Johnnie football reduces Bethel to nothing

The first three games for the Johnnie football team have given them a run for their money.

The Johnnies won both games at home by beating Trinity (Texas) in Overtime and Bethel this past weekend. Their one loss came at UW-Whitewater where Whitewater exploded with points late in the game. UW-Whitewater is currently ranked as a top-five team in the country.

Overall, the team feels good about where they are at, specifically with the comeback win against Trinity and the 14-point comeback against UW-Whitewater in the first half.

“I think through the first three games, I’ve learned that we are a resilient team that’s not going to go away when things aren’t going well,” starting quarterback Aaron Syverson said.

Head coach Gary Fasching is in his 11th season as head coach for the Johnnies. He feels satisfied with the way the team has been playing.

“If you take away the fourth quarter of the Whitewater game, we have played pretty solid football,” Fasching said. “Our expectation is that, each week, we will get better than we were the week before.”

Fasching said the loss to UW-Whitewater was tough because it came right before their bye week.

“It was the longest two weeks that I have ever experienced as a coach,” Fasching said. “We had never lost the game before our bye week, so we had two weeks to sit and think about it.  Our players did a great job of refocusing on what we needed to do and how we needed to play against a talented Bethel team, and they responded well in the game.”

On offense, the Johnnies have been headlined by three fifth-year players in Syverson with tight end Alex Larson and wide receiver Nick VanErp. For these three, their leadership roles will be key to meeting expectations.

“I think that we all kind of stepped up into leadership positions a lot more this year,” VanErp said, who had a 74-yard receiving touchdown last week against Bethel. “We were all in leadership positions last year, but I think it’s a little more emphasized this year. We are taking on those roles and making them our own.”

Because they are all in their fifth year, focusing on football has been easier to accomplish. “It has felt different, definitely fewer things going on outside of football, which has been nice to be able to focus more on football in my last year,” Syverson said.

Syverson had 266 passing yards in last week’s win against Bethel.

With this gauntlet of games now completed, it is conference play from here on out for the Johnnies. Despite not playing as many nationally ranked teams for the rest of the season, the mentality and difficulty does not change for the players.

“I think we need to just focus on taking the whole one-game-at-a-time approach,” VanErp said. “Especially this year if we want to go deeper in playoffs.”

Playoff games have been a bit of a struggle for the Johnnies in recent years. In the past couple of years, they fell short early on in the national playoffs by losing to both Wartburg and Linfield in the second round.

The “one-game-at-a-time” approach will be a significant mindset for the Johnnies if they want to become MIAC champions yet again.

“Every game is as important as any other game,” Fasching said. “We can’t do anything about the first three games that we have played.”

On Saturday, the Johnnies will travel to the undefeated Auggies for a conference matchup. Despite the Auggies not being nationally ranked, Fasching says the stakes for the Johnnies do not change.

“I think the biggest thing for conference play is that every game matters a little bit more now,” Fasching said. “The chance to play for the conference title and a trip to the playoffs is on the line every week.”