The Gustavus Adolphus College football team was victorious Saturday with a 42-27 win over Augsburg in St. Peter at Lloyd Hollingsworth Field. Sophomore quarterback Jordan Stolp, who completed 20-of-38 passes for 252 yards, led the Gusties with six total touchdowns. Stolp contributed on all of Gustavus’ season-high 42 points by kicking all six extra points for the Gusties. Augsburg committed four turnovers, three of which Gustavus converted into touchdowns. With the win Saturday, Gustavus improved to 1-5 overall and 1-3 in the MIAC, while Augsburg dropped to 0-5 overall and 0-3 in the MIAC.
Gustavus caught a big break to start the game when Augsburg quarterback Marcus LeVesseur fumbled on his own 46. Gustavus, however, was unable to capitalize on the turnover. On Gustavus’ second offensive possession, Stolp ran a quarterback sneak for a touchdown on fourth-and-inches giving the Gusties a 7-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Augsburg opened the second quarter with a big play of its own. LeVesseur found tight end Andrew Neumann for a 44-yard touchdown pass to even the score at 7-7 with 11:35 left before halftime. On the ensuing possession, Gustavus compiled a six-play, 69-yard drive that ended with a 41-yard touchdown pass from Stolp to Loren Havemeier giving the Gusties a 14-7 advantage. The Auggies cut the Gustavus lead to 14-10 with a 46-yard field goal by Nick Schlieman at the seven minute mark. With less than one minute remaining in the first half, the Gusties capitalized on an Augsburg fumble with a five-play, 26-yard drive capped by a five-yard touchdown pass from Stolp to Jamie Germscheid giving the Gusties a 21-10 halftime lead.
After Stolp missed a 36-yard field goal on the Gusties’ opening drive of the second half, Gustavus’ Brian Evans got the ball right back for the Gusties when he made an acrobatic interception and returned it 11 yards to the Auggie 13-yard line. The Gustie offense once again converted the turnover into points as Stolp hit Germscheid with an 8-yard touchdown pass. Stolp’s PAT gave Gustavus its largest lead of the game at 28-10. Augsburg would move back into contention with a 37-yard Schlieman field goal to make the score 28-13 at the end of the third quarter.
The Auggies pulled to within eight points at 28-20 in the fourth quarter when LeVesseur scored on a two-yard TD run with 14:01 left to play. Gustavus got another big break just four minutes later when defensive back Wade Vrieze recovered an errant LeVesseur pitch to running back Garry Ashby-Phan on the Auggie 32-yard line. Gustavus countered after the turnover when Stolp found Kerry Zajicek in the end zone from 26-yards out two plays later to extend the Gustie lead to 35-20 with 9:17 to play.
Augsburg fought back with an impressive 13-play, 80-yard drive that ended with a nine-yard touchdown pass from LeVesseur to Ashby-Phan cutting the Gustavus lead to 35-27 with six minutes remaining. Gustavus would counter for the final time in this see-saw battle when Stolp would connect with Clint Riegelman on a 24-yard TD pass with 3:58 remaining. The Gusties would hold on for the 42-27 victory.
Stolp led Gustavus offensively with six total touchdowns, including five through the air, while Mitch Anderson ran 21 times for 90 yards. Kerry Zajicek led the Gustavus receiving crew with four receptions for 66 yards and one touchdown. Adam Miron and Jared Sieling led Gustavus defensively with eight tackles each.
LeVesseur led the Auggies with three touchdowns. He compiled 115 of his 332 total yards on the ground, while Andrew Neumann led the Auggie receivers with four receptions for 94 yards and one touchdown. Mike Matson led Augsburg defensively with an impressive 18 tackles.
The Gusties, now 1-5 overall and 1-3 in the MIAC, will play Saint Olaf in Northfield next Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.