Nathan Schroepfer and Josh Kirk celebrate the opening touchdown. (Photo courtesy of Mikeal Brickley, Gustavus Sports Information)
BOX SCORE | PHOTO GALLERY | COACH HAUGEN INTERVIEW
ST. PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus football team totaled 566 yards of total offense and rolled to a convincing 51-7 homecoming victory over Hamline University on Saturday afternoon at Hollingsworth Field.
After Hamline snapped the Gusties’ 10-game winning streak with a 42-40 win on its home turf a season ago, Gustavus came back with its highest offensive output since the 2015 season while totaling over 400 passing yards for the second game in a row.
Quarterback Michael Veldman (Jr., Becker, Minn.) finished with 392 passing yards, completing 26 passes on 42 attempts to go with his second consecutive four-touchdown performance. The receiving trio of Hunter Johnson (Sr., Cannon Falls, Minn.), Brayton Finch (So., Mount Morris, Ill.), and Josh Kirk (So., Garvin, Minn.) combined for 340 receiving yards off 21 receptions.
The Black and Gold scored on its opening drive as Kirk converted a double reverse, taking a pitch from Nathan Schroepfer (Fy., Sleepy Eye, Minn.) for the 37-yard score. Brendan Boche (Sr., Lakeville, Minn.) added a 24-yard field goal to give the Gusties a 10-0 lead after the first frame.
Hamline opened the second quarter with its sole score of the game prior to the Gustavus offense answering on the next drive and opening up the flood gates. Veldman and the Gustie receiving core converted three touchdown passes to take a 31-7 lead into the intermission.
Boche converts his career record PAT
Veldman hit Finch for a career-long 81-yard touchdown pass, followed by a Johnson 11-yard touchdown, followed by Kirk’s second score of the game and his fourth receiving touchdown of the season. With the Johnson score, Gustie kicker Brendan Boche tallied his 99th career extra point made to pass Ryan Boutwell (1995-98) as the all-time extra points made leader.
Gustavus added three more scores in the second half while the defense kept the Piper offense at bay. Rafael Soriano-Campos (So., Guadalajara, Mexico) scored his first career touchdown from two yards out before Johnson picked up second touchdown reception of the game. The Gusties closed out their scoring in the fourth quarter as Gavyn Walsh (Fy., Andover, Minn.) connected with Greg Knaack (Jr., Burnsville, Minn.) for a 17-yard touchdown pass, their first career touchdowns.
Defensively, the Gusties limited the Pipers to under 200 yards and total offense and totaled 13 tackles for loss and five sacks. Jake Boykin (So., Las Cruces, N.M.) led the team with seven tackles. Ben Rengel (Jr., Sartell, Minn.) picked up two tackles for loss and a sack, while Casey Decker (Sr., Mapleton, Minn.) also tallied two tackles for loss, one sack, and one pass breakup.
The Gusties take the trip up to Moorhead, Minn. next Saturday to take on Concordia College.