NORTHFIELD, Minn. – A pair of interceptions from Henry Detmer (So./River Forest, Ill./Oak Park and River Forest) kept the Carleton College football team in the game, but the Knights' offense was unable to keep pace with the passing attack of Gustavus Adolphus College, as Carleton fell, 24-9, absorbing its second loss of the season.
 
Both teams traded three-and-outs to begin the game, but it was Carleton (6-2, 4-2 MIAC) who secured the first major play of the contest. A pick by Detmer at the Knights' 35-yard line ended the Gusties' (5-2, 4-2 MIAC) second drive; however, Carleton was only able to manage a single first down on the ensuing possession. After getting the ball back, Gustavus embarked on a 10-play, 61-yard drive that took nearly five minutes on the clock. A stop by Isaac Simons (Jr./Oconomowoc, Wis./Lake Country Lutheran) and Ryan Flanagan (Sr./Chappaqua, N.Y./Horace Greeley) at the Knights' 13-yard line prevented the Gusties from coming away with any more than a field goal, which put the visitors up 3-0.
 
Gustavus's next possession proved to be a much shorter affair, as Gusties receiver Dalton Thielen hauled in a 62-yard touchdown off of a flea-flicker on the first play of the drive. The score put the Gusties up 10-0.
 
Late in the second quarter, Detmer would haul in his second interception of the game, undercutting a pass in the endzone to give Carleton the ball back with a little under two minutes left in the half. The pick appeared to be enough to keep the deficit at 10 points heading into halftime, but a three-and-out by the Knights' offense, followed by a 38-yard, 32-second touchdown drive by Gustavus, put the visitors up 16-0 going into the locker room.
 
After punting on their first possession of the second half, the Knights' offense appeared to stall on their second drive as well, as they faced a fourth-and seven on their side of the field. But, as it has multiple times this season, a special teams play gave the Knights an offensive spark: a pitch from punter Beau Nelson (Sr./San Diego, Calif./Westview) to Travis Brown (Sr./St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville) resulted in a 28-yard gain – the Knights' longest play from scrimmage up to that point – and gave the ball back to the offense at the Gustavus' 25-yard line.
 
Three plays later, a catch by Nelson put the Knights at the one-yard line, but two straight negative plays and a penalty meant that Carleton had to settle for a 34-yard field goal attempt. The kick, Trent Ramirez's (Jr./Denver, Colo./George Washington) longest of the season, sailed through the uprights to put the Knights on the board and cut the deficit to two scores.
 
Early in the fourth quarter, Gustavus capped off a nine-play, 75-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown rush to extend its lead to 24-3.
 
Midway through the final period, Carleton put together its best possession of the day: a nine-play, 77-yard sequence that lasted slightly over three minutes. During the drive, Gustavus was flagged for roughing the passer, and shortly after, a 22-yard strike from Jonathan Singleton (Jr./San Martin, Calif./Live Oak) to Nathan Strieff (Fy./New Glarus, Wis./New Glarus) set the Knights up at the Gusties' 7-yard line. Two plays later Singleton dialed his own number, rushing for a three-yard touchdown to trim the deficit to 24-9 with still 5:12 to go.
 
Despite forcing a three-and-out on Gustavus' ensuing possession, the Knights were unable to score again.
 
Singleton finished the day 19-for-45 with 178 yards and no interceptions, also rushing for 14 yards and a touchdown. Aiden Chang (Jr./Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto) picked up 40 rushing yards on 10 attempts, while Garrett Siff (Fy./Takoma Park, Md./Montgomery Blair) led all Knights receivers with 64 receiving yards on five catches. Nelson and Streiff caught six balls apiece for 52 and 50 yards, respectively.
 
On the defensive end, Carleton was paced by 12 tackles from Simons, as well as nine from James Bradle (So./Lemon Grove, Calif./Steele Canyon).
 
Theilen paced the Gusties' offensive attack with 10 catches for 190 yards, while quarterback Brett Hufendick was 18-for-24 for 243 yards and two scores.
 
Carleton was outgained in yardage, 380-261 on the day, although they picked up more first downs than the Gusties, finishing with 18 compared to the visitors' 16.
 
Up next for the Knights:
Carleton hosts No. 5-ranked Saint John's University on Saturday, November 6, at 1:00 p.m. That will be the final divisional game for the Knights, helping determine Carleton's opponent for the season finale the following week.