Nyden Hill – Staff Writer

Following their 62-20 win this Sunday versus Buena Vista, the Gustavus football team took the field for the first time at home this season against UW-Stout. It was a warm, sunny day and the stadium was packed, so it looked like the Gusties were primed to keep their momentum going.

Things started off strong in the first quarter with an almost-immediate score by Senior tight end Ethan Sindelir just 2:35 into the game. After trading possessions for a while, the Gustie offense continued to flex its muscles and show its potential with an 80-yard bomb to Junior Jake Breitbach delivered by First-Year transfer QB Daniel Rennie. Rennie was kind enough to share his thoughts on the first-quarter momentum that propelled the Gusties to an early lead.

“Honestly, taking advantage of their secondary was a big thing for us. We had a few schematic checks going into the game that we took advantage of early,” Rennie said.

Rennie was not the only Gustie football player to share this sentiment, as Senior running back David Peal also added context to the Gustie offensive push.

“We were playing within the scheme of our game and played the game how we knew we could play,” Peal said.

While the first half did an amazing job of showcasing what Gustavus Adolphus College football was all about, Stout began to show some flashes of real heat later in the second quarter. With less than a minute left in the half, a downfield drive orchestrated by the Blue Devils was capped by a 17 yard passing touchdown, giving UW-Stout some momentum going into halftime. While the Blue Devils were able to notch the final score, looking at the scoreboard at the end of the first half told a convincing story with the Gusties being up by almost a touchdown.

In the beginning of the third quarter, the Gusties and Blue Devils traded possessions, until the Gusties broke through with a rushing touchdown in the red zone by Rennie. While this score kept the Gusties on top, they would fail to increase that lead for the duration of the game.

Finishing the half, the Blue Devils chipped away at the Gusties’ lead until they broke through with a 64 yd touchdown pass with 15 seconds left on the clock. While this ending was a heartbreaker for the Gusties and their fans, the outlook on the rest of the season remains hopeful.

Rennie shared his outlook on the season going forward, as he disclosed that he is out for the rest of the season due to an injury during Saturday’s contest.

“For me, I’m going to try to be the best leader I can be, help the younger guys, help the guys trying to step in, and try to make plays. We can make the feeling of the loss propel things, as we’ve got some big conference games ahead,” Rennie said.

Defensively, this Gustie football team was nothing less than sound as they registered a combined 13 tackles for loss, resulting in 70 total lost yards. Junior linebacker Carson DeKam was one of the many defenders for the Gusties this game as he led the team with 8 total tackles. DeKam had this to say following the game.

“Honestly, I think we performed really well. The offense did a really good job of spreading the ball out and we did a good job of running the ball all day. Defensively we were pretty dominant all day, but there were things on both sides of the ball that we could clean up,” DeKam said.

DeKam was also kind enough to share Gusties’ mindset for not only rebounding from the loss, but for their entire 2022 campaign.

“We have a motto this year of getting 1 on our team. It’s hard to foresee the future right now and there are a lot of quality teams for the rest of this year. Our coaches have pressed the motto of getting 1 in our head,” DeKam said.

The Gusties’ tactic of only focusing on the game directly ahead of them will surely take them far. Looking ahead, the team travels to Saint Paul on Saturday to face off against Concordia.