SJU advances to the MIAC championship

The No. 5 ranked Johnnies earned their place in the MIAC Championship game on Saturday against Bethel with a decisive 45-16 home win last weekend against Carleton.

“We went into the game wanting to get a fast start, and I thought that we were able to do that,” head coach Gary Fasching said. “Once our offense got rolling, we were able to move the ball on the ground and in the air. We had some big plays that were made that really sparked us.”

One of those big plays came from senior tight end Alex Larson. In the third quarter, Larson reached back for a one-handed 13-yard touchdown grab. Larson finished with 125 yards on a career-high 10 receptions while grabbing three touchdowns, setting the program record for tight ends with 20 career touchdowns. Junior quarterback Aaron Syverson threw twice a week over the summer with Larson to help him prepare for the season. The two show a connection on the field.

“There are a lot of times where we both are on the same page. I know where he’s gonna be, and he knows where I’m gonna put it,” Syverson said. “It helps that the dude is such a grinder. He’s always going to be where he needs to be, and he’s always going to win one-on-one matchups.”

Syverson threw for 276 yards and four touchdowns while completing an impressive 76.9% of his pass attempts, which landed him into SJU’s top-10 list in career passing yards, passing touchdowns and completions. For Syverson, however, the game is more than just statistics.

“Stats don’t mean everything; it’s more about how effective you are and what you can do for your team in the game,” Syverson said.

Syverson also attributes his success to playing with good players and having quality teammates. The offensive success the Johnnies have had this year is no surprise to Fasching.

“Our receiving core is very good and deep. The same can be said of our running backs. The key for all of this is the play of our offensive line,” Fasching said. “You are only as good as your offensive line. They are playing well and will need to be dominant for us the rest of the year.”

The Johnnies have been playing well defensively, too. Other big plays against Carleton came from senior defensive back John Kohler. Kohler picked off two passes in the end zone in the first half, giving the Johnnies a couple of significant momentum swings.

“Our defense’s big mentality is bend, don’t break. It’s okay if [the other team] gets down the field, but as long as we keep them out of the endzone,” Kohler said. “Getting those and stopping their drives were huge for us.”

The defensive line and linebackers play a huge role in the Johnnies’ overall defensive success. They sacked Carleton’s quarterback five times, including one from senior All-American Michael Wozniak.

“It’s no secret that they’re kind of the strength of our defense and maybe the strength of our entire team,” Kohler said. “Carleton had a backup quarterback. He was just seeing ghosts out there with Wozniak and Meta [senior defensive lineman Metoriah Faoliu], always taking them on, so they’re huge.”

He acknowledged Wozniak and Faoliu’s work on the field and believes they will need to continue their record for the Johnnies to continue being successful.

“We’re going to need them to have a big game for us, coming into playoffs, beating Bethel. We want to make a run to the national championship,” Kohler said.

When the defense is playing well, Fasching believes it is tough for teams to consistently move the football against SJU. Entering the MIAC Championship this Saturday against Bethel, the Johnnies hold an 8-1 record with their only loss of the season coming from Bethel, who is ranked No. 9 nationally, earlier this season in Arden Hills, Minn.

“Bethel is a very good football team, and we will need to play our best game of the season to have a chance to beat them,” Fasching said. “When we played them earlier in the season, we gave up too many big plays and had a couple of costly turnovers. We will need to dominate the line of scrimmage on both sides of the football and our players will need to win one-on-one battles.”

The MIAC Championship kicks off at 1 p.m. at Clemens Stadium this Saturday, Nov. 12.Kohler urges fans to show up and be loud.

“It’s great to have home-field advantage. They beat us at Bethel, but it’s different playing in Collegeville, so bring the juice on Saturday,” Kohler said.