ST. PETER, Minn. – First-year quarterback
Jonathan Singleton (San Martin, Calif./Live Oak) tossed four touchdown pass, two of them to senior wideout
Mack Journell (Stevens Point, Wis./Stevens Point), but the Carleton College football team was unable to keep pace with host Gustavus Adolphus College, dropping the Knights' penultimate game of the season by a 55-28 tally. The high-scoring affair featured 991 yards of total offense.
Singleton climbed into a tie for eighth place on the Knights' single-season touchdown list as he now has 16 scoring strikes over his first seven career games. He has thrown for 1,874 yards, the 12th-highest single-season total in program history. Both figures are particularly impressive, given that Singleton did not play in Carleton's (4-5, 2-5 MIAC) first two games of this season.
Journell posted his 10th career game with double-digit receptions, finishing with 125 receiving yards on 10 grabs. He now has a MIAC-best 68 receptions on the year, the fourth-highest single-season total in team annals. Journell had touchdown catches of 7 and 2 yards, raising his career total to 16, tied for sixth in program history. He now has 1,975 receiving yards as a Knight, the sixth-best figure on Carleton's career list and a total accumulated over only three seasons (2016, 2018, and 2019).
Gustavus (6-2, 4-2 MIAC) got off to a fast start, opening the afternoon with a pair of first-quarter touchdowns.
On the third Gustie possession, the home team was forced to start deep in their own territory after an unbelievable punt by the Knights'
Alex Chertoff (Jr./Brooklyn, N.Y./Poly Prep). After dropping the ball, Chertoff scrambled away from multiple Gusties, broke a tackle and somehow managed to get off a punt on the run… with the kick downed inside the Gustavus one-yard line.
Carleton (4-5, 2-5 MIAC) managed to gain a foothold midway through the second quarter, when Singleton found
Fletcher Metz (Sr./Oconomowoc, Wis./Catholic Memorial) in the near right corner of the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown. The score, which finished off a solid 10-play, 69-yard drive, pulled the Knights to within two possessions at 21-7.
Gustavus extended its lead before halftime, but Carleton refused to quit and scored 21 unanswered points over one stretch during the second half. Singleton hit receiver
Bert Bean (So. Kansas City, Mo./Pembroke Hill School) on a quick slant over the middle late in the third quarter to begin the run, capping off a quick five-play, 35-yard scoring drive that saw the quarterback complete four of his five passes.
Journell then hauled in back-to-back touchdown passes to cap off drives of 64 and 29 yards. Singleton finished the day 26-for-45 for 246 passing yards and the four scores
Travis Brown (Jr. /St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville) and
Carlos Lua Pineda (Sr./Gesham, Ore./Gresham) anchored the Carleton defense, finishing with 12 and nine tackles, respectively. Brown also forced three fumbles.
The Gusties' ground game was led by David Peal, who rushed 15 times for 145 yards and two touchdowns, while Michael Veldman guided the passing attack by completing 19-of-23 passes for 281 yards and three touchdowns. Brice Panning matched Journell's reception total and finished with 164 receiving yards and two short touchdown grabs.
UP NEXT FOR THE KNIGHTS: Carleton is on the bye next week and closes the 2019 campaign with a 1 p.m. home game against Concordia College on Saturday, Nov. 16.
