>>THIS WEEK -- KNIGHTS COME HOME FOR SENIOR DAY
For the first time since Sep. 18, Carleton will host a football game on its own campus this afternoon. The Knights return to Laird Stadium to play Saint John’s University following a massive effort to make the field playable after the Cannon River’s late-September flooding wreaked havoc on Carleton’s athletic complex and rendered the football team homeless for five weeks.
Today’s contest also marks the final home game for the 15 seniors on Carleton’s roster. The group has posted a 16-21 record over its four years in the maize and blue and been a part of some of the program’s most memorable moments, from historic 2008, which saw the Knights host the Johnnies for the MIAC title on the final day of the season, to 2009’s thrilling 17-14 win at home over rival St. Olaf, to several exciting victories during a 2010 campaign significantly altered by Mother Nature.
The Knights are seeking their first-ever win over Saint John’s today (0-27 all-time vs. SJU). Aside from last year’s lopsided result, however, Carleton has given the Johnnies all they could handle since head coach and former SJU quarterback Kurt Ramler took over the Knights’ program:
2009: SJU 41, CAR 14
2008: SJU 14, CAR 10
2007: SJU 10, CAR 7
2006: SJU 29, CAR 19
>>LAST YEAR: 11/14/09 - Saint John's 41, Carleton 14
Carleton kept things close for one half, but host Saint John's pulled away in the second for a 41-14 victory at Clemens Stadium. With the win, the Johnnies completed an undefeated regular season and in the process clinched the outright MIAC title and with it, the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Playoffs.
Five seniors wrapped up their collegiate careers on the gridiron for the Knights, including running back Phil Blue, who carried the ball 10 times for 48 yards and a touchdown in his final game in the maize and blue.
Coming into the day, Saint John’s had permitted only three rushing touchdowns all season. The Knights nearly doubled that figure, pounding in both scores via the running game.
Carleton put up a strong fight in the first half, tying the game at seven early in the second quarter after a two-yard touchdown rush by Jon Lien. Saint John's scored later in the second quarter to take a 14-7 lead into the locker room, but the Johnnies exploded out of the gates after the intermission and outscored the Knights 27-7 in the second half.
Carleton's second touchdown of the afternoon came on Blue's two-yard scamper early in the fourth quarter.
Freshman running back Stephen Johnson carried the bulk of the offensive load for Saint John's, rushing 26 times for 128 yards and two touchdowns. Josh Overman added 3 catches for 73 yards and a score.
Knights quarterback Vaughn Schmid completed 16-of-27 passes for 158 yards but also threw three interceptions, two of which were returned for Johnnie touchdowns.
>>LAST WEEK: Carleton 42, Macalester 27
Bolstered by fantastic play from the offensive line, Carleton retained the “Book of Knowledge” with a 42-27 victory under the lights at Macalester College. The Knights rushed for 307 yards, their highest figure since 2004. Quarterback Vaughn Schmid ran for 168 yards and a touchdown, while running back Jon Lien amassed 149 yards on 20 carries. Schmid also threw four touchdown passes, going 15-of-25 for 195 yards through the air.
The victory was a direct result of the domination by Carleton’s front five as the Knights finished with 502 yards of total offense.
Left tackle Ted Longabaugh, left guard Will Taylor, center Tanner Martin, right guard Bill Estes, and right tackle Brad Eckelmann regularly created gaping holes in the Scots defense, allowing Schmid and Lien to run free. This was the 10th-highest rushing total in program history. The figure would have been even higher had the Knights not lost 10 yards in the final moments as they took a knee to run out the clock. Still, Carleton’s 8.1 yards per carry shattered the previous record of 7.7 yards set against St. Thomas on Oct. 27, 1986.
Schmid entered the evening with 140 rushing yards over the first six games but nearly eclipsed that mark by halftime. He had 259 yards of total offense prior to intermission, 129 rushing and 130 passing. Lien passed the century mark for the third time this season, notching the third-best figure of his career.
While the Knights had success running the ball early, they did their first-half scoring through the air as Schmid had a quartet of touchdown passes over the first thirty minutes, connecting three times with C.J. Dale, which marked the 10th time in team history that a player has had at least three touchdowns in a game. Dale finished with six receptions for a career-best 124 yards.
>>SCOUTING SJU
After an undefeated regular season in 2009, Saint John’s has suffered a trio of heartbreaking losses this year, and enters today’s contest at 4-3 (3-2 MIAC).
Though each of the Johnnies four wins has come by at least a 12-point margin, SJU has not lost by more than three this season. After entering the season ranked ninth nationally in the D3football.com Preseason Poll, the Johnnies fell in overtime to non-conference foe UW-Eau Claire, 23-20, before suffering back-to-back MIAC setbacks on Oct. 2 and 9, first at home against St. Thomas, 27-26 (OT), then on the road at Bethel, 17-14. Last week, however, John Gagliardi’s squad righted its ship, dispatching Gustavus 33-13 in Collegeville, and delivering its legendary head coach his 475th career win.
Senior quarterback Joe Boyle, a well-known menace to Knights fans after his final-minute touchdown drive at Laird Stadium in 2008 robbed Carleton of the MIAC title, leads a Johnnie offense that is potent both on the ground and through the air. SJU leads the MIAC, averaging 440.1 yards of total offense per game. Boyle leads the MIAC in pass effieciency and ranks second in total offense, having complete 69 percent of his attempts (120-174) for 1565 yards and 11 touchdowns, while rushing for 158 more yards and five scores.
SJU employs four versatile running backs, each with over 100 rushing and receiving yards. After rushing for 179 yards and three touchdowns on just 14 carries last week, freshman Nick Schneider leads the team with 517 all-purpose yards (324 rush, 197 rec). Close behind him is sophomore Stephen Johnson (347, 147) while senior Jakob Reding (273, 172) and sophomore Harry Awe (188, 102) also remain dangerous weapons. Meanwhile, senior tight end Josh Overman and junior wideouts Sam Pederson and Brent Graboski lead the receiving corps with 312, 305, and 269 yards on the year, respectively.
Defensively, the ever-stout Johnnies have held opponents to an average of 18.3 points and just under 300 yards of total offense per game. Senior linebackers John Stanton and Billy Lawrence lead the unit with 45 and 44 tackles, respectively, while Stanton and sophomore DB Alex Powell have each grabbed three interceptions.
>>A FAMILIAR FOE
For just the fifth time ever, Knights head coach Kurt Ramler will face Saint John’s as an opponent.
Before taking over at the helm for Carleton in 2006, Ramler previously served as the Johnnies' quarterbacks coach during the 2002 season. He earned his B.A. in English from Saint John’s in 1997 and won the 1996 MIAC Most Valuable Player Award for the Johnnies. He still holds the school record for passing yards in a single game (in fact, he owns the top three marks). Ramler previously held the SJU marks for most total offense, career passing yards and touchdown passes and currently holds the MIAC single-season passing efficiency record at 174.91, set in 1996. He was the runner-up for the Gagliardi Trophy in 1996, awarded to Division III’s most outstanding football player, and was part of four MIAC title-winning teams at Saint John's.
In his five seasons at Carleton, Ramler (20-26 overall) has led the Knights to several strong performances against nationally-ranked opponents, including upsets over #31 Bethel in 2006, and #13 Bethel and #22 Augsburg in 2008. The Johnnies were ranked as high as #9 nationally earlier this season.
