Football 9/15/07 -- St. John's 62, Augsburg 7

BOXSCORE

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. (9/15/07) -- Putting up 540 yards of total offense, the No. 4-ranked St. John's University football team scored a 62-7 victory over visiting Augsburg College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest on Saturday afternoon at Clemens Stadium. The Johnnies (3-0 overall, 1-0 MIAC) built a 48-7 halftime lead, scoring on its first five drives and on nine of its first 10 drives in the game.

Augsburg (1-1 overall, 0-1 MIAC) scored its lone touchdown on a 74-yard pass from quarterback Jordan Berg (Jr., Gaylord, Minn./Sibley East HS) to Muneer Al-Hameed (Fr., Woodbury, Minn,/Minneapolis Washburn HS) in the second quarter.

Berg completed 14-of-27 passing for 188 yards for the Auggies in three quarters of work, with Al-Hameed recording his first career 100-yard receiving day with five catches for 107 yards. Royce Winford (Jr., Brooklyn Park, Minn./Osseo HS) caught six passes for 64 yards for the Auggies, while Jason Potts (Jr., Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS) rushing 17 times for 59 yards.

Alex Kofoed completed 16-of-20 passes for 301 yards and four touchdowns in the first half for the Johnnies. He completed scoring passes of 51, 29, six and 11 yards in the game. Brian Weber caught five passes for 139 yards and a touchdown, while Ben Vanderheyden caught two touchdown passes in his three-catch, 51-yard performance. Chace Pollock caught five passes for 60 yards, and Brett Saladin and Jeff Schnobrich also caught touchdown passes. Aaron Blackmore rushed 10 times for 51 yards and a touchdown, with Mike Patnode and Schnobrich also recording touchdown rushes.

David Burns capped the scoring for the Johnnies with an 89-yard interception return for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter -- the lone turnover on the day for the Auggies. Nick Kotsmith, Nick Gunderson and Ryan Wimmer had six tackles apiece for the Johnnies, who also recorded three quarterback sacks on the day.

Augsburg's defense was led by Garrett Adamson (Jr., White Bear Lake, Minn./Hill-Murray HS) and Donovan Bates (Jr., White Bear Lake, Minn.), who had seven tackles apiece. Adam Ebert (So., Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View HS) had five tackles. Tyler Judkins (So., Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North HS) had an interception for Augsburg.

Both teams return to action next Saturday (9/22) at 1 p.m. Augsburg hosts St. Olaf at Edor Nelson Field, while St. John's hosts Concordia-Moorhead.

St. John's at Augsburg Game Notes

THE GAME: The Augsburg College Auggies (1-0 overall, 0-0 MIAC) host the St. John's University Johnnies (2-0 overall, 0-0 MIAC) in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football game on Saturday, September 15 at 1 p.m., at Clemens Stadium (capacity 7,482) in Collegeville, Minn.

COACHES: Augsburg head coach Frank Haege (Wisconsin-Stout '92) is entering his third season and has an 3-18 record. St. John's head coach John Gagliardi (Colorado College '49) is in his 55th year at St. John's, and 59th overall. His career record is 445-120-11, the most wins in college football history; his record at St. John's is 421-114-10.

WEBCAST/BROADCAST: All Augsburg football games are webcast live online, through an arrangement with Stretch Internet. Joe Moline and Blake Norman will be on the call. To listen online, go to http://www.augsburg.edu/athletics/liveaudio/. There is no over-the-air radio coverage of Augsburg football. St. John's football is aired on a three-station network -- WBHR-AM 660 from Sauk Rapids, Minn., WLOL-AM 1330 in the Twin Cities and KOWZ-AM 1170 in Waseca, Minn., and can also be heard through the Johnnies' website (http://www.csbsju.edu/forwards/SJUSportsLive-Real). Mark Lewandowski provides play-by-play, with Bryan Backes and Charlie Carr on analysis.

SERIES: This is the 69th game in the all-time series between Augsburg and St. John's, a series the Johnnies lead 59-7-2. St. John's has won the last nine games in a row in the series. The last Augsburg win in the series was a 20-10 triumph at Augsburg on Sept. 20, 1997, the only Augsburg win over St. John's since 1980. The teams began the series in Augsburg's first year of football, 1926, and have played every year since 1954. St. John's coach John Gagliardi is 48-4-1 in his career against Augsburg.

LAST WEEK: Augsburg opened its season with a 31-26 win over Northwestern-Roseville last Saturday at Edor Nelson Field in Minneapolis. St. John's improved to 2-0 with a 21-10 win at Wisconsin-River Falls last Saturday.

LAST YEAR: St. John's claimed a 60-0 victory over Augsburg on Sept. 16, 2006 at Edor Nelson Field.

PASSING FANCY: Augsburg quarterback Jordan Berg (Jr., Gaylord, Minn./Sibley East HS) completed 26-of-39 passes for 276 yards and four touchdowns in leading Augsburg to its first victory of the season, a 31-26 nonconference triumph over Northwestern-Roseville on Saturday. Berg threw touchdown strikes of 30, 43, 1 and 19 yards, and was not sacked in the contest while throwing just two interceptions. He also rushed twice for eight yards. Berg controlled an Augsburg attack that compiled 405 yards of total offense -- just the third 400-yard game in the last 21 contests for the Auggies.

In his 11 games as an Auggie since transferring last season from Division II Minnesota-Duluth, Berg is averaging 217 passing yards per game (2,387 yards) and has thrown 17 touchdown passes.

POTTS HAS SOLID RUSHING DAY: Augsburg running back Jason Potts (Jr., Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS) returned to the lineup after missing most of last season due to injury, and had a solid rushing performance in the Auggie win over Northwestern-Roseville. Potts rushed 24 times for 136 yards -- the most rushing yards for an Auggie since Marcus LeVesseur rushed for 181 yards on 41 carries (a single-game school record for rushing attempts) against St. Olaf on Nov. 12, 2004. Potts rushed 15 times for 86 yards in the second half against the Eagles, including 10 rushes for 63 yards in the fourth quarter as the Auggies held onto the lead. In 22 career games as an Auggie, Potts has 123 carries for 587 yards (4.8 yards per carry) and four touchdowns.

WINFORD KEYS AUGGIE RECEIVING CORPS: Augsburg's offense is primarily designed around the pass, and it showed some balance in the season-opening game against Northwestern-Roseville. Six different Auggies caught passes in the victory, led by Royce Winford (Jr., Brooklyn Park, Minn./Osseo HS), who caught seven passes for 103 yards and two touchdowns. It marked the ninth 100-yard receiving performance by an Auggie receiver in the last 21 games for Augsburg.

Newcomers Muneer Al-Hameed (Fr., Woodbury, Minn./Minneapolis Washburn HS) and Ryan Schroeder (Sr., Milwaukee, Wis./Oak Creek HS), making their first appearances in an Augsburg uniform, also had impressive performances against the Eagles. Both newcomers caught touchdown passes in the game, Schroeder's on a 30-yard pass in the first quarter and Al-Hameed on a 19-yard reception late in the fourth period. Al-Hameed caught seven passes for 69 yards, while Schroeder caught six passes for 70 yards.

BATES HAS BIG DAY ON DEFENSE: Augsburg linebacker Donovan Bates (Jr., White Bear Lake, Minn.) had a big day in his debut in an Auggie uniform last Saturday. Bates led all players with 15 tackles (one solo) in Augsburg's win, while also combining on one tackle-for-loss in the game. Bates played an important role in a key goal-line stand midway through the fourth quarter which preserved the Augsburg lead, as the Auggies stopped the Eagles on four rushes from inside the Augsburg 3-yard line (three plays from the 1-yard-line). Bates was part of two of the tackles.

Berg transferred to Augsburg after earning Minnesota Community College Conference All-Southern Division first-team honors twice and NJCAA All-Region 13 first-team honors last season at Central Lakes College (Brainerd, Minn.).

FOUR INTERCEPTIONS FOR AUGGIE DEFENSE: Augsburg cornerback Rodney Powell (So., Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North HS) claimed two interceptions in the win over Northwestern-Roseville, part of a four-interception day for the Auggie secondary. Garrett Adamson (Jr., White Bear Lake, Minn./Hill-Murray HS) and Tyler Judkins (So., Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North HS) also had interceptions for the Auggies, as the defense forced six turnovers -- four interceptions and two fumbles.

ANOTHER FAMILIAR FACE ON THE SIDELINES: Last season, Augsburg welcomed Jim Roback back to the coaching staff for his second stint as defensive coordinator. This season, Roback is joined on the defensive staff by another familiar face, former Augsburg head coach Jack Osberg. Augsburg's all-time winningest coach (62-79 from 1991-2004), Osberg is returning as defensive line coach. He also serves the college as assistant director of Alumni Relations.

HUDSON TWINS AGAIN: For the second time in recent years, Augsburg has a set of twins from Hudson, Wis., on the roster, as running back Nick Francis (So., Hudson, Wis.) and defensive back Chris Francis (So., Hudson, Wis.) return to the team. Twins Ted Schultz and Bob Schultz, also from Hudson, played for the Auggies from 1994-97, Ted as a tight end and Bob as a linebacker. Both were multiple All-MIAC recipients in their careers.

Augsburg has two sets of brothers on the team. Linebacker Donovan Bates (Jr., White Bear Lake, Minn.) and defensive back Dane Bates (Fr., White Bear Lake, Minn.) are both in their first seasons with the Auggies.

LAST YEAR: Alex Kofoed threw for 266 yards and four touchdowns in the first half, as St. John's scored a 60-0 victory over host Augsburg on Sept. 16, 2006 at Edor Nelson Field. The Johnnies scored on their first eight possessions and on nine of their 11 possessions in the game, as they racked up 573 yards of total offense. Quarterback Jordan Berg, a transfer from Division II Minnesota-Duluth making his first start for Augsburg, threw for 148 yards on 14-of-25 passing with an interception.

Kofoed completed 17-of-22 passes in the first two quarters, directing touchdown drives on all six Johnnie first-half possessions, as the Johnnies built a 40-0 halftime lead. Kyle Gearman caught touchdown passes of nine and eight yards in the first half, while Mike Lofboom rushed for a 12-yard score and caught a six-yard touchdown pass. Mark Waring rushed for two touchdowns in the second half, compiling a team-high 87 rushing yards on 12 carries. Brian Weber, Mike Patnode and Aaron Blackmore scored the other Johnnie touchdowns. Weber caught four passes for 74 yards in the game, while Lofboom caught four passes for 87 yards and rushed seven times for 63 yards.

Augsburg's Andrew Neumann caught five passes for 87 yards to led the receivers, while Ricky Schreier caught five passes for 45 yards. James Strand led the Auggie rushers with 10 carries for 39 yards.

Defensively, Augsburg linebacker Mike Matson led all players with 12 tackles (four solo). Sean Kelly compiled 11 tackles (three solo), Garrett Kratz compiled eight tackles (three solo) and Andrew Bergeson had seven tackles (one solo). Augsburg defenders blocked three St. John's extra points – one each by Royce Winford, Alex Glasenapp and Schreier.

For the Johnnies, Nick Kotsmith and Mitch Eversman had five tackles apiece, with Eversman adding a sack. Nick Gunderson also had a sack, and Mike Burtzel and Brandon Hoskins had interceptions. Hoskins' interception ended the Auggies' final drive of the contest, a 14-play, 64-yard effort that was stopped at the St. John's 4-yard line with 22 seconds left in the game.

Augsburg had 228 yards of total offense (171 passing, 57 rushing) and turned the ball over three times – on two interceptions and a fumble. St. John's did not have a turnover in the game, and compiled 30 first downs to Augsburg's 12.

AUGGIES SCORE SEASON-OPENING WIN: Jordan Berg (Jr., Gaylord, Minn./Sibley East HS) completed 26-of-39 passing for 276 yards and four touchdowns, leading Augsburg to a 31-26 victory over Northwestern-Roseville last Saturday night at Edor Nelson Field, the Auggies' first season-opening victory since the 2003 season.

Royce Winford (Jr., Brooklyn Park, Minn./Osseo HS) caught seven passes for 103 yards and two touchdowns for the Auggies, while Jason Potts (Jr., Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS) rushed 24 times for 136 yards. Augsburg put together 405 yards of total offense in its season-opening victory.

Newcomers Muneer Al-Hameed (Fr., Woodbury, Minn./Minneapolis Washburn HS) and Ryan Schroeder (Sr., Milwaukee, Wis./Oak Creek HS), making their first appearances in an Augsburg uniform, caught touchdown passes in the game, Schroeder's on a 30-yard pass in the first quarter and Al-Hameed on a 19-yard reception late in the fourth period. Al-Hameed caught seven passes for 69 yards, while Schroeder caught six passes for 70 yards. Winford caught a 43-yard touchdown pass late in the first quarter and a one-yard scoring strike with six seconds left in the first half for the Auggies.

Augsburg also took advantage of four interceptions -- two by Rodney Powell (So., Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North HS) and one each by Garrett Adamson (Jr., White Bear Lake, Minn./Hill-Murray HS) and Tyler Judkins (So., Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North HS) -- and two fumble recoveries. Northwestern picked off two Auggie passes -- both interceptions coming from Mike Polley (Jr., Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata HS) -- and gained one fumble recovery.

Trailing 31-26 midway through the fourth quarter, Northwestern took advantage of a 75-yard pass to reach the Augsburg 2-yard line. But the Augsburg defense stopped the Eagles short on four running plays, including a fourth-down attempt with 6:25 left. Northwestern's final two drives ended in interceptions, by Judkins and by Powell.

Making his Auggie debut, Donovan Bates (Jr., White Bear Lake, Minn.) led all players with 15 tackles (one solo), while Adam Ebert (So., Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View HS) had 11 tackles (one solo) and Tony Landecker (Sr., Breezy Point, Minn./Brainerd HS) had 10 tackles (six solo).

SCOUTING THE JOHNNIES: St. John's game notes are available by clicking here.

AUGSBURG TWO-DEEP ROSTER -- OFFENSE
LT -- 70-Jason Weber (Sr., 6-4, 265), 79-John Leibfried (Jr., 6-3, 270)
LG -- 78-Josh Corrigan (So., 6-4, 300), 57-Josh Groll (So., 6-5, 330)
C -- 63-Tyler Reiter (So., 6-3, 275), 64-Kendall Langert (Fr., 5-10, 230)
RG -- 60-Mike Struss (Jr., 6-0, 255), 68-Dan Thewis (So., 5-11, 215)
RT -- 67-Alan Mueller (Sr., 6-4, 270), 51-Tim Garnhardt (So., 6-1, 230)
TE -- 85-Brandon Jonker (Fr., 6-3, 210), 82-Josh Pronschinske (Fr., 6-5, 220)
WR -- 6-Mike Nourie (So., 6-2, 180), 84-Kevin Lundeen (Fr., 6-4, 180)
WR -- 19-Ryan Schroeder (Sr., 6-2, 215), 18-David Lange (Sr., 6-2, 190)
WR -- 5-Royce Winford (Jr., 6-2, 197), 10-Joe Kloetzke (So., 5-8, 160)
WR -- 8-Muneer Al-Hameed (Fr., 5-10, 170), 86-Nick Norton (So., 5-10, 165)
RB -- 28-Jason Potts (Jr., 5-9, 185), 27-Clint Donovan (Fr., 5-10, 190)
QB -- 16-Jordan Berg (Jr., 6-3, 200), 14-Donald Blunt (Fr., 6-3, 160)

AUGSBURG TWO-DEEP ROSTER -- DEFENSE
DE -- 92-Genshi Tezuka (So., 6-1, 240), 93-Ben Austin (Jr., 6-5, 245)
DT -- 45-Erik Fossum (Fr., 6-0, 240), 93-Ben Austin (Jr., 6-5, 245)
DT -- 62-Jake Schoenecker (So., 6-4, 230), 94-Josh Collins (Fr., 6-2, 220)
DE -- 54-Alex Glasenapp (So., 6-4, 215), 94-Josh Collins (Fr., 6-2, 220)
SLB -- 13-Andrew Bergeson (So., 6-0, 200), 11-Adam Ebert (So., 6-0, 210)
MLB -- 37-Donovan Bates (Jr., 6-0, 220), 47-A.J. Queck (So., 6-0, 205)
WLB -- 40-Tony Landecker (Sr., 5-10, 200), 9-Dan Brandt (Fr., 5-10, 190)
CB -- 22-Rodney Powell (So., 5-11, 175), 25-David Tilton (Fr., 5-10, 175)
CB -- 4-Tyler Judkins (So., 5-11, 175), 12-Justin Reese (Sr., 5-11, 175)
FS -- 7-Garrett Adamson (Jr., 6-4, 190), 26-Dane Bates (Fr., 5-11, 182)
SS -- 46-Sean Kelly (Jr., 6-1, 195), 15-Andy Roff (So., 6-1, 185)

AUGSBURG SPECIALISTS
K -- 1-Luom Seidenkranz (So., 5-10, 165), 44-Jack Christopherson (Fr., 6-1, 180)
P -- 44-Jack Christopherson (Fr., 6-1, 180), 1-Luom Seidenkranz (So., 5-10, 165),
LS/SS -- 51-Tim Garnhardt (So., 6-1, 230), 37-Donovan Bates (Jr., 6-0, 220)
H -- 18-David Lange (Sr., 6-2, 190), 14-Donald Blunt (Fr., 6-3, 160)
KR -- 21-James Strand (So., 5-9, 160), 19-Ryan Schroeder (Sr., 6-2, 215)
PR -- 28-Jason Potts (Jr., 5-9, 185), 8-Muneer Al-Hameed (Fr., 5-10, 170)

ST. JOHN'S TWO-DEEP ROSTER -- OFFENSE
WR -- 89-Ben Vanderheyden (So., 6-2, 180), 16-Charlie Welsh (Sr., 6-2, 190)
WR -- 5-Brian Weber (Sr., 6-0, 175), 81-Chace Pollock (Sr., 6-1, 195)
TE -- 80-Brett Saladin (Jr., 6-3, 230), 88-Justin Athman (Sr., 6-2, 210)
LT -- 61-Jason Brodmerkel (Sr., 6-5, 255), 73-Greg Sowden (So., 6-5, 250)
LG -- 53-Jason Primus (Sr., 6-3, 245), 57-Blaine Anderson (So., 6-2, 280)
C -- 50-Andrew Salvato (Sr., 6-1, 295), 65-Kevin Clarke (Sr., 6-0, 255)
RG -- 64-Dan Gamache (Jr., 6-4, 280), 62-Adam Schleper (Sr., 6-2, 250)
RT -- 72-Ben Dimond (So., 6-5, 290), 75-Drew Percival (So., 6-9, 300)
QB -- 11-Alex Kofoed (Sr., 6-2, 201), 17-Jordan Hansel (So., 5-10, 180)
RB -- 30-Jeff Schnobrich (Jr., 5-11, 190), 21-Billy Ryan (So., 5-9, 175)
RB -- 41-Aaron Blackmore (Sr., 6-0, 205), 34-Kellen Blaser (So., 6-2, 230)

ST. JOHN'S TWO-DEEP ROSTER -- DEFENSE
DE -- 9-Mike Schumacher (Jr., 6-3, 225), 99-David Burns (So., 6-3, 230)
DT -- 48-Joe Luke (Jr., 6-0, 230), 87-Andrew McIntyre (Sr., 6-3, 245)
DT -- 98-Nick Gunderson (Jr., 6-4, 250), 97-Kyle Schroeder (So., 6-1, 225)
DE -- 22-Mitch Eversman (Sr., 6-1, 225), 36-Stephen Foertsch (Jr., 6-0, 225)
LB -- 24-Nick Kotsmith (Jr., 6-1, 210), 50-John Stanton (So., 6-1, 190)
LB -- 44-Ryan Wimmer (So., 6-0, 215), 37-James Shockman (Sr., 6-4, 230)
LB -- 45-Josh Rose (So., 6-1, 240), 58-Ethan Eid (So., 6-2, 212)
CB -- 10-Dominic Haik (So., 5-10, 180), 5-Derek Stifter (Jr., 5-8, 160)
S -- 2-John Cloeter (Sr., 6-2, 200), 20-Bobby Klint (So., 6-1, 190)
S -- 21-Kevin Boegel (Sr., 6-1, 194), 11-Nathan Calderon (So., 6-3, 187)
CB -- 6-Sam Gervais (Sr., 6-0, 200), 8-Mark Brown (So., 6-0, 195)

ST. JOHN'S SPECIALISTS
P -- 43-Russell Gliadon (Jr., 6-2, 215)
K -- 43-Russell Gliadon (Jr., 6-2, 215)
PR -- 2-Derek Solt (Sr., 5-11, 193), 81-Chace Pollock (Sr., 6-1, 195)
KR -- 1-Andrew Rotschafer (Fr., 6-1, 180), 20-Ethan Beck-Buysse (So., 5-9, 190)
LS -- 65-Kevin Clarke (Sr., 6-0, 255)
H -- 2-John Cloeter (Sr., 6-2, 200)