NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Fifth-year senior Collin Swan made a 21-yard field goal as time expired to keep the St. Olaf College football team unbeaten with a 36-33 victory over the College of St. Scholastica on Saturday afternoon at Klein Field at Manitou.
In a game that included 993 combined yards of total offense and six turnovers, Swan was the hero for St. Olaf (6-0, 4-0 MIAC) with the last-second field goal that kept the Oles unbeaten. The game-winning kick came after St. Olaf went 71 yards in 10 plays after St. Scholastica (2-4, 1-3 MIAC) tied the game at 33-33 with 4:46 remaining but missed the extra point to keep the game tied.
The victory moved the Oles to 6-0 for the seventh time in program history and the first time since 2005. St. Olaf was also 6-0 in 1930, 1946, 1953, 1955, 1969, 1970, and 2005.
Senior Theo Doran posted his first 300-yard passing game of the season by going 24-for-29 for 324 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions for St. Olaf. Doran connected with junior Will Skemp eight times for 94 yards and a touchdown and also threw a pair of scores to senior Evan Hammonds. Fifth-year senior Derek Hansen hauled in six passes for 109 yards, while senior Braden Menz also grabbed a touchdown from Doran.
Donald West was 30-for-43 for 393 yards with one touchdown and one interception while also rushing for 37 yards and three scores for the Saints, who piled up 565 yards of offense, ran 86 plays, and controlled the ball for over 39 minutes. Ricky Weber caught 12 passes for 144 yards and the game-tying touchdown prior to Swan's game-winner.
After each of the first three possessions of the game ended in turnovers, St. Olaf put the first points on the board on a 16-yard pass from Doran to Hammonds with 4:11 to go in the opening quarter. The score came after junior Johnathan Corbett forced a fumble that fifth-year senior Jacob Halek recovered to give the Oles the ball in Saints' territory.
St. Scholastica answered with a 10-play, 75-yard drive that culminated in West's first touchdown run of the afternoon. After returning a blocked extra point 88 yards for two points last week, senior Elijah Short repeated the feat to keep the Oles ahead by scooping up a blocked kick by fifth-year senior Mark Thrower and racing 95 yards to give St. Olaf a 9-6 lead six seconds into the second quarter.
After St. Olaf turned the ball over for a second time on its next possession, the Saints took their first lead of the game on a 13-yard run by West to end a 75-yard drive. The Oles needed just three plays to cover 83 yards on the next possession and reclaimed the lead on a 32-yard strike from Doran to Hammonds for the duo's second touchdown of the first 21-plus minutes.
The two teams traded scores in the final 1:09 of the half to leave St. Olaf with a 23-20 lead at the half. After Jevon Williams scored on a three-yard run with 1:09 to go to put the visitors back ahead, the Oles snatched back the lead on a seven-yard pass from Doran to Skemp with 11 seconds remaining in the half.
St. Olaf went three-and-out on the first possession of the second half before St. Scholastica marched 80 yards in 14 plays to go ahead 27-23 midway through the third on West's third touchdown run of the game. The lead again did not last long for the Saints, however, as the Oles went right down the field and scored just over three minutes later on a six-yard pass from Doran to Menz.
The Oles' defense forced a fourth-down stop on the next possession to get the offense the ball back and set up a 20-yard field goal by Swan with 8:40 left that gave St. Olaf a 33-27 lead. St. Scholastica converted a fourth-and-three at their own 30-yard line on its next drive before Weber made an acrobatic catch on the left sideline for an eight-yard touchdown with 4:46 to go. After having an extra point blocked earlier in the game, the Saints missed the ensuing try to keep the game tied at 33-33.
St. Olaf managed to avoid overtime by driving 71 yards in nine plays – seven runs by sixth-year senior Siegel Howard III and two passes from Doran to Skemp – to set up Swan's winning chip-shot field goal. Swan's two made field goals moved him to 7-for-8 on the season, with the seven makes being three more than any other kicker in the conference.
Halek made nine tackles in addition to his fumble recovery and interception, finishing one tackle behind junior Alijah Cruel for the team lead. Junior Noah Barrett registered a sack for the fifth game in a row, while sophomore Logan Butts added a sack and a forced fumble.
St. Olaf will hit the road for its next three games, starting with a trip to Augsburg University for a noon kickoff on Saturday, Oct. 26.