The Gustavus Adolphus College football team remained unbeaten with a convincing 57-21 win over Hamline University in St. Peter on Saturday afternoon. The Gusties jumped out to a 41-0 lead in the first half and then rolled to the 36-point victory. The offense, led by quarterback Jordan Stolp, had another big day compiling 601 yards of total offense and scoring eight touchdowns. Gustavus is now 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the MIAC.
The Gustie offense got off to a slow start struggling against a spunky Hamline defense in its first two possessions of the game. Gustavus got a boost from its special teams on its third possession, as Ethan Armstrong returned a Hamline punt 52-yards to the Piper 37-yard line. Jordan Stolp led the Gusties on a seven-play drive that ended with a five-yard touchdown pass from Stolp to Chad Arlt. John Ostertag converted his first of five point-after attempts on the day to make the score 7-0. Gustavus extended its lead 14-0 late in the first quarter when Stolp sneaked into the Hamline end zone from one-yard out.
The Gusties broke the game open in the second quarter scoring 27 consecutive points to extend their lead to 41-0 at the intermission. Running back Mitch Anderson scored on a 72-yard pass from Stolp and on a one-yard run, while wide receiver Cameron Maurer caught touchdown passes of 34 and 11 yards from Stolp. Gustavus compiled 387 yards of total offense in the first two quarters compared to 86 for Hamline. Stolp had a big half for the Gusties as he completed 19-of-33 passes for 293 yards and four touchdowns with no interception, while Chad Arlt made eight catches for 105 yards and one touchdown, and Mitch Anderson carried 18 times for 83 yards and one touchdown.
Gustavus picked up right where it left off in the second quarter as Mitch Anderson scampered into the end zone from 19 yards out to make the score 47-0 with 6:56 remaining in the third quarter. The Pipers, however would get on the board late in the third quarter when quarterback Chad Schmigal completed a nine-yard touchdown pass to Sean Lewis with :46 left on the clock. Derek Johnson’s point after attempt made the score 48-7.
The Gusties would continue to put points on the board in the fourth quarter as John Ostertag made a 26-yard field goal at the 11:46 mark and Ray Wilson added a three-yard touchdown run making the score 57-7 with 7:53 left in the game.
Hamline would score twice in the final four minutes on a 58-yard pass from Schmigal to Andrew Seymour with 3:37 remaining and a three-yard pass from backup quarterback James Leary to Sean Lewis with :46 left on the clock.
Gustavus finished the game with 601 yards of total offense compared to 349 yards for Hamline. Stolp had another big day for the Gusties completing 23-of-37 passes for 331 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. Arlt finished with 10 catches for 111 yards and one touchdown and Mitch Anderson carried 23 times for 126 yards and three touchdowns. Sophomore receiver Cameron Maurer had the biggest day of his young career making five catches for 79 yards and two touchdowns. Defensively, the Gusties were led by senior linebacker Jared Sieling with seven tackles (two solo) and sophomore safety Joe Welch who recorded three solo tackles and intercepted a pass.
Coach Jay Schoenebeck and his squad, now 3-0-0 overall and 2-0-0 in the MIAC, will get a big test next weekend as they head to Northfield to face St. Olaf, which is 4-0-0 overall and 2-0-0 in the MIAC.