St. Peter, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus football team thrilled the Homecoming crowd with 50-0 victory over Carleton College on Saturday afternoon at Hollingsworth Field. Gustavus improves to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the MIAC, while Carleton drops to 1-4 overall and 0-3 in the MIAC. The Gusties are 5-0 for the first time since 1998.
The Mitch Hendricks (Sr., Bemidji, Minn.) led air raid continued, while the defense turned in its best performance of the season. Through the air, Hendricks threw four touchdown passes and finished 24-for-28 for 383 yards. He also added 69 yards on the ground, which included a 61-yard touchdown run. His top targets were the Boyce twins, who combined for 18 catches and 273 yards. Matt (Jr., Excelsior, Minn.) caught nine passes for 166 yards with two touchdowns, while Gabriel (Jr., Excelsior, Minn.) caught nine passes for 107 yards. As a whole, Gustavus totaled 607 yards (204 rush, 397 pass).
Gustavus’s defense was as relentless as its offense. The Gusties held Carleton to just 58 net yards of total offense, which included 30 yards on the ground and 28 yards through the air. The Black and Gold registered a season-best six sacks, tallied 15 tackles for loss, and allowed the Knights just seven first downs all afternoon.
Even before a large number of the more than 3,100 fans had settled into their seats, Gustavus was taking to the air. On the first play from scrimmage, Mitch Hendricks went up top to Matt Boyce and connected on 42-yard fly that gave the Gusties 1st-and-10 on the Carleton 20-yard line. Two plays later Hendricks found Jordan Sorensen (So., St. Peter, Minn.) in the back of the end zone from 15 yards out with 13:31 on the clock. Thomas Schleusener (Rapid City, S.D.) added the extra point to put the Gusties on top 7-0.
Gustavus’s defense forced its first of six total three-and-outs on Carleton’s next possession, and Hendricks went back to work through the air. He completed five straight passes, took a break by handing the ball off to Leeland Lauti (Fr., Ewa Beach, Hawaii), and then capped the drive with a 30-yard strike to Matt Boyce on a skinny post for the touchdown. With Schleusener’s extra point, Gustavus led 14-0 with 8:41 left in the first.
After establishing the passing game, Hendricks showed off his ability in the running game. On 1st-and-10 from the his own 39-yard-line, Hendricks found a hole on a quarterback draw and scampered 61 yards into the end zone for what was the team’s longest offensive play from scrimmage this season. Schleusener tacked on the extra point to complete the first quarter’s scoring and give the Black and Gold a 21-0 advantage.
On Gustavus’s next offensive possession, Hendricks got his running backs involved in the passing game by finding DaiVon Poole (Fr., San Antonio, Texas) on a wheel route up the left sideline. Poole caught the pass and proceeded to outrun the defense 49 yards for the score. Schleusener’s point after put the home team on top 28-0 with 13:37 left in the second quarter.
Although the offense was stopped on its next two possessions, Gustavus’s defense got the ball back in the its hands with :38 seconds left in the half. All it took was :06 seconds for the Gusties to find the end zone, as Hendricks aired out a deep post to Boyce who tracked it down, secured the catch, and took it into the end zone for the touchdown. Schleusener’s kick extended Gustavus’s lead to 35-0, which it remained for the remaining minutes of the half.
By halftime, Hendricks was 17-or-20 for 275 yards with four passing touchdowns and one rushing. Gustavus allowed a net of just 46 yards despite Carleton controlling the clock for 18:17 of the half.
Although the Gusties drove nearly the entire length of the field in just under five minutes to start the second half, a Hendricks fumble inside the Carleton 10-yard-line gave the ball to the Knights with 10:15 on the clock.
Less than one minute after the fumble, the Gusties came up with a safety to push the lead to 37-0 with 9:17 left in the third. After his initial hole closed up, Carleton running back Chris Madden attempted to bounce the play outside where he was met by a triggering Nick Frandsen (Sr., North Oaks, Minn.) who came up and made the tackle in the end zone.
After Iker Ortiz Hidalgo (So., Cancun, Mexico) recovered a fumble that was stripped by Kyle Krzmarzick (Jr., Sleepy Eye, Minn.), Hendricks completed his final pass of the game to George Buchner (So., Excelsior, Minn.) for 29 yards to give Gustavus 1st-and-goal from the three-yard-line. DaiVon Poole plunged in from two yards for his second touchdown of the game. Poole finished the game with 46 yards on 17 carries and 46 yards on two catches. Schleusener missed the extra point and Gustavus led 43-0 with 3:45 to go in the third.
The game’s final score came at the 2:34 mark of the fourth quarter when backup quarterback Sam Lundberg (Jr., Ellendale, Minn.) ran in from four yards out to cap a nine-play, 66-yard drive.
Leading Gustavus’s stifling defensive effort in tackles was Jake Forcier (Sr., Watkins, Minn.) with seven (three solo). Barret Panning (Sr., Hamburg, Minn.) was unyielding at the line of scrimmage, finishing with two sacks and two tackles for loss.
Carleton quarterbacks Zach Creighton and Ethan Trujillo went a combined 4-for-8 for 14 yards through the air. Chriss Madden led the Knights on the ground with 30 yards on 15 carries.
The Gustavus football team will take to the road next weekend when it travels to Northfield for a game against St. Olaf College set for 1:00 p.m.