As if 21 degree temperatures and a barrage of snow weren’t enough to make life difficult for the St. Olaf football team, the Oles faced MIAC powerhouse St. John’s University on Manitou Field to close out its season on Nov. 15.
The Oles needed to get off to a flying start in order to compete with the Johnnies and found themselves in a tense battle throughout the opening exchanges. Despite competing strongly, the Oles found themselves down 14-0 at halftime, conceding a touchdown in both the first and second quarters.
Josh Bungum put the Johnnies out of reach early in the third quarter, catching a 17-yard pass from Nick Martin to give St. John’s a 20-0 lead. The Oles stayed in the contest by blocking an attempted conversion by Alexi Johnson. However, with just under four minutes left in the quarter, Sam Sura broke through the Ole defense for a 21-yard touchdown to give the Johnnies an unassailable 26 point lead. Once again, Johnson’s attempted conversion was blocked by the Oles.
St. Olaf finally managed to put points on the board when Joel Reinhardt ’15 caught a three-yard pass from Nate Penz ’16 with 19 seconds left in the third quarter. Ezra Coughlin ’15 was unable to add the extra point, leaving the score at 26-6 in favor of the Johnnies. Neither team was able to register any points in the final quarter of the game.
St. Olaf concludes its season with a 1-9 record, going 1-7 in MIAC play. The Oles’ lone victory of the season was against Carleton College on Oct. 18. With the victory over St. Olaf, St. John’s 9-1, 7-1 MIAC clinched the conference title.
nolans@stolaf.edu
Photo Credit: BECCA REMPEL/MANITOU MESSENGER
