Parker Burman-
This past Saturday the Gustavus Football team hosted conference rival Augsburg for a Homecoming showdown at Hollingsworth Field. However, the Homecoming crowd could not help the Gusties power past the Auggies who won on a last-second Hail Mary attempt with seconds left on the clock. With a score of 33-31, the Gusties lost their Homecoming match-up, their first loss to Augsburg since 2014, thus leading them to a drop to 1-2 on the season.
“The Homecoming atmosphere had great energy throughout the entire game which was awesome to be a part of. The crowd was engaged and gave our team an extra boost late in the game,” Junior Quarterback George Sandven said.
“The atmosphere was electric. Hearing all the students, alumni, and Gustie fans cheering for us was truly a game changer,” Sophomore Wide Receiver Caden Kleinschmidt said.
Gustavus received the kick-off after Augsburg elected to defer, and on their first drive, the Gusties were slow to get the offense going. After the Gusties punted to finish their first drive, Augsburg started their first drive of the game from the Gustavus 41-yard line. Augsburg took advantage of the short field to march down to score a touchdown to put them up 7-0.
Augsburg continued to grow their lead, after another stalled Gustavus offensive possession, resulting in a punt. With the help of a defensive pass interference call against Gustavus, Augsburg drove down to expand the lead to 14-0 by the end of the quarter.
After a drive resulting in a missed field goal for Gustavus and a punt by Augsburg, the Gusties got the ball back and looked to find some offensive continuity. They did just that as Sandven led them down the field with a balanced attack both on the ground and through the air, finding multiple weapons as they marched. While not scoring a touchdown the Gusties did manage a field goal to make the score 14-3.
After another defensive stop, the ball was back in the hands of Sandven and the Gustavus offense. Finding a consistent groove the offense was able to find the endzone on a 56-yard 6-play drive to cut the Augsburg lead to four for a halftime score of 14-10.
“The offense did have some early struggles, but I think we just stuck with the game plan, executed better, and built off the momentum and confidence to have a better second half,” Senior Wide Receiver Jake Breitbach said.
Receiving the second-half kick off Augsburg immediately regrew their lead as they marched for a seven-play 75-yard touchdown drive, capped by a 16-yard touchdown pass. Augsburg shut down the Gustavus offense on their next drive as Sandven was sacked on a fourth-down attempt by the Gusties. The Gustavus defense did manage to force a punt on the next Aggie drive but the punt was botched by Gustavus to give it back to Augsburg, who were stopped again by the defense.
The next Gustavus drive was carried by Sandven and Senior Wide Receiver Matthew Carreon, who collected 37 yards on a first down throw from Sandven. Kleinschmidt found the endzone on the Gustie score and Breitbach secured the catch for the two-point conversion to put the Gusties down 21-18 at the end of the third quarter.
“We just took what the defense gave us. I have a lot of trust in all of the receivers and I knew that they were going to make big plays once the ball was in the air,” Sandven said.
The Auggies started the fourth quarter with a touchdown drive to further extend their lead to 27-18. Yet, the Gusties were not going to go down without a fight, as they once again answered with a 65-yard, 12-play drive capped off by a two-yard touchdown run from Sophomore Walker Britz. But the extra point was missed by Gustavus to leave it a three-point deficit at 27-24.
After the defense stopped another Augsburg drive, the offense took over on their own 16-yard line with only 1:15 left on the clock in the final quarter. Breitbach started the drive as he received the pass from Sandven for a 42-yard gain on a first down throw. Two plays later, Sandven was sacked on third-down for a loss of seven, forcing the Gusties to go for it on fourth-down with 16-yards to go.
Sandven’s fourth-down throw to Breitbach was incomplete, which would have been a turnover on downs, but a flag was on the play for defensive pass interference to give the Gusties one last gasp of hope. After having trailed for the previous 59:38 of the game, Sandven took the snap without leading receiver Breitbach on the field after his helmet came off on the previous play. Sandven dropped back and threw a perfect ball into the outstretched hands of Kleinschmidt in the endzone in tight coverage to give the Gusties the lead.
“The feeling was unmatched. I was met with overwhelming support on the sideline from my teammates,” Kleinschmidt said.
In a game that appeared to be over, in epic fashion, the Gusties would not have the storybook ending on Homecoming. The Auggies with just 14 seconds left on the clock ran a quick 23-yard play to get them within hopeful range. With seven seconds left, the Auggies Quarterback dropped back, with their offensive line picking up the Gustavus blitz, and threw a ball to the endzone that was caught to steal the late lead back.
Gustavus with one second left in the game made one last effort to take the lead back and create a miracle. Sandven completed a 21-yard pass to Kleinschmidt who then started the last-ditch laterals which eventually led to a fumble and Augsburg recovery to officially end the game.
Breitbach once again led the Gustie receivers, totaling 15 receptions for 180 yards. Carreon added 100 yards and five receptions with a touchdown. Kleinschmidt led the Gusties with two touchdowns, the first multi-touchdown game of his career.
The Gusties will look to get back into the win column this weekend as they face off against rival the Bethel Lions, at Bethel, in another conference matchup on Saturday, Sept. 30.
“We will just use this game as motivation and that’s all. We did a lot of good stuff, we just need to learn from the mistakes [we made],” Breitbach said.
“Even though the outcome wasn’t what we had wanted, our team got better in multiple aspects that we had struggled with in the prior week. We have to learn from our mistakes and move on to our next opponent,” Sandven said.