Teddy Kaste-

When Gustavus Adolphus and St. Scholastica square off on the gridiron, Gustavus is typically the hammer to St. Scholastica’s nail. This year was no different as Gustavus absolutely dominated St. Scholastica on both sides of the ball, leading to a 63-12 victory.

Gustavus had a well-balanced offensive attack gaining yards both through the air and on the ground. Junior George Sandven had a nice day at Quarterback throwing for 347 yards and three touchdowns. Senior Wide Receiver Jake Brietbach caught all three receiving touchdowns and had a total of 133 receiving yards on the day to lead the team in receiving. On the ground, Senior Rohee Konde led the way leading all running backs in yards with 104 on the day along with a touchdown. Running backs Senior River Wood and Senior Ivan Scarparino also scored touchdowns with two each.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Gusties played very well, holding St. Scholastica to only 12 points, and causing two turnovers on the day. Linebackers Sophomore Colton Loeschke and Senior Carson Dekam led the team in tackles with ten apiece, while Sophomore Myshawn King, Junior Javier Gratacos, and First-year Max King led the team in sacks, each with one sack respectively.

Gustavus started off the game hot: on the very first drive of the game Konde broke away from the St. Scholastica defense for a 51-yard touchdown run, putting Gustavus on the board first. This made the score 7-0 and the running attack produced another touchdown later in the quarter with Wood scoring on an 8-yard touchdown to make it 14-0 Gustavus. Gustavus unfortunately gave up a safety late in the quarter when the ball was snapped over the punter’s head and out of the End Zone, so at the end of the first quarter the score sat Gustavus: 14, St. Scholastica: 2.

St. Scholastica put together a solid drive to start the second quarter resulting in a 28-yard field goal to get the score to 14-5, but Gustavus swiftly responded with a brilliantly executed ten-play drive resulting in yet another rushing touchdown by Wood to make the score 21-5. The Gustavus defense then turned in a big stop highlighted by a third and fifth sack by Gratacos. Setting the offense up for another great drive resulting in another touchdown, this time through the air when Sandven connected with Breitbach for a 19-yard touchdown pass, making the score 28-5.

Sandven said of Breitbach, “Jake is definitely a great weapon to have on offense. He has a huge catch radius and is extremely fast which makes him difficult to guard; wherever he is lined up on the field.” Breitbach has undoubtedly been difficult to guard this year as he leads all of the NCAA (FBS, FCS, D2, and D3) in both receptions and receiving yards for the 2023 season.

Following the touchdown pass, St. Scholastica unexpectedly put together a nice drive. Benefiting from good field position due to a 51-yard St. Scholastica return, their offense put together a five-play drive resulting in a 17-yard passing touchdown to cut the score to 28-12.

Gustavus got the ball back with 1:49 left in the third quarter, so it was a perfect opportunity for Sandven and the offense to practice the ever-important two-minute drill. Sandven absolutely picked apart the St. Scholastica defense, hitting Senior receivers Matthew Carreon and Jake Breitbach for huge gains. The drive was capped off with a 5-yard rushing touchdown, bringing the half to a close with the score of Gustavus: 35, St. Scholastica: 12.

Gustavus only grew in confidence as the game went on, the offense had a great drive to start the third ending in a Sandven to Breitbach touchdown, and Junior Linebacker Ty Glaser snagged an interception which was almost taken back for a touchdown, but he was stopped on the St. Scholastica two-yard line. The Gustavus offense only needed two yards for the touchdown though, as Sandven threw it to Breitbach for their third touchdown connection of the day. At the end of the third quarter, the score was Gustavus: 49, St. Scholastica: 12.

The fourth quarter was highlighted by two rushing touchdowns by Scarparino on the offensive side of the ball and lockdown defense. Gustavus won the game with the final score being Gustavus: 63, St. Scholastica: 12.

Coming off this huge win, Breitbach only distanced himself further from the rest of the NCAAs wide receivers with yet another monster performance. When asked about how he felt about the win, Breitbach said “I would say that it’s definitely a product of the work being put in [both in and out of the season]. I spent a lot of time in the weight room, on the field, and with my QB so I think all of that contributes to putting up good numbers,” said Breitbach on his success.

In addition to being the team’s top performer, Breitbach has also assumed more of a leadership role on the team this year. “Definitely the biggest change is just the way I interact with the team. As a senior, your goal should be to set an example for the rest of the team. Whether that be with effort, preparation, or specific things like technique. So, I would say when I was a freshman, there were some awesome upperclassmen to look up to and now that I am a senior, I am trying to do the same”

Looking forward to next week, Gustavus will be facing off with the Macalester Scots. Following that they have three more weeks of action until the conference championship on Nov. 11. “The most important thing is just taking it one game at a time. Our goal is to go 1-0 against Macalester this week and that is the only thing that we are focusing on,” Sandven stated on what the approach for the next four weeks should look like. That game will be played at home, so hopefully the Gustavus students can pack the stands and cheer on the Gustavus Football team!