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ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn. – Normally reaching the end zone five times puts you in a great position to win a football game. That was not a case in Saturday’s season opener as Carleton College surrendered seven touchdowns in a 49-35 loss at Crown College. Tsubasa Matsui (Jr./Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) provided one of the biggest highlights for the Knights with his 77-yard kickoff return in the first quarter.
The Carleton offense totaled 381 yards on the afternoon, an average of 7.8 yards per play. Unfortunately, the Storm amassed 498 yards on a whopping 87 plays and dominated time of possession, 41:36 to 18:24. Crown converted 10 of 17 third downs and was a perfect 4-of-4 on fourth down. The scoring outburst by Crown was not totally unexpected, however, as the team ranked ninth in the NCAA last year in scoring at 39.6 points per game.
Crown took the opening kickoff and marched 80 yards on nine plays, a drive capped by the first of six touchdown passes by Adam Hayes. Special teams swung the momentum back over the Knights momentarily as Matsui recorded the first kickoff return for a touchdown by Carleton since
Chris Gardner ’09 took back the opening kick against Augsburg on Oct. 21, 2006.
Carleton fumbled on its next possession, the first of three turnovers in the game for the Knights. Crown put together a five-play, 41-yard drive capped by a Hayes’ five-yard scoring strike to Neil Johnson, giving the hosts a 13-7 first-quarter lead. Following a Carleton punt, the Storm put together another touchdown drive, this one taking 12 plays to cover 78 yards, the final 19 of them on a Hayes’ pass to Robert Yang.
DeAngelo Williams’ (Jr./Minneapolis, Minn./De La Salle) kickoff return to midfield set the Knights up with an opportunity to get back into the game. On the ensuing drive, Vaughn Schmid (Jr./Mahtomedi, Minn./Mahtomedi) completed a 21-yard pass to Chase Gottschalk (Fy./Independence, Minn./Orono) followed by a 20-yard scamper by Jon Lien (Jr./Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes). The drive ended as Schmid and Gottschalk connected from 10 yards out, pulling Carleton within six points at 20-14 with 10:38 still to play before halftime.
Special teams came up with another play as the Knights recovered Jerry McIntyre’s (Sr./Broomfield, Colo./Fairview) onside kick but the drive stalled out and ended with a missed 35-yard field goal. Crown would go 80 yards on 18 plays, with Hayes finding Drew Milner for a seven-yard TD with just 16 seconds before halftime.
Carleton got the ball to begin the second half and marched down to the one-yard line fumbled on the doorstep with Crown recovering.
Following a punt, Schmidt connected with rookie Brian Frett (Fy./Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) for 51 yards followed immediately by a nine-yard touchdown pass to Dylan Bothun (Sr./Rosemount, Minn./Rosemount), closing the gap to 27-21 midway through the third quarter.
Following touchdown drives by both teams, Crown extended its lead to 14 points with the fourth touchdown connection between Hayes and Milner—this one a 45-yarder—and a two-point conversion with 10:27 still to play.
After Schmid was stopped on 4th-and-3, Crown put the finishing touches on the day with another long drive, this one a seven-and a-half minute march that concluded with Hayes’ one-yard plunge.
Schmid and Gottschalk connected for a late touchdown, but the outcome had already been decided. The Carleton quarterback finished 17-of-26 for 268 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception. Gottschalk was the primary target, hauling in seven passes for 139 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Both Schmid and Lien gained 40 yards on the ground, but the Knights were out-rushed 156 to 113.
Neil Kolstad (Sr./St. James, Minn./St. James) and Mark Skoglund (Jr./Murdock, Minn./KMS) tied for the team lead with a game-best 13 tackles apiece.
For Crown, Hayes was 31-of-43 for 342 yards and a school-record six TDs. Milner equaled the Storm mark with 14 receptions, totaling 184 yards and a team-record four touchdowns. Running back Tyler Hallblade picked up 97 yards on 22 carries.
Carleton returns to the field on Saturday, Sept. 18 and hosts Bethel University in the MIAC opener for both teams. Knights Online will feature a live video webcast of the game, which can also be heard on Power 96 (95.9FM).
