After a slow start last week, the Gustie Football team surged in the second half to defeat the Augsburg Eagles.  This victory moved the Gusties to 3-0 on the season and 1-0 in MIAC play.  The game was certainly a tale of two halves, as the Gusties scored 35 unanswered points in the second half after trailing 13-0 at halftime. Augsburg was in control of the game throughout the whole first half, tallying 174 yards of offense, while allowing only 79 to the Gustavus offense. “First off, you have to give Augsburg credit because they came ready to play,” Head Coach Peter Haugen said. “They came out really strong and set the tone. They were more physical than we were in the first half.”

However, after halftime the Gusties established themselves as the better team, creating 320 yards of offense and scoring five touchdowns.  “I think the biggest thing is that we played with a lot of heart in the second half. We started to get physical and played the way that we needed to play. It was a mindset that we need to be more physical and need to be sharper,” Haugen said.

“The biggest thing is that we played with a lot of heart in the second half. We started to get physical and played the way we needed to play. It was a mindset that we need to be more physical and need to be sharper.” — Head Coach Haugen

The second half change was sparked by a number of players stepping into new roles in the offense.  Most notably, Junior Running Back Kareem Ortiz got his first start for the year–with Senior Luke Martinez out from last week’s knee injury– and had a career game.  Ortiz rushed the ball 27 times, and accumulated 180 yards and two touchdowns, including a 43-yard touchdown dash early in the third quarter that sparked the Gusties’ scoring run in the second half.  His breakout performance earned him MIAC Athlete of the Week honors. The game also gave Ortiz his personal record in yards and TDs.

The offense was led by another newcomer– Freshman Quarterback Christian Haffner from Liberty High School in Brentwood, California. Haffner took over midway through the second quarter and was composed. He completed 9 of his 11 attempts for 112 yards and three touchdowns, and proved himself as a young talent. Haffner is the first Gustie freshman quarterback to get meaningful snaps in a game in 12 years. “He really did a nice job of staying composed and made a couple key throws and runs,” Haugen said of Haffner’s debut. “The guys rallied around him and that was good to see.”

The Gustie defense also turned it up a notch in the second half, giving up only 20 yards and one first down over the final 30 minutes of play.

“We started to swarm the ball [in the second half],” Haugen said. “Our defense was in attack mode and we had their quarterback on his heels the entire second half and got so much pressure on him that it helped us on the back end to get a nice interception. We did a good job with our pressure and stopping the run all day long, that was really good.”

“We started to swarm the ball [in the second half]. Our defense was in attack mode and we had their quarterback on his heels the entire second half.” — Coach Haugen

Junior Leeland Lauti lead the Gustie defense in tackles, recording eight total Senior Tanner Jensen also had a strong defensive showing with six tackles, four of which were unassisted.

Senior Iker Ortiz-Hidalgo came up with a clutch sack, forcing a fumble, and Senior Andrew Allen also recorded a sack in the victory.

Sophomore Brady Miller made his first career interception a memorable one, returning it 64 yards.

As the Gusties look ahead to next week, they face a challenge as they travel to St. Paul to play the unbeaten Hamline Pipers.  Last season, the Gusties barely beat Hamline by a score of 42-35 in a wild game. The Gusties will be looking to keep their undefeated season alive, and are continuing to improve each week.

“We’re looking forward to getting back to work and we’ve got a lot of improvements to make,” Coach Haugen said. “That’s a positive thing because we haven’t played our best football yet at all. Hamline is off to a great start so it will be a tough test.”

The Gusties will return to Hollingsworth Field on October 1st to take on Concordia for Homecoming.