NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The Gustavus football team continued its offensive dominance Saturday as it defeated Carleton College 63-14 and Matt Boyce (Sr., Excelsior, Minn.) cemented his name in the Gustavus record books by scoring two touchdowns – his 29th and 30th career scores – becoming the program’s all-time leader in receiving touchdowns.
“Matt has meant a lot to our football program in terms of his accomplishments on the field,” Head Coach Peter Haugen said. “He would be the first one to tell you that none of this would happen without his teammates. He’s been a tremendous leader and we are excited for him. Matt has worked really hard to get to this point and he brings so much more to the table with everything he does off the field as a great mentor to our younger players.”
Gustavus’ 63 points are the most scored in a single game since 1991. The Gusties scored touchdowns on nine of 11 possessions and tallied 445 yards of offense. The offense also continued to impress on its third down attempts, converting 9-of-12 on the day, improving its season average to .677 (2nd/NCAA).
Carleton started the game with possession and the Gustie defense held the Knights to a three-and-out. On the punt, Josh Curtis (Fy., Houston, Texas) got a hand on the ball for the block, which was returned 20 yards for a touchdown by George Buchner (Jr., Excelsior, Minn.). The blocked punt return for a touchdown was the first by the Gusties since 2011.
The Knights’ offense immediately went to work with its hurry-up offense and marched 75 yards in 11 plays, capped by a five-yard touchdown pass to tie the game.
“Carleton did a nice job of giving us a look we haven’t seen in four weeks,” Haugen said. “It took us a drive to adjust but I’m proud of our defense for making those changes.”
The Gustavus offense then started its first drive of the game and answered with a methodical 13-play, 65-yard drive. Matt Boyce finished the drive with a five-yard receiving touchdown, which tied the Gustavus all-time receiving touchdowns record of 29 held by Ryan Hoag (1999-2002).
On Carleton’s next possession it put together a nine-play drive, but an Adam Neubarth (Sr., Cologne, Minn.) sack for a loss of eight yards halted the drive on third down.
The Gusties took little time to increase their lead as Mitch Hendricks (Sr., Laporte, Minn.) connected with Gabe Boyce (Sr., Excelsior, Minn.) for an 11-yard gain on first down and then found Matt Boyce for a 68-yard pass-and-catch touchdown to give the Black and Gold a two-possession advantage. The long receiving touchdown for Matt Boyce gave him sole possession of the Gustavus all-time receiving touchdowns record with 30.
After the first 15 minutes of play, the Gusties led 21-7.
Carleton responded with an eight-play drive, but was again stalled and forced to punt. Starting at their own 42-yard line, the Gusties put together a 12-play drive and finished it off with a four-yard touchdown pass to Gabe Boyce.
The Gustavus defense was stout once again, forcing the Knights to end their next drive after six plays. Carleton went for it on fourth down, but the pass went incomplete for the turnover on downs.
The Gusties started their next possession at the Carleton 45-yard line and found the end zone on the fifth play of the drive as DaiVon Poole (So., San Angelo, Texas) ran 26 yards for a touchdown with 1:09 remaining in the half.
With all three of their timeouts, the Knights were able to cut into the deficit by scoring on a 10-yard touchdown pass on their eighth play of the drive. Gustavus then went into halftime with a 35-14 lead.
The Black and Gold started the third quarter with the ball at its own 30 yard-line. The ensuing drive featured four first downs and was capped by a nine-yard touchdown pass to Gabe Boyce.
Carleton started its next drive on its own 30-yard line and on the fourth play of the drive Neubarth recovered a fumble, giving the Gusties the ball back in Knight territory. It took only six plays for the Gusties to score as Karim Ortiz (So., Cancun, Mexico) found the end zone on a four-yard carry.
The Gustie defense forced a three-and-out on the following drive and on the Carleton punt, Gabe Boyce recorded a 57-yard return all the way down to the Knights’ 10-yard line. Poole answered the bell with two carries, scoring on the second for a five-yard touchdown.
For the second time in a row, the Gustavus defense forced a three-and-out and this time the Carleton punt was partially blocked by Buchner, limiting the kick to 20 yards down field. Leading by 42 points, the second team offense entered the game and took its first possession 45 yards in eight plays, ending on a two-yard touchdown run by Matt Berkner (Fy., Sleepy Eye, Minn.) – his first career score. After the Brendan Boche (So., Lakeville, Minn.) extra point, the Gusties led 63-14, which remained for a final score.
Ortiz and Poole led the ground game with 57 and 56 yards, respectively. Ortiz had 10 carries and touchdown, while Poole added eight carries and two scores.
Hendricks completed 20-of-29 passes for 270 yards and four touchdowns. Matt and Gabe Boyce tallied eight catches apiece to lead the receiving corps. Matt posted a game-high 161 yards and two touchdowns, while Gabe had 64 yards and two scores as well. Gabe also added two punt returns for 71 yards.
Anders Raarup (So., Eagan, Minn.) and Kysten Zierke (So., Blue Earth, Minn.) led the defense with seven tackles each. Raarup also contributed two tackles for a loss of 11 yards.
“I think the level of consistency we’ve shown is important,” Haugen said. “I’m happy to see that we are functioning well in all three phases.”
The Gusties continue MIAC play at 1 p.m., Oct. 10 as they host St. Olaf College (1-4 overall, 0-3 MIAC) who lost 54-0 at St. Thomas today.