Gustavus football pushed their record to 4-4 and snapped a three-game losing streak this past weekend. The Gusties beat St. Olaf 41-13, capping off the game with a dominant 4th quarter in which they scored 20 points.
“Our players just embraced the challenge. Proud of them for sure and a good day for us,” Head Coach Peter Haugen said.
Fueled by a strong performance by Hunter Johnson, the scoring started off early with a 15 yard touchdown run from the Senior Quarterback. Gustavus would keep the Oles in check with an interception from Junior Brady Miller.
St. Olaf scored to tie the game 7-7 in the second quarter on a 12 yard touchdown pass from Jack Goldstein. Gustavus would regain the advantage later in the quarter as they capitalized off of a fumble recovery from Junior Jordan Kahlow, allowing for the Gustie offense to score off of a 14 yard toss from Johnson to Sophomore Brice Panning with three seconds remaining in the first half.
“Our players just embraced the challenge. Proud of them for sure and a good game for us.” — Coach Haugen
St. Olaf scored first in the second half off of a 21 yard pass from Goldstein but would proceed to miss their extra point attempt, leaving the score in the Gusties favor, 14-13. The Gustie defense did not allow any more points for the rest of the contest.
Gustavus went on to score 27 unanswered points en route to the victory, beginning with a five yard touchdown rush from Johnson to close out the third quarter, leading 21-13.
The Gusties opened the 4th quarter by marching down the field into Oles’ territory where Johnson would complete his second TD pass of the game to Josh Kirk to push the lead to 15. On the following possession, Senior Karim Ortiz broke out on a 69 yard burst for another Gustie touchdown, pushing the score to 34-14 before the Oles’ would block the following PAT.
Ortiz would rush for a career-high of 200 yards in the game, averaging 7.4 yards per carry on 27 attempts while Johnson would throw for 150 yards and a pair of touchdowns along with 29 rushing yards of his own.
“It’s less about who were playing right now. It’s about if we’re committed to getting better.” — Coach Haugen
The onslaught of scoring ended with an interception from Kahlow who returned it 35 yards for the final Gustie score, pushing the point total to 41, the Gusties third highest scoring game of the season.
Sophomore linebacker Jake Boykin led the Gusties on defense with eight tackles whileSenior Kevin Krohn recorded two sacks to go along with three tackles for loss.
The Gusties dominated the on the ground with 224 total rushing yards against St. Olaf’s 59. Gustavus also held the advantage in total yards, registering 374 against 244 from the Oles.
Gustavus’ front line held the St. Olaf’s defense in check, not allowing a single sack on Johnson while the Gusties registered three sacks with two from Krohn.
Looking ahead, the Gusties face No. 4 ranked St. Thomas in St. Paul on Saturday.
“It’s less about who we’re playing right now. It’s about if we’re committed to getting better,” Haugen said.