a great defensive performance as well!
It was pure fun on the Hollingsworth field, sidelines and in the stands…a day to celebrate and remember!
Keep it up Gusties and get well, and well prepared, for the Auggies! See you there!
Pastor Rod Anderson