Homeoming
The Gustavus Adolphus football team welcomes the Knights of Carleton College to Lloyd Hollingsworth Field for Saturday’s 2014 Homecoming Game. The red-hot Gusties head into the weekend with an overall record of 4–0 and an MIAC mark of 2–0 after defeating Augsburg College 55–31 in their first conference road test of the season last weekend in Minneapolis. The Carleton football team heads into today’s game looking to get back on track after beginning league play with two straight home losses, to Augsburg (42–14) on Sept. 20 and Bethel (38–7) last Saturday. The Knights carry an overall record of 1–3 and an MIAC mark of 0–2.
Live Action
KNUJ AM 860 out of New Ulm, Minnesota, will broadcast all ten Gustavus regular season football games. The voice of the Golden Gusties Tom Wheeler will handle the play-by-play duties for the ninth consecutive season. Wheeler will be joined by 1984 Gustavus graduate and former Gustie football player Ken Ericson on the live call of this year’s games. Fans can listen to the KNUJ broadcasts on the Internet through the Gustavus Athletics website.
New this season, Gustavus will provide a high definition video stream of all home games for viewing on your computer, tablet, or smart phone through GameCentral by Stretch Internet.
Scouting The Gusties
Through four weeks of the 2014 campaign, the Gustavus Adolphus football team is showing little sign of slowing down. With a 55–31 victory over Augsburg College in its first MIAC road test of the season last Saturday, Head Coach Peter Haugen’s squad is off to the program’s best start since 1998 when the Gusties went 4–0 overall and 3–0 in the MIAC through their first four contests. Thanks to the play of quarterback Mitch Hendricks (Jr., Bemidji, Minn.) and an opportunistic defensive effort, Gustavus was able to score a season-best 55 points and come up with three interceptions against one of the most dangerous players in the MIAC in Auggie quarterback Ayrton Scott.
Jake Forcier picked off two passes against Augsburg last Saturday and now leads the team with three picks on the year. Photo courtesy of Caleb Williams – D3photography.com
With a 20–10 halftime advantage, Gustavus exploded for 35 second half points en route to the team’s first win over Augsburg in five seasons. Mitch Hendricks turned in a historic passing performance just one week removed from setting the single-game school record for passing yards in a game. Hendricks finished the day 33-for-39 for 504 yards to go along with seven passing touchdowns. The junior’s yardage broke his own record of 443 yards (Sept. 27 vs. Hamline), while his touchdowns broke 1999 graduate Bob Southworth’s mark of six thrown against Hamline in 1998. His 33 completions also tied the program record – matching Dean Kraus and Jordan Stolp’s marks set in 1985 against Bethel and 2007 against St. Thomas, respectively.
Hendricks was sacked just once, allowing him time to connect with seven different receivers throughout the day. Getting open all afternoon and combining for 23 of the team’s 33 catches were the Boyce twins. For a second- straight week, both Matt Boyce (Jr., Excelsior, Minn.) and Gabriel Boyce (Jr., Excelsior, Minn.) finished the game with more than 100 yards receiving. Matt caught 12 passes for 178 yards and made three touchdown grabs, while Gabriel caught 11 passes for 154 yards with two touchdown receptions. Matt’s 178 yards rank fifth in Gustavus history. He currently leads the country in receiving touchdowns with nine and receiving yards with 559. With a combined 1,026 yards on the season, no receiving pair in all divisions of NCAA football (FBS, FCS, II, III) has more yards than the Boyce twins.
Although Augsburg totaled 546 yards of offense (200 rush, 346 pass), Gustavus’ defense came up with three turnovers and critical stops late in the game. Just when it looked as if Augsburg was poised for a comeback reminiscent to those seen in past years, the Gusties stayed aggressive on offense and killed the Auggies’ momentum and sealed the victory with a pair of late fourth quarter interceptions by Anthony Boyce (Sr., Excelsior, Minn.) and Jake Forcier (Sr., Watkins, Minn.). Boyce led the way with 11 tackles (5 solo) and one tackle for loss, while Forcier intercepted off two passes and now leads the team with three on the year. The Gusties currently lead the league in both interceptions with seven and sacks with nine.
Game Notes | Roster | Statistics | Schedule/Results
Scouting The Knights
The Carleton football team is coming off a 1–2 showing over the course of a three-game homestand during which the Knights defeated Knox College (40–14) but fell to Augsburg (42–14) and Bethel (38–7) on consecutive weeks. Against Bethel last weekend, the Royals scored 38 unanswered points over three quarters before the Knights were able to get on the scoreboard with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Ethan Trujillo (So., Brighton, Colo.) to Pete Dehkes (So., Lebanon, N.J.).
Carleton linebacker Zach Heinrich recorded 17 tackles against Bethel last Saturday. Photo courtesy of Carleton’s Quinn Batten ’17.
Carleton rolls into St. Peter with an offense at that is averaging 18.8 points (8th/MIAC) and 233.2 yards per game (9th/MIAC). Although the Knights went with Ethan Trujillo last weekend against Bethel, Zach Creighton (So., Lakeville, Minn.) will get the start at quarterback this afternoon. Creighton has attacked defenses with both his arm and legs. Through the air he is 33-for-58 for 352 yards with one touchdown and four interceptions. On the ground he has totaled 134 yards on 43 carries (3.1 ypc). Trujillo, who is more of an aerial threat, is 11-for-18 for 138 yards with one touchdown.
As a team, Carleton ranks last in the league in passing with an average of 122.5 yards per game. The Knights are averaging 110.8 rushing yards per game (8th/MIAC) and have relied on running back Chris Madden (So., Kenosha, Wis.) to compliment Creighton in the backfield. Despite being held to just 27 yards on 10 carries against Bethel last weekend, Creighton has carried 50 times for 250 yards (5.0 ypc) with three rushing touchdowns this season.
Defensively, the Knights are allowing 27.8 points per game (7th/MIAC) and an average of 368.5 yards of total offense (7th/MIAC). Although Carleton’s pass defense has been solid, allowing 184 yards per game (3rd/ MIAC), the Knights have struggled against the run and are allowing an average of 184.5 yards rushing per game (8th/MIAC). Safety Dylan Saline (So., Anoka, Minn.) and cornerback Pat Dale (Sr., Fox Island, Wash.) will lead the effort to slow down Hendricks and Gustavus’s passing game. Saline has one interception and four pass breakups, while Dale has four pass breakups. Defensive end Mitch Heflin (Jr., Hustisford, Wis.) has anchored the front and leads the team with 32 tackles (13 solo), one-and-a-half sacks and an interception. Dan Cook (Sr., Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) leads the linebacking corps with 32 tackles (12 solo) and a fumble recovery. Heflin and Cook’s 32 tackles rank third in the MIAC.