Welcome
The Gustavus Adolphus football team travels to Crown College in St. Bonifacius, Minn. tonight at 7 p.m. for its season opener. The Storm are picked to finish sixth in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference preseason coaches’ poll, while the Gusties are picked to finish fifth in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference preseason coaches’ poll. The Gusties open the season on the road for the first time since 2012 when they defeated Simpson College 35-26.
Live Action
KNUJ AM 860 out of New Ulm, Minn. is once again broadcasting all 10 Gustavus regular season games. The voice of the Golden Gusties, Tom Wheeler, will handle the play-by-play duties for the 10th consecutive season. Wheeler is joined by 1984 Gustavus graduate and former Gustie football player Ken Ericson on the live call for this season’s slate of games. Fans can listen to the KNUJ broadcasts on the Internet through the Gustavus Athletics website.
Live coverage of tonight’s game against Crown begins at 7 p.m.
Scouting The Gusties
Senior quarterback Mitch Hendricks leads a strong passing attack for the Gusties.
The Gustavus football team enters the 2015 season on the heels of a winning campaign last year, but is now on a mission to continue to grow and improve. The Gusties started 2014 by winning their first six games, but lost their final four against the MIAC’s top-tier teams. The four-game stretch of losses has added fuel to the fire for the Black and Gold to ensure they can compete with the best teams in the conference. Head Coach Peter Haugen returns 35 letter winners with the goal of competing for a MIAC Championship.
All eyes are on the Gustie offense as they return 10 starters to a unit that broke nearly every passing record in the 98-year history of Gustavus football. Quarterback Mitch Hendricks (Sr., Laporte, Minn.) guides the offense for the third straight season. Hendricks last year completed 271-of-405 passes for 3,403 yards and 35 touchdowns – all Gustavus single season records. Wide receiver Gabe Boyce (Sr., Excelsior, Minn.) was Hendricks’ favorite target, catching a team-high 89 passes for 1,057 yards and 10 touchdowns. When it came to the red zone, Matt Boyce (Sr., Excelsior, Minn.) was the No. 1 target, hauling in a Gustavus single season record 17 touchdowns. Matt Boyce also led the Gusties with 1,196 receiving yards on 78 receptions. Luke Martinez (Sr., Lenexa, Kan.) returns as the team’s leading rusher. Last year he only played seven games due to an injury and compiled 638 yards on 118 carries and six touchdowns. Marcus Kelly (Sr., Woodbury, Minn.) centers an experienced offensive line. Ryan Landherr (So., Prior Lake, Minn.) and Joe Theiler (Sr., Maple Grove) start at guard, while Scott Newby (Sr., Lakeville, Minn.) and Jake Schmitz (Jr., North Branch, Minn.) bookend the line at tackle. Jake Douglas (Sr., Montevideo, Minn.) starts at tight end after playing in nine games last season where he caught seven passes for 54 yards and one touchdown.
The Gustie defense sees a lot of new faces with eight starters lost from last season. The defense relies on the veteran leadership of the three returning starters – one at each level of the defense. Adam Neubarth (Sr., Cologne, Minn.) returns as a starter at tackle. Last season Neubarth recorded 18 tackles and 2.5 sacks. He is joined on the line by Isaac Kotila (Jr., Buffalo, Minn.), Casey Decker (So. Mapleton, Minn.) and Levi Folkert (Sr., Elgin, Minn.). Tyler Jakes (Jr., North Mankato, Minn.) mans the middle of the defense at linebacker. Jakes is the lone returning starter at linebacker as last season’s leading tackler Zach Martinez (Sr., Lenexa, Kan.) is out for the season with an injury. Jakes is joined by Kysten Zierke (So., Blue Earth, Minn.) and Anders Raarup (So., Eagan, Minn.). The secondary is led by captain Nick Frandsen (Sr., North Oaks, Minn.). Frandsen last year tallied 37 tackles, one interception, 10 pass breakups and 11 passes defended. He is joined by Philip Sun (Sr., Doral, Fla.), Dutch Claybaugh (Fy., Kaneohe, Hawaii) and Jordan Sorenson (Jr., St. Peter, Minn.).
Roster | Schedule | 2014 Stats
Scouting the Storm
Last season the Storm got off to a slow start, losing it first six games, including a season-opening 44-14 loss at Gustavus. But the Storm finished strong with four straight victories to finish the year 4-6. Within UMAC play, the Storm went 4-5 for a sixth place finish.
Brandon McCormick (Sr., Edwards, Ill.) returns as the Storm’s quarterback for the second season. McCormick last season completed 63-of-128 passes for 496 yards and one touchdown in six games. Matt Michaud (Jr., Woodbury, Minn.) took the bulk of the handoffs last season in a rush-heavy offense. Michaud rushed for 1,001 yards on 193 carries with 15 touchdowns. Fullback Jacob Pardee (Sr., Ekalaka, Mont.) leads the path for Michaud and gets the ball in short yardage situations. Last season Pardee rushed for 143 yards on 33 carries. Wide receivers Trey Peace (Jr., Raleigh, N.C.) and Ben Olson (Sr., Burnsville, Minn.) ranked first and third, respectively, last season with 35 and 13 receptions. Peace accumulated 348 yards with one touchdown, while Olson had 125 yards and two touchdowns. Cody Bedlion (So., Bottineau, N.D.) is new to the offense and will start at tight end. Chris Larson (So., Minneapolis, Minn.) anchors the offensive line at center. Michael Tschritter (Fy., Spokane, Wash.) and Jack Eggen (Jr., Brainerd, Minn.) surround Larson at guard, and Alex Fellerman (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn.) and Jayson Rothmeier (Jr., Olivia, Minn.) start at the tackle positions. Felleman and Rothmeier are the only two returning starters to the offensive line.
The defensive line includes Tyler Byrd (Fy., Montevallo, Ala.), Everett Hawk (Jr., Chino, Calif.), Brian Howard (So., Kenwood, Tenn.) and Robert Smartnick (Sr., Boulder, Mont.). Smartnick is the defensive line’s top returner, having recorded 26 tackles last season. Hawk was close behind with 22 tackles. Elliot Wiens (Sr., Windom, Minn.) takes control of the play-calling as the middle linebacker. Weins last season accounted for 42 tackles, one sack, one interception and two fumble recoveries. Wiens in surrounded by Jalen Phoenix (Jr., Cincinatti, Ohio) and Josh Brozek (Jr., Rockford, Minn.). Phoenix returns as the team’s top tackler with 65 last season. Phoenix also tallied a team-best 5.5 sacks and four forced fumbles. The secondary includes returning starters Chris Strange (Jr., Houston, Texas), Eli Dahl (Sr., Osseo, Minn.) and Joel Silva (Jr., San Antonio, Tex.). Dahl led the secondary last season with 59 tackles. Silva posted three interceptions and 39 tackles last year and Strange made two picks and 43 tackles. Cody Ricketts (Fy., Milton, Fla.) is new to the secondary as a starter.
Roster | Schedule | 2014 Stats