<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=36oyrl_0wF2uXtm00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=36oyrl_0wF2uXtm00" width="800" height="450" >NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Strange as it might seem looking at the numbers, senior quarterback Aaron Syverson (Minnetonka, Minn.) felt a little disappointed following the Saint John's University football team's 48-7 win over Carleton Saturday afternoon at Northfield's Laird Stadium.This despite the fact that the Johnnies' standout quarterback had just thrown for 400 yards and five touchdowns as his team - ranked as high as No. 3 in the nation in the most recent D3football.com poll - improved to 4-0 in MIAC play and 6-0 overall with a victory over the Knights (2-4, 1-3 MIAC) in the Northwoods Division opener for both teams."Offensively, especially in that first half, it wasn't anywhere near where we wanted it to be," said Syverson, who has now thrown for 400 yards or more in a game four times over the course of his collegiate career."There were too many mistakes. We shot ourselves in the foot with turnovers and penalties. I missed some open guys. We just can't have that."Still, the Johnnies piled up 621 yards of total offense - including a total of 428 through the air. Senior wideout Marselio Mendez (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) finished with seven catches for 138 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore wide receiver Riley Schwellenbach (Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge) had three catches for 80 yards and one touchdown, while junior Dylan Wheeler (St. Paul, Minn./Mounds View) finished with three catches for 57 yards and two touchdowns.SJU opened a 20-7 halftime lead - thanks to a 20-yard touchdown catch by Mendez, a 27-yard touchdown catch from Wheeler and a two-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Will Blakey (St. Paul, Minn./Central), who finished with seven carries for 37 yards. But the lead could have been even larger had the Johnnies not fumbled the ball away at the Carleton 8-yard line in the final minute of the second quarter."I thought we left some points on the field in the first half," said SJU head coach Gary Fasching '81, echoing Syverson's sentiments. "We fumbled the ball right before halftime. It really bothered me that we gave up the ball down there. Then we had another drive where we had some penalties, and we didn't protect very well. Aaron maybe misfired on a pass or two."But the good thing about him is he's always looking to improve. He's always looking to get better. And he keeps doing that."Meanwhile, it was a bounce-back game for the Johnnie defense, who weren't happy with the way they played in a 38-31 win at Concordia last week. SJU held the Knights to 146 yards of total offense - 75 of that coming on their lone score, a touchdown reception by junior Tyler Dimond in the second quarter. That play was Carleton's lone first down of the first half. The Knights finished the game with just five total and were held to (-6) yards on the ground."We tightened things up," said senior linebacker Hayden Sanders (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Champlin Park), who tied for the team lead in tackles with five. "We weren't perfect today by any means. But we got one step closer. Now hopefully, we continue to get things tuned up going into next week."Indeed, next week brings a rematch against Gustavus Adolphus (4-2, 3-1 MIAC), a team that defeated SJU 38-35 last season in St. Peter. That loss kept the Johnnies from winning the Northwoods Division title and cost them a spot in the Division III playoffs.But that was last year. Fasching said Saturday that he's focused on what the Gusties are capable of this season."It's a big game because it's the next one on the schedule," Fasching said. "I said that about this game too. Now we're in divisional play, and the only way that you can win the conference is to win your division. So you have to win all these games."It's the next game on the schedule and we're facing a really good Gustavus team. We know what they're capable of and we're going to have to be at our very best."41-0With the win, SJU improves to 41-0 all-time against Carleton: 20-0 in Collegeville, 18-0 in Northfield and 3-0 at a neutral site. The Johnnies have now out-scored the Knights 1,798-369 (43.9-9.0 avg.) in the series, including a 514-53 advantage and four shutouts in the last 10 meetings.146 AllowedThe 146 yards of offense allowed by SJU were its fewest since last year's 63-7 Homecoming win over…Carleton…on Oct. 14, 2023. The Knights produced 146 yards on 21 more plays – 66 – than Saturday's 45. Back to 2018SJU's defensive showing on Saturday recorded a number of statistical superlatives that had not occurred since the 2018 season:-The offensive margin of 475 (621-146) was the Johnnies' largest since the 551 (717-166) recorded in their 84-6 win over Martin Luther in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Playoffs (Nov. 17).-SJU forced nine three-and-outs against the Knights, which were the most since Martin Luther – also the Knights – had 10 in the 2018 playoff win.-The five first downs allowed, which were all recorded through the air, were the fewest against SJU since Nov. 3 – two weeks prior to the postseason opener against Martin Luther – when Hamline totaled five (all on the ground) in a 51-0 win for SJU in Collegeville.New MIAC RecordSyverson's five-touchdown game enabled him to break his tie with Jackson Erdmann '19 for sole possession of the MIAC record for multi-passing-touchdown games with 23 in conference play. In SJU's record book, Syverson is now 13 completions from Alex Kofoed's '07 program record of 830 and 208 passing yards behind him for second (10,737). Long Run for the First TDSophomore running back Cory Bohmert (Mahtomedi, Minn.) finished with two carries for 74 yards to lead SJU's ground game. That included a 69-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, the first of Bohmert's career, to close out the scoring. </div></body>

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Johnnies See Room to Improve, Even After 48-7 Win at Carleton

NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Strange as it might seem looking at the numbers, senior quarterback Aaron Syverson (Minnetonka, Minn.) felt a little disappointed following the Saint John's University football team's 48-7 win over Carleton Saturday afternoon at Northfield's Laird Stadium. This despite the fact that the Johnnies' standout quarterback had...