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| John Gagliardi and his Johnnies celebrate Gagliardi's third national title, the first of them to occur within NCAA Division III. SJU archives |
Stagg Bowl IV
St. John's 31, Towson State 28
Dec. 4, 1976, in Phenix City, Ala.
Towson State rallied from a 28-0 deficit in the fourth quarter to tie the game with 30 seconds remaining, but St. John's quarterback Jeff Norman threw a 58-yard pass to halfback Jim Roeder and kicked a 19-yard field goal on the final play of the game for the victory.
With just 21 seconds left, Norman found Roeder, who broke away from the defense and gained 58 yards down to the 1-yard line. With seven seconds left, Norman tried a quarterback sneak but fumbled the ball. Luckily for SJU, Tim Schmitz pounced on the loose ball and the Johnnies called their last timeout with three seconds remaining. Norman, who was the kicker as well as the quarterback, switched into his kicking shoe and booted the game-winning, 19-yard field goal as time expired to give the Johnnies a dramatic 31-28 win and gave Gagliardi his third national championship and first as a member of NCAA Division III.
St. John's had intercepted three passes in building up the 28-0 lead, but Towson quarterback Dan Dullea found his stride in the fourth quarter. Dullea found Ken Smoots for a 57-yarder down to the 5-yard line and Mike Maloney plunged into the end zone a few plays later to cut the lead to 28-7. Towson scored again a few minutes later after three more big completions.
Following a Johnnies' three-and-out, Towson took the punt on the Johnnies' side of the field. Starting from the SJU 40, Dullea hit Mike Bennett for a 26-yard gain right away but Mark Hall made a huge play moments later, stepping in front of a pass at the goal line on third down and picking it off. A halfback pass by Jim Roeder to Mike Grant was waved off because of a ineligible receiver downfield penalty, and the Johnnies were forced to punt again. Towson had the ball just short of midfield with 4:58 left. Ernie England got to Dullea up the middle for a 17-yard sack on second down and Joe Luby picked him off at midfield on the following play. The Johnnies were able to run a couple minutes off the clock before turning the ball over on downs with 2:14 left and 71 seconds later, Dullea found Snoots just in front of the end zone, where he took it in for the touchdown. And Towson recovered the onside kick, giving Dullea a chance he took advantage of, finding Mike Bennett on a 5-yard slant to tie the game with 30 seconds left.
But Towson was assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and kicked off from its own 25, allowing SJU to start at its own 41. And on second down, Norman found Roeder streaking down the right sideline, where he cut back, got an inadvertent block from an official, and took it 58 yards down to the 1. SJU fumbled on first down and was fortunate to fall on it, leaving the Johnnies to attempt the game-winning field, and Norman booted it through from 19 yards out as time expired.
Playoff results
Quarterfinals
St. John's 46, Augustana 7
Buena Vista 20, Carroll 14 (OT)
St. Lawrence 26, Albright 7
Towson State 14, C.W. Post 10
Semifinals
St. John's 61, Buena Vista 0
Towson State 38, St. Lawrence 36
Stagg Bowl IV
St. John's 31, Towson State 28, at Phenix City, Ala.