Minneapolis – R.J. Jackson (So./Roseville, Minn./De La Salle) rushed for 79 yards and turned a swing pass into a game-winning 41-yard touchdown as the Carleton College football team picked up its first conference win of the season, beating host Augsburg College 21-19.
Nick Brokke (Sr./Roseville, Minn./Roseville Area) picked off two passes and forced a fumble to pace a Carleton defense that forced five Auggie turnovers. Carleton (2-2, 1-2 MIAC) turned those five turnovers into 14 points in snapping an eight-game losing skid to the Auggies.
The Knights raced to a 14-0 lead, but the hosts battled back to 14-12 and looked to be going in for the go-ahead score. Augsburg quarterback Keith Hagen overthrew a receiver on a first-down play from the Carleton 23-yards line right into the waiting arms of Brokke, who returned it 49 yards to the Auggie 34.
After an incompletion and sack, sophomore quarterback John Hollowed (Mercer Island, Wash.) swung the ball out in the flats to Jackson. He picked up a couple of blocks and turned the jets on down the far side, racing in for the score to put Carleton ahead 21-12.
The Auggies answered, embarking on a 17-play, 8:01 drive to pulled within two at 21-19. Carleton drove right back, using a Jackson 26-yard burst up the middle on the drive's first play to get inside the Auggie 30. The drive stalled and the Knights were stopped on fourth-and-one from the Auggie 28. The Knights defense rose to the occasion again, as Tim Blaha (Sr./Northfield, Minn.) recovered an Auggie fumble. The Carleton offense looked like it might put the game away, pushing the ball inside the Auggie 10, but a holding call forced the Knights into a 39-yard field goal attempt, which hit off the left upright.
The Auggies had one last chance, but the Knights allowed a small completion of four yards over the next four plays, securing the victory.
The Knights opened the game with a bang. Hollowed, starting for the first time in his collegiate career, hooked up with Mike Kootsikas (Jr./Rosemount, Minn.) for 27 yard gain and then drew a pass interference call, moving the ball to the Auggies' 2-yard line. Kevin Hanley (Sr./Chicago/Holy Cross) banged in from 1 yard to put Carleton ahead 7-0.
Carleton's defense registered a pair of interceptions on Augsburg's first three drives. Rich Juelich (Sr./Stillwater, Minn.) stepped in front of a Hagen pass and returned it to midfield and Brokke wrestled the ball away from an Auggie receiver on the hosts' next possession, but the offense failed to move the ball. The Auggies' third turnover was converted by the Knights. Sophomore Kaizen Yang (Northfield, Minn.) recovered a fumble forced by Brokke at the Auggies 25, and the Knights scored five plays later on a Wade Thompson (Jr./Peterson, Minn./Rushford-Peterson) two-yard dive.
The Auggie defense held down Carleton's offense and the Auggie offense found its rhythm. A 13-play, 76-yard drive ended in a field goal. Later in the quarter, a 12-play, 78-yard drive ended in Hagen's four-yard scoring run. The Auggies added a 44-yard field goal to open the second half, pulling within 14-12.
Hagen completed 24-of-39 passes for 278 yards for the Auggies, but was intercepted three times. Ricky Schreier caught nine passes for 122 yards and Andrew Neumann caught seven passes for 86 yards for the Auggies.
Jackson rushed for 79 yards and caught two passes for 46 yards for the Knights. Thompson rushed 13 times for 42 yards, and Kootsikascaught three passes for 45 yards. Quarterback Hollowed attempted just 14 passes, but completed six for 98 yards.
Jerad Phelps (So./Northfield, Minn.) had 12 tackles, three solo, and Randy Foss (Jr./Hastings, Minn.) added nine stops. Pat Frett (Jr./Wilmette, Ill./Ann Arbor-Huron, Mich.) and Yang tallied eight tackles each. In addition to his two interceptions, Brokke had six tackles, four solo.
Both teams return to MIAC play next Saturday, Oct. 8 at 1 p.m. The Knights host cross-town rival St. Olaf College as part of Homecoming 2005 and Augsburg plays at Gustavus Adolphus College.
