By Adam Johnson
D3sports.com
When first-year head coach Jerry Olszewski took over the St. Olaf football program in March he knew he had to prepare his team mentally and physically to compete for four quarters.
On Saturday, the four quarters they were prepared for was just the warm up.
"We're a different team by necessity," coach Olszewski said comparing this year's team to last year's. "We needed to be more physical and conditioned."
Looking back it may have been their preseason camp -- a camp the players called the most physical in the last four years -- that prepared them for a battle with St. Thomas on Saturday.
Early on, the Oles appeared to have lost a sprint. At the end of the first quarter St. Thomas led 14-0. The Tommies used two huge plays, a 50-yard interception return and a 65-yard touchdown pass, to pounce on the Oles.
It wasn't until two minutes before the half that St. Olaf was able to cut the lead to seven thanks to Leon Clark's 78 yard punt return.
After a scoreless third frame, the teams remained scoreless in the fourth until John Haberman found Coty Watkins for a 10-yard game tying touchdown with 4:44 to play. The touchdown capped an impressive 11-play, 99-yard drive.
Both teams battled to the final horn and a 14-14 draw. Overtime would allow each team a chance to score from the opponent's 25-yard line. The intensity on the field which had been high all day reached a new level.
"One snap could mean everything," said Olszewski.
The teams went scoreless through the first two extra frames. Both teams traded chip shot field goals in the third frame to tie the game at 17-17.
In the fourth frame things started to get weird. The Tommies missed a field goal from 45 yards opening the window for St. Olaf. The Oles rammed the ball to the five yard line but had to settle for a field goal attempt.
St. Thomas coach Glenn Caruso remembers linebacker Tommie Becker running up to him on the sideline.
"Coach, if you put me in I'll block it," Becker said.
Sure enough, Becker got a hand on it swatting away the Oles' shot at victory.
"We had gotten a hand on the field goal in the third frame but just not enough to block it," Caruso recalled. "We were getting good pressure on their kicker."
As the game trickled into its third hour, Olszewski was mainly focused on each play and barely realized the uniqueness of the situation.
"I was really oblivious," Olszewski said. "I lost track of how many (overtimes) to be honest."
The fifth overtime was a quick one for the Ole offense as Haberman found Evan Endsley again for a one-play 25-yard touchdown.
The Oles were forced to go for two -- NCAA rules prohibit kicking extra points after the second overtime -- and came up short on an incomplete pass. 23-17 Oles.
The Tommies followed with a five play drive and a 2-yard rushing touchdown from quarterback David Sauer. Their two-point conversion, a rush by Sauer, also came up short. Tied 23-23.
By this time nearly 70 percent of the crowd that was in the stands at the start of the game had migrated down to the field surrounding the end zone.
In the sixth and final overtime, Tommies had the ball first but lost a yard in three plays before attempting a 43-yard field goal that sailed wide left.
More than three and a half hours after this game started, the Oles finally had their destiny in their hands. After picking up 9 yards in two plays, the Oles faced a third down and 1 yard to go. Coty Watkins took the handoff, broke would-be tacklers and scampered into the end zone for a 16-yard, game-winning and marathon-ending touchdown.
"You go from an emotional high to an emotional low all in a matter of 10 seconds" said Caruso.
It was finally over. Three hours and 40 minutes, 52 points and six overtimes later -- the longest game in Division III football history was complete.
"As a coach you are so close to it you don't see how awkward or amazing it is until you step away from it," said Caruso. "You're just playing ball."
"I've only been at it for three games," said Olszewski. "But this is definitely the best game I've ever been associated with."
Did Caruso enjoy it?
"I'd a taken five overtimes and a win," said Caruso. "In a heartbeat."
From 41, with 41
With 41 seconds to play, Wartburg place kicker Spencer Herzberg's 41-yard field goal split the uprights allowing Wartburg to spoil Central's regular season wins streak with a 19-17 victory in the Iowa Conference season opener.
The win snapped Central's 28-game regular-season win streak, the second-longest in school history. It was the first Dutch defeat since a 17-14 loss to Coe Sept. 17, 2005 and Wartburg's first win over Central since a 14-10 decision at Pella Oct. 30, 2004.
Alone at the top
Already the winningest coach in college football history with 455 wins, St. John's coach John Gagliardi notched another record Saturday by calling X's and O's in his 589th career game. The tally for the record breaking game unfortunately falls to the right of the "-" as the Johnnies fell 9-6 to the Concordia Cobbers at home. The game moves Gagliardi past Eddie Robinson and into first place all-time. For comparison, Concordia head coach Terry Horan has coached in 74 career collegiate games -- or 515 fewer games than "Gags."
Firsts all around
Coe's 35-14 victory over Cornell on Saturday marked firsts for coach and quarterback. The victory was coach Steve Staker's first collegiate victory. Senior quarterback C.J. Feller finished the game 16-for-28 for 180 yards and two touchdowns -- the first scoring tosses of his career.
A second chance to make a first impression
UW-Oshkosh kicker James Taraboi got a second chance and made good on it, hitting a 26-yard field goal with no time remaining to give the UW-Oshkosh football team a 17-16 victory over Ohio Dominican on Saturday in Columbus, Ohio.
The Panthers blocked UW-Oshkosh's potential game-winning, 35-yard attempt with four seconds remaining. Before the play ended, an Ohio Dominican player (who would probably like to remain nameless) came off the sideline to draw an illegal participation penalty. Taraboi then lined up to kick again on the game's final play and sent the Titans to their fifth straight victory.
A full game in 15 minutes
Northwestern and UW-River Falls battled it out Saturday and managed to squeeze a full games worth of scores into the first quarter. Both teams scored three touchdowns in the first quarter but the Falcons held a 21-19 lead after Northwestern kicked Cody Crum missed one PAT and had another blocked. The two teams combined for just 13 points over the middle two frames but the Eagles pounded out 15 points in the final quarter for the 41-34 victory.
Woo Hoo! or W(h)oo(ps)
Merban Woo has been stellar for the Willamette Bearcats through three games gaining more than 8 yards per play but Saturday his inability to hold onto the ball nearly cost the Bearcats an important win. Woo rushed for 120 yards and scored the game sealing touchdown on a 3-yard run late in the fourth. However, he also fumbled three times in the game including two that were recovered by Southern Oregon. Woo's ability to hold onto the ball will determine if the Bearcats can climb from their No. 25 ranking.
News, notes and things you might have missed
• Concordia's nine points are the fewest allowed in a St. John's loss since Sept. 19, 1987 (7-2 loss at St. Thomas)
• Gustavus Adolphus tallied its 450th win in the program's history. The Gusties join St. John's, St. Thomas, Hamline, and Concordia as the only MIAC programs to reach the 450-win plateau. The Gusties' overall record is 450-304-21.
• Pomona-Pitzer quarterback Jacob Caron accounted for 441 yards of total offense and seven touchdowns in a 62-35 victory over Lewis & Clark.
• Redlands extended its home winning streak to eight. Their last loss suffered at Ted Runner Stadium came at the hands of Occidental on Oct. 7, 2006.
Quote machine
"I thought we handled the pressure of this weekend just fine," said Central coach Jeff McMartin. "The errors that we made were errors of execution and not because of the pressure. We just made too many mistakes. We had our chances."
"That drive was all about our front line and about simple things," Carleton coach Kurt Ramler said about the Knights' game-winning drive in a 17-14 victory over Bethel. "It was about Jon Lien running hard. It was about our O-line blocking hard. It was about Matt Frank running hard and making a great catch. Our O-line, that was their drive. They deserve credit for that."
