WELCOME
The Gustavus Adolphus football team returns home to St. Peter on Saturday for a 1 p.m. matchup against Concordia College. The Gusties enter the game with a 6-2 overall record and 4-2 mark in the MIAC after losing 33-24 at Bethel University last week, while the Cobbers are 7-2 overall and 5-2 in the MIAC after losing 38-14 against No. 6 St. Thomas last week.
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 12:30 p.m.
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SCOUTING THE GUSTIES
The Gustavus football team is anxious to get back to the friendly confines of Lloyd Hollingsworth Field this week after a couple of tough losses on the road, including last week’s 33-24 setback at Bethel. The Gusties got off to a great start last Saturday in Arden Hills and led 24-20 heading into the fourth quarter, but the hard charging Royals scored 13 straight points to claim the come-from-behind victory. Coach Pete Haugen’s squad is now 6-2 overall and 4-2 in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play.
The Royals opened last week’s contest with an impressive 12 play, 77-yard drive that ended with a 15-yard touchdown run by Gunnar Bloom. The Gusties responded by scoring on their first three offensive possessions of the game. The first Gustavus drive ended with a 25-yard field goal by Brendan Boche (So., Lakeville, Minn.). The Gustie defense then made a stop and the offense took advantage as quarterback Mitch Hendricks (Sr., Laporte, Minn.) connected with Matt Boyce (Sr., Excelsior, Minn.) for a 70- yard touchdown strike on the first play of the drive. Bethel quickly regained the lead on the ensuing possession, but once again the Gusties responded, this time on its longest scoring drive of the game. Gustavus went 90 yards in 14 plays and capped the drive on a four-yard touchdown pass from Hendricks to Matt Boyce. Nick Frandsen (Sr., North Oaks, Minn.) tallied an interception on the next possession and the Gusties went into the locker room at halftime with a 17–14 lead.
The Royals regained the lead at 20–17 early in the third quarter, but the Gusties bounced right back with an impressive 13 play, 75-yard drive that consumed 5:24 on the clock and ended with Mitch Hendricks running in to the end zone from four yards out to put the Gusties back into the lead 24-20 with four minutes left in the third quarter.
The Gustavus defense came up with a big stop midway through the fourth quarter when defensive back Drew Hurley stuffed Royal running back Marshall Klitzke on a fourth-and-2 at the Gustie 22-yard line. Gustavus, however surrendered the ball back to Bethel five plays later, when Hendrickson was intercepted at the Bethel 40-yard line. The Royals then put together a 15-play, 60-yard drive that ended with a five-yard touchdown run by Trey Anderson and Bethel took the lead at 26-24 with 3:21 left to play. The Gusties would get one last shot, but they were unable to convert and turned the ball over on downs at their own 41-yard line. Bethel put the game out of reach when it scored a touchdown on a 32-yard run with just under two minutes left in the game.
Hendricks finished the day going 20-for-39 with 285 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Hendricks also led the team in rushing with 58 yards on 12 carries, including a touchdown. Matt Boyce was the top target through the air with seven catches for 118 yards and two scores. Kysten Zierke (So., Blue Earth, Minn.) led the defense with 12 tackles and ranks sixth in the MIAC with 60 total tackles this season.
After eight games this season, Hendricks has amassed 2,518 passing yards with 28 touchdowns and a .696 completion percentage, all of which rank first in the MIAC. Karim Ortiz (So., Cancun, Mexico) is the team’s leading rusher with 87 carries for 409 yards and five touchdowns. Matt Boyce is the leading receiver with 61 catches for 1,059 yards and 14 touchdowns.
SCOUTING THE COBBERS
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The Concordia football team had a tough task last week in facing No. 6-ranked St. Thomas and came out on the short end of a 38-14 final score. The Cobbers allowed 28 points in the second quarter and gave up 304 rushing yards—two marks that proved to be the difference in the outcome of the game. The loss snapped Concordia’s five-game win streak and dropped their record to 7–2 overall and 5–2 in the MIAC.
The Tommies outgained the Cobbers 552–179 in yards of total offense. St. Thomas also ran 82 plays for an average of 6.7 yards per play compared to Concordia’s 55 plays for 3.3 yards a pop. The Tommies also won the time of possession battle at 33:56.
Concordia got the scoring going at the 11:19 mark in the first period on a four-yard touchdown run by Brandon Zylstra (Sr., Spicer, Minn.) to cap a seven-play, 77-yard drive, and the Cobbers led 7–0 after the first quarter of play. St. Thomas responded with four touchdowns in the second quarter to take a comfortable 28–7 lead at halftime. Concordia scored a touchdown on the final play of the third quarter to make it a two-possession game, but the Tommies responded with two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.
Michael Herzog (So., Detroit Lakes, Minn.) went 8-for-16 passing with 109 yards, one touchdown and an interception for the Cobber offense. Jason Montonye (So., Graceville, Minn.) led the ground game with five carries for 57 yards. Jon Baune (Sr., Fargo, N.D.) was the top target through the air with four catches for 88 yards and a score. Erik Bye (Sr., Moorhead, Minn.) led the defense with 15 total tackles.
After nine games this season, Chad Johnson (So., Glyndon, Minn.) is the team’s leading rusher with 89 carries for 488 yards and nine touchdowns. Herzog has seen the bulk of the snaps as the play-caller as he has accumulated 1,022 passing yards and eight touchdowns with a .549 completion percentage. Zylstra is the top receiver with 33 catches for 577 yards and four touchdowns. On the defensive side, Bye is the team’s leader with 77 total tackles, including three sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.