Students and family members from both St. Olaf College and Carleton College packed the stands of Klein Field to watch the annual St. Olaf-Carleton football game on Oct. 9. The Oles were seeking their seventh straight win over Carleton and hoping to bounce back after a disappointing loss last week.
It did not take long for the home team to get on the board as they scored midway through the first quarter on an eight yard strike from Theo Doran ’25 to Isaac Coutier ’22. The Oles kept their early momentum rolling with a 42 yard field goal from Colin Swan ’24 with just over a minute remaining in the first quarter.
St. Olaf wasted no time before they were back in the end zone as Doran connected on a brilliant deep ball to Gabe Alada ’22 for a 41 yard touchdown. Carleton’s offense struggled throughout the first half, only mounting 72 total yards. St. Olaf rounded out the half with yet another touchdown on a nine yard run from Jordan Embry ’23 in the waning moments of the first half. The ensuing extra point was missed and St. Olaf went into the half with a comfortable 23-0 lead.
Carleton began to show life in the second half as their offense slowly gained ground on the Oles before finding the end zone midway through the third quarter on a two yard touchdown pass. The Oles failed to respond on offense and Carleton found the end zone again at the start of the fourth quarter on a six yard touchdown pass. With the score now 23-14, the pressure was back on the Oles to close out the game.
The St. Olaf defense responded brilliantly, feeding off of the strong support from the student body. With five minutes and 31 seconds remaining in the game, the Knights were once again driving and brought out their field goal unit to try and make it a one score game. The crowd held their breath as the kick sailed through the air before clanging off the right up-right and falling harmlessly to the ground. The stands erupted into cheers as St. Olaf took over on downs, and proceeded to run out the clock to secure their seventh consecutive victory over Carleton.
The team celebrated by marching downtown for the ceremonial turning of the eagle. The win moves St. Olaf to 3-2 in their season and 2-1 in MIAC conference play. The Oles will be in action again next week as they take on #6 ranked St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minn. The St. Olaf football team’s hard-fought victory capped off an exciting homecoming week on the Hill.
