ST. PAUL, Minn. – Bolstered by fantastic play by the offensive line, the Carleton College football team 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 (Jr./Mahtomedi, Minn./Mahtomedi) ran for 168 yards and a touchdown, while running back Jon Lien (Jr./Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes) amassed 149 yards on 20 carries. Schmid also threw four touchdown passes, going 15-of-25 for 195 yards through the air.

The teams battled for the "Book of Knowledge" trophy for the 13th time. The two highest-ranked academic institutions in Minnesota (according to US News & World Report), the Knights and Scots began their gridiron rivalry in 1898. Carleton now holds a 48-9-1 advantage in the all-time series, including winning the last eight contests by a combined 320-91 margin.

This year's game was re-located to Macalester Stadium after Carleton’s home facility, Laird Stadium, sustained flood damage in late September. This was the third of three games moved away from the Carleton campus. Earlier this month, the Knights defeated Augsburg 38-28 in the Homecoming game played at Northfield High School. Last week, the Knights dropped a 49-24 decision to St. Olaf, while playing a home game on the Oles’ home turf.

Tonight’s 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 (Sr./Milwaukee, Wis./Marquette), left guard Will Taylor (Sr./Missoula, Mont./Loyola Sacred Heart), center Tanner Martin (Jr./Tempe, Ariz./Brophy College Prep), right guard Bill Estes (Fy./Tucson, Ariz./Tucson High Magnet School) and right tackle Brad Eckelmann (Sr./Portland, Ore./Lincoln) 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.

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Carleton’s Top 10 rushing games all-time
1. 416 - St. Thomas; Oct 27, 1986 (54 carries)
2. 375 - Grinnell; 1982
3. 367 – Macalester; Oct. 16, 2004 (49 carries)
4. 353 - at Colorado College; Nov 15, 2003 (65 carries)
5. 342 - at Macalester; Nov 8, 2003 (57 carries)
6. 328 - Lawrence; Sep 17, 1996 (48 carries)
7. 326 - Macalester; Oct 9, 1993 (49 carries)
8. 317 - at Augsburg; Oct 13, 1991 (59 carries)
9. 310 - Augsburg; Sep 21, 1987 (44 carries)
10. 307 - at Macalester, Oct 23, 2010 (36 carries)

The Knights’ first offensive play was a signal of things to come. Schmid looked to throw a wide receiver screen, but the Scots had the play well defended so the Knights’ signal-caller pulled the ball down and scampered 39 yards. He 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 (So./Fox Island, Wash./Charles Wright Academy).

Carleton’s first touchdown, set up by Schmid’s 39-yard run, was a nine-yard toss to Kilian Murphy (Sr./Eau Claire, Wis./Eau Claire Regis). Following another punt, the Knights faced 3rd-and-16 from the Scots’ 34-yard line. Macalester called for an all-out blitz, and Schmidt found Dale on a swing pass, with the sophomore out-racing the coverage for a touchdown.

The Knights’ defense came up with the next big play. Macalester had first-and-goal on the five-yard line and ran four times, but the Carleton defense was equal to the task, getting the final stop of fourth-and-goal from the one-foot line as George Zeon (Sr./Edina, Minn./Richfield) recovered a fumble.

After the Scots got a 21-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter, Carleton found the end zone again. This time Schmid’s 47-run moved the Knights into scoring position, and on fourth-down at the 14-yard line, Dale hauled in his second touchdown pass of the night.

Another Macalester touchdown, gave the Knights back the ball with 2:02 remaining before halftime, but Carleton needed less than half that allotted time. After running for 24 yards on three carries, Schmid found Dale on a 48-yard scoring strike, making this the 10th time in team history that a player had 3+ touchdowns (SEE CHART BELOW). Dale finished with six receptions for a career-best 124 yards.

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Schmid rammed his way into the end zone on a 15-yard run midway through the fourth quarter, giving the Knights a 35-14 lead.

The Scots got a four-yard touchdown run by quarterback Clark Bledsoe and then trimmed the deficit to eight points with a 13-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.

DeAngelo Williams (Jr./Minneapolis, Minn./De La Salle) raced 41 yards on the ensuing kickoff to give Carleton great field position. Head Coach Kurt Ramler called four run plays and the offensive line delivered. Schmid ran once for eight yards and Lien carried three more times for 37 yards, including going basically untouched on a 17-yard touchdown scamper that removed any doubt about the outcome. It was his seventh touchdown in the last six games.

The Knights finally return to Laird Stadium next week, when Carleton hosts Saint John’s University in the final home game for the 15 seniors on the roster. Knights Online will feature a live video webcast. The 1 p.m. contest will also be carried on Power 96 (95.9 FM) in the Northfield/Faribault area.