WELCOME
The Gustavus football team begins Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play with an away game against Hamline University at 7 p.m. Saturday. Gustavus heads into week three with a record of 2-0 after completing the non-conference portion of its schedule with a 49-0 victory over Lake Forest last Saturday at Hollingsworth Field. The Hamline football team is also 2-0 following non-conference wins over UM-Morris 40-7 on Sept. 5 and Macalester 27-10 last Saturday.
LIVE ACTION
KNUJ AM 860 out of New Ulm, Minn. is broadcasting every Gustavus regular season game. The voice of the Golden Gusties, Tom Wheeler, handles 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 Saturday’s game begins at 6:45 p.m.
LIVE STATS/VIDEO | GUSTAVUS GAME NOTES
SCOUTING THE GUSTIES
After starting last Saturday’s game against Lake Forest with a fumble and a punt on its first two offensive possessions, the Gustavus football team regrouped and ended its next five drives with touchdowns en route to a 49-0 shutout over the Foresters at Hollingsworth Field.
The win was a complete team effort as the offense amassed 530 total yards, while the defense held Lake Forest to 288 yards with two interceptions.
Mitch Hendricks (Sr., Laporte, Minn.) had another impressive day as the play-caller. The Bemidji High School product went 28-for-35 with five touchdowns and two interceptions. He also added a rushing touchdown. For his performance, Hendricks was named the MIAC Offensive Player of the Week.
Matt Boyce (Sr., Excelsior, Minn.) was Hendricks’ favorite target, hauling in 10 receptions for 136 yards and three touchdowns. With 136 yards, Matt surpassed Ryan Hoag (1999-2002) for second most receiving yards in the 99-year history of Gustavus football. Matt now has 2,330 career yards and needs to average 106.3 yards per game in the final eight games of the season to become the all-time receiving leader. Chad Arlt (2005-08) holds the record with 3,180 yards.
Gabe Boyce (Sr., Excelsior, Minn.) added nine catches Saturday for 93 yards and a score. Leeland Lauti (So. Ewa, Hawaii) led the rushing game with 17 carries for 109 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, Tyler Jakes (Jr., North Mankato, Minn.) posted 10 tackles and an interception. Nick Frandsen (Sr., North Oaks, Minn.) added eight stops, including two pass breakups and 1.5 tackles for loss.
After two games, Gustavus boasts the highest scoring offense in the MIAC, averaging 606.5 yards per game. The Gusties also rank No. 1 in the MIAC defensively, allowing just 6.5 points per game.
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SCOUTING THE PIPERS
The Hamline football team won its second game of the season last Saturday, defeating Macalester 27-10 in non-conference action. Junior quarterback Kyle Johnson (Chandler, Ariz.) accounted for all four Piper touchdowns with three passing and one rushing. Johnson completed 19-of-29 passes for 301 yards and two interceptions.
The win over cross-town rival Macalester reclaimed “The Paint Bucket” for the Pipers, which has been the rivalry trophy between the two schools for the past 50 years.
Nick Kampa (Jr., St. Anthony, Minn.) was Johnson’s favorite target, hauling in seven catches for 100 yards and two touchdowns. The first touchdown was a 50-yard strike, while the second was from nine yards out.
Johnson first connected with Naji El-Araby (Jr., Blaine, Minn.) for a 45-yard touchdown to begin the second quarter. The touchdown gave the Pipers a 7-3 advantage and they never relinquished the lead.
Austin Duncan (Sr., New Orleans, La.) rushed for a game-high 119 yards on 30 carries, adding to his school career rushing record. Duncan is closing in on 4,000 yards with 376 to go.
Cody Vaughn (Jr., Edina, Minn.) and Matt Wildes (Sr., Shoreview, Minn.) led the Piper defense with seven tackles each. Wildes added 1.5 sacks for a loss of nine yards.
The Pipers worked around three turnovers and a blocked punt to improve to 2-0 with 473 yards of offense while holding the Scots to just 158 yards.
Hamline survived a rough start. The Pipers stalled on their initial drive and then found themselves on their own 15-yard line after Johnson’s punt was blocked. But the defense went to work immediately and stopped Macalester, forcing it to settle for a field goal.
Macalester scored a touchdown with 18 seconds left in the first half, but that would be it for the Scots as the Hamline defense didn’t allow a point in the final 30 minutes.
The HU defense, which has allowed the fewest yards (163.0 per game) of any MIAC team, recorded five sacks against Macalester and now has nine on the year, which ranks second in the conference.