The Gustavus football team rallied from a 24-10 halftime deficit to tie the score at 38-38, but Augsburg scored with :19 left in regulation play and the Auggies escaped with a 44-38 victory. Gustavus wide receiver Chad Arlt made 11 catches for 252 yards and broke a 30-year old school record for yards receiving in a game.
For the fourth time in the past five games, the Gusties got off to a slow start and trailed 14-3 at the end of the first quarter. Gustavus did manage to score a touchdown in the second quarter but trailed 24-10 at halftime.
The Gustie offense got rolling in the second half scoring 14 points in the third quarter and 14 points in the fourth quarter outscoring the Auggies 28-20 in the half. Unfortunately, it was not enough as the Auggies made their only score of the fourth quarter count in claiming the six-point victory.
Chad Arlt turned in the finest receiving performance in the history of the Gustavus football program as he made 11 catches for 252 yards including a 99-yard TD catch in the third quarter. Arlt broke Rich Ryan’s 30-yard old single game receiving mark which was 228 yards against Washington University in 1976. Arlt also broke the school record for longest pass reception with his 99-yard grab from Stolp. The old record was 97 yards held by both Ryan Hoag (2000) and Kerry Zajicek (2006). Arlt also shattered the single season receiving record pushing his season total to 1,079 yards. The old record was 889 yards set by Larry Bodin in 1985.
Jordan Stolp also had a record breaking day as he threw four touchdown passes and broke the Gustavus career record for touchdown passes. Stolp increased his career total to 61 breaking the old record of 59 held by Bob Southworth and Joe Thorvig. Stolp also broke the school record for longest pass completion with his 99-yard toss to Chad Arlt. Stolp set the record last year with his 97-yard completion to Kerry Zajicek.
After winning their first three games of the season, the Gusties have now lost four of their last five games and stand at 4-4 heading into next week’s game against Concordia in St. Peter. Gustavus saw its nine-game winning streak against the Auggies snapped, while Coach Jay Schoenebeck lost to Augburg for only the third time in his 14-year tenure at Gustavus.