NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The Carleton College football team was unable to rally all the way back from an early deficit and absorbed its first loss of the season, falling 23-14 at rival St. Olaf College in the Battle for the Goat Trophy.
 
St. Olaf (3-2, 2-1 MIAC) took advantage of a short field after a Carleton (4-1, 2-1 MIAC) fumble with an 8-yard touchdown pass at the 6:35 mark of the first quarter. The Oles added a 42-yard field goal later in the period and scored two more touchdowns in the second quarter to carry a 23-0 lead into halftime.
 
After being held to 77 yards of offense in the first half, the Knights looked like a different team after intermission. Carleton out-gained St. Olaf 159-30 in the third quarter and owned a 13-1 edge in first downs. The Knights got their first points of the day on a two-yard touchdown pass from Jonathan Singleton (Jr./San Martin, Calif./Live Oak) to Ntense Obono (Fy./Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence) with 5:45 remaining in the third quarter. The same duo connected for a successful two-point conversion that made the score 23-8. Singleton  accounted for all 69 yards on drive, 49 through the air and the other 20 on the ground.
 
The Carleton defense forced a three-and-out, and the Knights marched back down the field for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter as Singleton hit Obono with another scoring strike, this one from six yards out. A misfire on the two-point conversion left the Knights facing a 23-14 deficit with 14:27 still to play.
 
The Knight defense came up with another three-and-out, but Carleton was forced to punt the ball right back. Travis Brown (Sr./St. Michael, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville) and Skyler Kessenich (Sr./Baltimore, Md./Friends School of Baltimore) combined on the tackle to stop St. Olaf on fourth down, giving the offense another opportunity.
 
Carleton used a fake punt to set up a field goal opportunity with a little over three minutes remaining, in hopes of making it a one=score game, but the kick hit the upright. The Oles were able to run out the rest of the clock.
 
Although the Carleton defense yielded only 98 yards in the second half, St. Olaf managed to hold the ball for nearly 10 more minutes in the game despite running three fewer plays than Carleton.
 
Isaac Simons (Jr./Oconomowoc, Wis./Lake Country Lutheran), Michael Carey (So./Haddonfield, N.J./Haddonfield Memorial), Doug Pham (So./Lombard, Ill./Glenbard East), Ryan McGregor (Sr./Ellsworth , Wis./Ellsworth), and Brown all had double digits in tackles.
 
Singleton was 25-for-40 for 188 yards and the two touchdowns. He now has 33 career touchdown passes, good for sixth on Carleton's all-time list. Singleton increased his career total to 3,296 passing yards, 11th-best in team history.
 
Carl Marvin (Sr./Wilmington, Del./The Tatnall School) had a career-best 10 receptions for 83 yards.
 
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton travels to Duluth, Minn., to face the College of St. Scholastica on Saturday, Oct. 16. It will be the first-ever meeting between the Knights and the newest member of the MIAC.