By Don Stoner
Augsburg Sports Information Director
MINNEAPOLIS -- To paraphrase Ben Franklin, there are a few certainties in life. Death. Taxes. The St. John’s-St. Thomas football war.
The Johnnie-Tommie rivalry is one of the most intense in all of Division III athletics, regardless of sport. But in football, there are few "rivalry games" in all of college football that can compare to the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference rivalry.
For the first time since 1994, the game will be played at St. Thomas’ O’Shaughnessy Stadium in St. Paul, Minn. The 1995 and 1998 games were played at St. John’s, and the 1996 and 1997 games were at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome as part of the MIAC’s final week Metrodome Showcase.
The series will be in St. Paul again in 2000 before going back to Collegeville in 2001 and the Metrodome in 2002 and 2003 in the final week of the season.
No. 5 St. John’s is probably the favorite this year, though anything can happen in this series. And it often does in this series, which dates back to 1901. SJU leads the all-time series 36-29-1.
Crowds of more than 9,000 fans are commonplace in the series, regardless of location. At St. Thomas’ stadium, which seats approximately 5,000 fans, a crowd of at least 7,000 is expected to fill every nook and cranny to watch the action.
And they could see yet another classic in the series. St. John’s enters the game having won its last 10 MIAC games in a row, including a 42-7 victory against Macalester. The game was a breakout performance by junior running back Chris Moore, who broke a 23-year old school rushing record with a 27-carry, 278-yard, two-touchdown performance. Moore racked up 303 all-purpose yards in the game to earn MIAC Offensive Player of the Week and D3football.com Team of the Week honors.
Meanwhile, the Tommies are on a streak of their own, having won their last seven MIAC games, including last week’s convincing 33-3 win against St. Olaf. Junior kicker Josh Brand broke a school record with a four field goals performance – all in the first half – as the Tommies took a lead they would not relinquish. The single-game total equaled St. Thomas’ field-goal output for all of 1998, and Brand earned MIAC Special Teams Player of the Week honors.
The series is often known for milestones, especially involving SJU legendary coach John Gagliardi, who has 355 career wins in his 51st season as a collegiate head coach. He continues to approach the all-time record of Grambling’s Eddie Robinson, just 53 wins away from Robinson’s mark.
UST quarterback Greg Kaiser is just 75 yards away from reaching the 5,000-yard passing mark in his career. The Tommies are 16-4 in Kaiser’s 20 career starts against MIAC foes, and Kaiser’s touchdown/interception ratio is outstanding – 44 TDs to 17 pickoffs.
Saturday’s game could go a long way in determining the MIAC’s champion – St. John’s has won the title five of the last six years.
Highs and lows
St. Norbert pitched a shutout against Carroll last week in a 28-3 win in Waukesha. The Green Knights’ defense allowed zero net rushing yards from Carroll in the victory. Meanwhile, SNC sophomore running back Jason Augustynowicz, making his first collegiate start, rushed for 104 yards on 14 carries with three touchdowns. On the season, the Green Knights have allowed just three third-down conversions in 26 attempts, and opponents have gone three-and-out on 10 of 31 possessions this season.
The 1-1 Green Knights look to continue another impressive streak this week with a home game against 0-2 Lawrence to open the Midwest Conference season. Since joining the Midwest Conference in 1984, St. Norbert has won 14 of its 15 MWC home openers, with the only loss coming in 1995 with a 22-0 defeat by Coe, a team which has since moved from the MWC to the Iowa Conference.
0-3?
Normally in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, you can find UW-La Crosse and UW-River Falls near the top of the league standings. But this year, one of those teams will be conspicuous in its absence.
River Falls and La Crosse meet at Ramer Field in River Falls on Saturday, and both teams enter the game with unfamiliar 0-2 records. Even more unfamiliar would be the 0-3 record one team will have after the game.
How unfamiliar? The last time River Falls was 0-2 or 0-3 was in 1971. The last time La Crosse was 0-2 or 0-3 was in 1963. La Crosse has won the last six games in a row in the series, including two wins apiece in 1995 and 1996, when both teams advanced to the NCAA playoffs.
Needless to say, neither team will likely end up the year with a losing record, as both teams are considered among the favorites to win the WIAC title.
Students vs. teacher
Wartburg head coach Rick Willis and offensive line coach Mike Tressel played their collegiate football at Cornell for coach Steve Miller. And when Willis became head coach at Wartburg in 1997 and Cornell moved from the Midwest Conference to the Iowa Conference in 1998, the students finally got a chance to face their teacher.
The students did in the teacher in the teams’ first meeting, with Wartburg flying past host Cornell 55-24 in Mount Vernon. This week, the teams meet again, this time in Waverly. Will the 2-0 students be as hospitable with their 1-2 teacher? Regardless of the outcome, the three coaches share one thing – respect for each other.
"I think coach Miller is a great guy and an outstanding coach," Willis said. "Both Mike and I have respect for him. In some ways, it’s fun to play him. Last year may have been more special, though, because it was the first time."
"They went through our program, and I like and respect both of them," Miller said. "They’ve done a great job. I don’t think the fact that Rick and Mike played here is a factor."
Wartburg has gotten off to a strong offensive start, with a 51-16 win against William Penn and a 49-27 triumph at Buena Vista. Quarterback Matt Wheeler has already thrown eight touchdown passes this year, including five in a 20-for-31, 269-yard passing performance against Buena Vista to earn IIAC Player of the Week honors. Wartburg has put up some impressive offensive numbers, averaging 428.5 yards of total offense per game.
Meanwhile, backup quarterback Terry Gammell stepped in when Cornell starter Dan McHugh suffered a concussion last week against William Penn and drove the offense to three scores as the Rams topped William Penn 32-28. Running back Brent McAllister has averaged 96 yards per game through three games for the Rams.
Will it be students or teacher this week in Waverly?
"I’m happy for their success, but I would like to rain on their success," Cornell’s Miller, the teacher, admits.
Around the region
No. 4 Central topped rival Simpson 29-13 on the strength of a defense that forced six Simpson sacks, including three from Ryan Derson. That may have been the difference in the game, since Simpson had a seven-minute time of possession edge and a 21-13 first-down advantage. Central’s win may be a huge factor in the IIAC title, as in 14 of the last 15 Central-Simpson contests, the winner has gone on to claim the conference championship. … Augsburg hosts St. Olaf Saturday night in a rare night game in the MIAC. Augsburg has the lone artificial-turf surface in the MIAC, and since Jack Osberg became head coach in 1991, Augsburg is 29-18 in games played on artificial turf and 9-5 in games played at night. … Talk about bounce-back games. Two weeks after being shellacked by D-II Moorhead State 44-7 in a crosstown rivalry game, Concordia-Moorhead pulled off a major early season upset with a 17-15 win against Bethel. All that in spite of the fact that their best running back missed the game with a knee injury and sophomore quarterback Jeff Hertel was making his first start. The difference? Concordia pounded out 257 rushing yards and its defense kept Bethel from crossing midfield for most of the second half and the entire fourth quarter. … Illinois College broke a 18-game losing streak, the longest in school history, with a 21-16 win against Lawrence. Blue Boys running back Patrick Bowman rushed 40 times for 204 yards and two touchdowns in the win to earn Midwest Conference Co-Offensive Player of the Week honors. … Defending College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin champ Millikin claimed a 14-12 win against defending Illini-Badger champion Aurora last week. Tim Brylka threw for just 145 yards, but tossed two touchdown strikes in the first half to secure the victory. Aurora’s Jeremy Jordan threw for 239 yards and scored twice in a losing effort. … Elmhurst’s Rasand Hall could shatter every school single-season receiving record in 1999. Through two games, he has 15 catches for 289 yards and three touchdowns.
Games of the Week
UW-Stout (1-1) at No. 13 UW-Stevens Point (2-0), 7 p.m., Stevens Point, Wis.
The WIAC begins for the Pointers, who have the lone victories among the five teams considered preseason favorites in the WIAC through the first three weeks of the season. The game is the 13th annual "Spud Bowl" in Stevens Point, and the number 13 might be lucky for the Pointers. UWSP is rated 13th nationally, and it’s going for its 13th consecutive Spud Bowl win. UWSP has won its last seven games in a row dating back to last season, including three against upper-division teams – Southwest State in the last game of last season, Division II Northern State opening this season and Division I-AA Drake last week. Stout and Stevens Point have potent offenses. Pointers’ quarterback Ryan Aulenbacher threw for 248 yards and two touchdowns in the win against Drake, and Stout, despite losing All-American quarterback Matt Bunyan to graduation, still have the top offense in the WIAC and the No. 3-rated team in the nation in total offense, averaging 566.5 yards per game. Marty Goryl stepped in to fill Bunyan’s shoes and has done well in his first two games, with 317 passing yards in a win against Minnesota-Morris and 315 yards in a 34-28 overtime loss to St. Ambrose last week.
Luther (1-1) at No. 4 Central (3-0), 1:30 p.m., Pella, Iowa
Central hopes to avoid a letdown after a strong 29-13 win against rival Simpson with a game against Luther, which is hoping to rebound after a 35-7 loss to Coe. The Norse’s season took another blow this week, when 1997 all-conference tailback Jeff Rohlwing, who had suffered a season-ending knee injury in the second week of last season, was ruled ineligible by the NCAA despite receiving a medical hardship from the Iowa Conference. Central is outgaining opponents this season by a 408.7 yards to 190.7 average margin. Junior linebacker Jeff Sanger led the Dutch with 16 tackles in the Simpson win, and the defense will have to be strong again against Luther and outstanding quarterback Keith Lesmeister.
Lake Forest (2-0) at Grinnell (1-1), 1 p.m., Grinnell, Iowa
The Foresters are 2-0 for the first time since 1985, and take to the road for an important contest against defending Midwest Conference champion Grinnell. Defense has been the strong point for LFC so far, only giving up two scores in its first two games. In a 42-14 win against Monmouth last week, Lake Forest’s defense held the Fighting Scots to just 267 total yards of total offense, with just 139 rushing yards, and forced six turnovers in the win. Grinnell recovered from a surprising opening-week 35-29 loss at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps with a 28-20 win at Beloit last week, behind a balanced offensive attack that produced 365 yards of total offense while the defense limited Beloit to just 288 yards.
"This year every game is an important game because there are so many Midwest Conference teams which are equal in talent," said Grinnell coach Greg Wallace. "Lake Forest is a very talented team with size, depth and speed, so I expect a close game on Saturday."
This column is drawn from a variety of sources, including the outstanding work and research of sports information directors from Division III schools all over the Midwest.
