NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The Carleton College football team maintained possession of the Goat Trophy by rolling over crosstown rival St. Olaf College 37-7. The Knights have won the intra-Northfield "Cereal Bowl" game two years in a row.
Head coach
Tom Journell praised his teams performance, saying "I'm so proud of the team today. It was a total team win - offense, defense, kicking putting it together in adverse situations. We were able to defend the run really well, made them pass it, and executed really well in our pass coverage with three interceptions, one for a touchdown. Offensively, we're taking care of the football, running it when we need to run it, and guys made some incredible plays. Really happy for our staff and our players to keep that eagle turned east".
Carleton (2-1, 2-0 MIAC) won by 30 points, the largest margin of victory in a game between the Knights and St. Olaf (0-3, 0-2 MIAC) since 2007. The Knights rushed for 228 yards as a team, the first time they have gone over 200 yards as a team since Oct. 8, 2022 vs. St. Olaf (295 yards). The Carleton defense limited St. Olaf to 38 passing yards, the first time that the Knights have held an opponent under 50 yards in the air since at least 2004, when game-by-game records are available.
The Oles began the game with a bang, as Bryon Sauvy bounced outside on third-and-six and race 71 yards to the end zone for the game's opening touchdown after just 1:05 played. The Knights responded by marching 67 yards down the field over 10 plays, capping the drive with a 13-yard touchdown pass from
Tyler Mastronardi to
Evan Olds at 8:41 in the first.
St. Olaf and Carleton exchanged punts, and the Oles got a drive going across the first-quarter break. On fourth down, St. Olaf quarterback Luke Crosby threw over the middle where Carleton linebacker
Jackson LeBlanc jumped the route and recorded his first career interception. LeBlanc wove and wound his way to the end zone from 73 yards out for Carleton's first pick-six since Henry Detmer did it on Sep. 9, 2023 against Pomona-Pitzer.
With 7:40 remaining in the half, Ole punter Soren Floden downed a boot at the 4-yard line. 13 plays and 96 yards later,
Tyler Dimond flew around the right side on a reverse to score from seven yards out. That score took him to 32 career total touchdowns, tying the Carleton record (see chart below).
The Knights extended their lead out of the halftime break, driving 15 plays and 55 yards over eight minutes to set up
Matt Geivett for a 34-yard field goal. After forcing a three-and-out, the Mastronardi-led offense embarked on another 15-play drive that killed eight minutes and 50 seconds of clock. Olds capped the drive by plunging into the end zone from the two-yards line at 11:20 in the fourth quarter.
Ronan Thomas and
Jack Centurelli intercepted Crosby on consecutive drives to halt Ole momentum, and
Deon Bergner burst through the middle for a 37-yard touchdown run with nine seconds remaining in the game to put the final nail in the coffin.
Mastronardi completed 21-of-28 passes (75.0 percent) for 146 yards and a touchdown, while extending his streak of passes without an interception to 110. His 75.0 percent completion percentage marked the third game in a row that the junior has completed 73 percent or more of his passes. He is the third Carleton quarterback to put together such a streak (min. 10 att. per game), after Shane Henfling (Sep. 27-Oct. 11, 2008) and
Jack Curtis (Oct. 4-Oct. 18, 2025).
Dimond ran six times for 86 yards in a touchdown, while adding four catches for 40 yards. Olds toted the ball 21 times for 67 yards and a score, while catching nine passes for 56 yards and another touchdown. His 123 yards from scrimmage set a career best. Bergner took four carries for a career-high 49 yards.
Thomas starred on defense, racking up a Carleton-best nine tackles and recording his first career tackle for loss and interception.
Anil Dharmarajan totaled seven tackles and 1.0 TFL.
Chase Dimond posted 3.0 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks. Centurelli and LeBlanc's interceptions were the first of their respective careers.
All told, Carleton outgained St. Olaf 374-161, collecting 22 first downs to just five for the Oles.
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton gets its first home date next week, hosting Gustavus Adolphus College on Saturday, Oct. 3 at 1:00 p.m.
Carleton Career Total Touchdowns Leaderboard
1. 32 - Jim Bradford - 1988-91
1. 32 – Tyler Dimond – 2022-present
3. 31 – R.J. Jackson – 2004-07
4. 30 – All Schumacker – 1956-58
5. 29 – Chris Gardner – 2005-08
