By Adam Johnson
D3sports.com
It seems everybody has a place they hate to go.
For some it's the dentist. For others, it's a trip to the in-laws for the holidays.
For the Bethel football team, it appears as though Clemens Stadium in Collegeville, Minn., ranks right up there.
Saturday's 37-0 loss at St. John's was the Royals' 15th in a row and second worst since joining the MIAC in 1977 -- the Johnnies won 52-8 in 1996.
While Bethel has improved mightily from their 1-25 run from 1986-1988, they have never been able to solve the hex that is Clemens Stadium.
The Royals and Johnnies have met for some memorable and historic games over the years in Collegeville including the 200th career win for St. John's head coach John Gagliardi in 1980 when the Johnnies won 42-10. Who thought back then he'd double that total and then some?
The two teams were set to tangle 11 years later but Mother Nature had other ideas. She dropped nearly 30 inches of snow on the field during the Halloween Blizzard of 1991 and the game was cancelled and never replayed as St. John's already held a two-game conference lead.
In 2003, the Royals and Johnnies met for what many consider the most historic college football game ever played at Clemens Stadium. Both teams entered the game undefeated with their eyes set on an MIAC conference championship. A small subplot included Gagliardi looking to set the all-time college football wins mark at 409 passing Grambling State's legendary coach Eddie Robinson.
The story line was enough to draw 13,107 fans into the bitter cold and every single one of them was treated to a slice of college football history. The Johnnies battled back from a 26-22 deficit to take the lead with 2:03 remaining. They held on to the lead and Gagliardi claimed his spot atop the all-time wins list -- ahead of names like Paterno, Bowden and Bryant.
Saturday's battle didn't have any record breaking implications, or significant win totals (419). There was no chance of cancellation as the weather was beautiful. The outcome for Bethel, however, was anything but.
The Royals seemed to be in a funk all game long and were unable to get conference leading rusher Phil Porta started early. After Mike Zauhar returned a punt for a touchdown to give SJU a 10-0 lead the Royals just unraveled.
It was similar to 2001 when the Royals lost 34-0 in a game that was supposed to be close between two teams favored to win the conference. But in that game they surprisingly controlled the clock and outgained St. John's in total offense 441-270 yards. On Saturday, they couldn't even take solace in having impressive stats.
The bad news for Royals fans on Saturday was Bethel fell to 2-25 against St. John's and kept a doughnut in the win column at Clemens Stadium.
The good news? Next year's game is in Arden Hills where the Royals have won the last two.
Top backs slack
It was a bad day to be a conference's leading rusher on Saturday as the top rushers from the MIAC. IIAC and NWC were all held significantly under their season averages and all three ended the day with a loss.
Bethel's Phil Porta entered Collegeville to face the Johnnies on Saturday averaging 205.5 yards and two touchdowns per game. A stingy Johnnie defense never let Porta bust a long run and held him to 80 yards on 20 carries and no touchdowns in a 37-0 drubbing.
Coe's Neil Suckow was averaging 157.5 yards per game in the Kohawks first two wins. He managed only 15 yards on seven carries in the 12-7 loss to Dubuque but did catch a 51-yard touchdown. It actually got worse for Suckow as he left with an injury and is likely out for the year.
Whitworth running back Kyle Havercroft came into the showdown with Linfield averaging 98 yards and two touchdowns per game. On Saturday, he got his two touchdowns but was held to only 36 yards rushing in a 48-37 loss to the Wildcats.
High fives!
Linfield's Brett Elliott and Concordia-Moorhead's Brian Schumacher backed up last week's five touchdown performances by doing it again this week. Elliott threw for a school record 486 yards and five touchdowns including a school record four to wide receiver Casey Allen in a 48-37 victory over Whitworth. Concordia's Brian Schumacher completed 20 of 29 passes for 290 yards and five touchdowns. Receiver Andy Passanante hauled in 12 passes for 206 yards and two touchdowns. No quarterback had thrown for five touchdowns at Concordia since 1991 -- Schumacher has now done it in consecutive games.
These two quarterbacks have combined for 1,490 yards and 20 touchdowns in their last four games -- all victories.
It's been a while
With their convincing 31-14 victory against No. 21 Wartburg on Saturday, Loras beat the Knights for the first time since 1996. It was the first win for the Duhawks over Wartburg on the road since 1953 when Harry Truman was in office. The loss snapped a 10-game Wartburg winning streak at Walston-Hoover Stadium. Wartburg's last home loss was to Coe on Oct. 19, 2004. The Knights have only six conference losses in the last six year but two have come in 2004.
Similarly, Dubuque had only won one game in the IIAC since Nov. 6, 1999. They matched that total on Saturday when they stopped Coe 12-7 ending a 27-game IIAC losing streak. Since 1999, Coe had outscored Dubuque 216-43 including three shutouts. It was the first win by Dubuque over Coe since 1919.
Oh, what a rush
Colorado College's Marquis Malcolm gained more yards on the ground than any other single team in the IIAC, MIAC, NWC or SCIAC on Saturday when he tallied 344 yards on 30 carries with four touchdowns in a 56-24 win against Macalester. The team ran up 580 yards on the ground and finished with 625 yards of total offense.
Lewis and Clark discover victory
The Lewis and Clark Pioneers explored the end zone several times on Saturday in racking up a 27-11 victory over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps -- their first victory in eight games.
Block party
In Saturday's double overtime game between Pacific Lutheran and Puget Sound, the two teams combined for five blocked kicks. One of the blocked PATs was returned for two points. The Lutes were victorious 33-27 when UPS failed to score in the second OT from the two on four tries.
GET to the GAME!
Concordia-Moorhead at St. John's, 1:00 p.m., Collegeville, Minn.: After Bethel/St. John's failed to live up to MIAC game of the year status, there is a new candidate waiting in the wings. Concordia-Moorhead comes in undefeated after dropping Hamline 42-0 last week. Quarterback Brian Schumacher has two consecutive games with five touchdowns and Andy Passanante is establishing himself as the premier receiver in the league. St. John's is fresh off a whipping of Bethel and seems to be gelling more with each game. Corey Weber is establishing himself as a threat on the ground and Kyle Gearman looks to be quarterback Alex Kofoed's favorite target. St. John's and Concordia rank 1-2 in scoring defense and scoring offense, respectively.
Puget Sound at Whitworth, 1:00 p.m., Spokane, Wash.: Both teams are coming off tough losses and are looking to bounce back. UPS has lost two close games in the last two weeks and Whitworth just gave No. 2 Linfield all they could handle before falling 48-37. Whitworth is the second highest scoring team in the NWC but UPS leads the NWC is scoring defense. Whitworth will look to attack through the air while UPS will look to utilize their rushing attack.
