COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. — The Carleton College football team jumped out to an early lead at No. 4 Saint John's University, but with record-setting quarterback Jonathan Singleton (Sr./San Martin, Calif./Live Oak) sidelined by injury, the Knights were unable to match the Johnnies' aerial attack and eventually dropped a 45-16 result.
 
Carleton (6-3, 4-3 MIAC) fell to the Johnnies' (8-1, 6-1 MIAC) pass-heavy offense despite another stellar performance from Isaac Simons (Sr./Oconomowoc, Wis./Lake Country Lutheran). The linebacker, who achieved a career-high 15 tackles last week, added another 13 stops to his season total.
 
After three-and-outs from both sides  to start the day, a 12-play drive brought the game alive with Carleton's Aiden Chang (Sr./Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto) rushing for a combined 32 yards as the Knights advanced into the red zone. A pass into the endzone was intercepted, but the Carleton defense got the ball right back by forcing another quick punt.
 
The Knights scored the game's first points when Trent Ramirez (Sr./Denver, Colo./George Washington) made a 39-yard attempt with 4:10 left in the first quarter. Before the period would end, the Johnnies were able to respond with a 17-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Syverson to Alex Larson.
 
Saint John's started the second quarter with a 21-yard touchdown pass from Syverson to Jimmy Buck, extending its lead to 14-3.
 
Later in the second quarter, the Johnnies advanced into Carleton territory, but Jackson Cleveland (Sr./River Falls, Wis./River Falls) picked off a Syverson pass and raced 67 yards the other way for the Knights' first touchdown of the day, making the score 14-9. This was the sixth-longest pick-six in recorded team history and Carleton's first interception taken the other way for a score since Travis Brown had a 39-yard return at Augsburg on Oct. 13, 2018.
 
The Johnnies would not relent, however, building their lead through the next two quarters.
 
Carleton used a bit of trickery to reach the end zone in the third quarter, executing a double pass. Beau Nelson (Sr./San Diego, Calif./Westview)—who was the Knights' starting quarterback in 2019 before Singleton took over as signal caller—lined up at his usual wide receiver position and caught a lateral from Nick Toole (Fy./Oakton, Va./Oakton). With the Johnnie defense converging on Nelson, he threw the ball to a wide-open Joseph Park (So./Fullerton, Calif./Troy) for a 46-yard touchdown.
 
Jack Curtis (Fy./Charlotte, N.C./Ardrey Kell) got the starting nod in place of Singleton and completed 13-of-24 passes. Toole was 2-for-2 in limited action.
 
Chang finished 19 carries for 81 yards, the second-highest rushing total an individual has posted against Saint John's this season. In fact, over the last two seasons, he has two of the top-3 rushing performances against the Johnnies. Chang ran for 108 yards in last year's meeting. The only other rusher with 80+ yards against Saint John's since 2019 was UW-River Falls' Kaleb Blaha (28 rushes for 122 yards on Sept. 10, 2022).
 
Ntense Obono (So./Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence) led the Carleton receiving corps with seven grabs for 53 yards.
 
Syverson was 20-of-26 for 276 yards and four touchdowns. Larson had 10 catches for 125 yards and three scores.
 
Up Next for the Knights:
The 2022 season concludes with the MIAC Championship Week crossover game. The Knights sit third in the Northwoods Division, so they will host Concordia College-Moorhead, the third-place team in the Skyline Division. The Cobbers edged the Knights 20-13 in overtime earlier this season. Kickoff next Saturday, Nov. 12 is slated for 12:00 p.m.