Coming off a pair of heartbreaking losses on the road, the Knights’ football team (3-3, 1-3 MIAC) returns home and hosts No. 19 University of St. Thomas (5-1, 4-1 MIAC) on Saturday.  In conjunction with the game, Carleton’s Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) is joining forces with the Carleton Mortar Board to help tackle hunger. In lieu of admission (since Carleton doesn’t charge for regular-season events), the Knights are asking spectators to bring non-perishable food items to donate to the food shelf in Northfield.

Live Stats -- Live Audio/Video -- Game Notes (pdf)

>>TODAY'S GAME -- No. 19 UNIVERSITY OF ST. THOMAS

After consecutive last-minute road losses, the Knights return home today to take on the Tommies, who enter the contest ranked #19 in the latest American Football Coaches' Association (AFCA) Poll. While an upset win today would jumpstart the remainder of Carleton's season and avenge last year's crushing last-second defeat, a loss would eliminate any possibility of the Knights finishing 2009 with a winning record in MIAC play.

St. Thomas enters today's contest thirsty for blood after last week's 20-17 overtime loss at #6 Saint John's, shattering the Tommiews hopes of an undefeated season and dropping them into a tie with Bethel University for second place in the conference standings.

The Knights will be looking to snap a 16-game losing streak to the Tommies, who hold a 24-11-1 advantage in the all-time series. Carleton has not topped UST since back in 1992 when the Knights won the MIAC Championship.

>>LAST YEAR: St. Thomas 33, Carleton 31 -- 10/25/08

Senior quarterback Shane Henfling (now Carleton's QB Coach) and wide receiver Matt Frank had record-setting performances for the Knights, but for the second consecutive week, the final play of the game resulted in defeat for Carleton, this time by a 33-31 score at St. Thomas.

After the Knights overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit, a fourth-down reception gave the Tommies a fresh set of downs inside the 10-yard line in the closing seconds. Then on fourth-and-goal, St. Thomas got the winning six-yard touchdown pass as time expired.

Henfling obliterated his own school record for completions, going 41-of-52. He also finished with 392 passing yards, the fifth-highest single-game total in school history. Frank had 126 yards on 16 receptions, two better than his school record of 14 catches set on Nov. 4, 2006 vs. St. Olaf.

>>LAST WEEK: Gustavus Adolphus 28, Carleton 21

Carleton built a 21-6 lead in the third quarter but could not withstand final-minute heroics by Gustavus, as the Knights lost, 28-21. Quarterback Vaughn Schmid threw for 258 yards and two touchdowns in the defeat. The Gusties got the game-winning touchdown with 14 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

Both of Schmid’s scoring strikes were hauled in by sophomore Anthony Kemper, who finished with four grabs for 48 yards.

Gustavus took the opening kickoff and marched 46 yards, but the Carleton defense held in the red zone and then blocked the Gusties’ 35-yard field goal. Kyle Jacobs scooped up the loose ball and ran it back to the Gustavus 31-yard line. Five plays later, the Knights reached the endzone on Jon Lien’s one-yard plunge.

Following a strong kickoff return by Joe Welch, the Gusties found the endzone with a seven-play, 39-yard drive, but the extra-point misfired as the Knights blocked their second kick of the afternoon.

Early in the second quarter, Kemper hauled in an 18-yard TD pass from Schmid, who was 4-of-5 for 54 yards on the drive. Carleton started the second half by marching 74 yards on nine plays as Kemper perfectly timed his leap to pull down an 18-yard touchdown strike from Schmid, putting the Knights in front 21-6.

Gustavus got a huge momentum shift on the ensuing kickoff as Welch brought it back 87 yards for a touchdown, the third-longest return in Gusties history. The home team went for two, and Jordan Becker’s pass to Cameron Maurer made the score 21-14 with over 25 minutes remaining.

Both defenses stepped up as none of the next seven drives covered more than 20 yards. Finally after a Schmid interception gave the Gusties a short field, Becker accounted for 41 of 43 yards with either his feet or his arm and finished the drive with a five-yard strike to Cody Sukalski.

Carleton sent the field-goal unit on to try a 32-yarder with 2:33 to go, but the kick was blocked. The ensuing Gustavus drive was capped when Elliott Herdina hauled in a game-winning 15-yard touchdown reception with 14 seconds left.

>>SCOUTING THE TOMMIES

St. Thomas dominated opponents in their first five games of the season leading up to last week's overtime loss to #6 Saint John's. At 39.5 points per game, the Tommies rank 12th among D-III teams and average nearly 10 more points than any other MIAC team.

Running is the name of the game for second-year head coach Glenn Caruso's offense. Senior center Josh Ostrue, last year's D-III recipient of Rimington Award as nation’s top center, leads a massive offensive line that paves the way for junior back Ben Wartman, the MIAC's top rusher and 14th best in D-III at 124.7 yards/game.

Sophomore quarterback Greg Morse complements the ground attack, averaging 168 passing yards per game. His main target is Fritz Waldvogel, also a dangerous return man, who ranks second in the MIAC with 42 receptions and 11th in D-III in all-purpose yards (170.1ypg).

The Tommie defense has also been strong, holding opponents to an average of just 248.2 total offensive yards per game, the lowest figure in the MIAC.

>>CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE MIAC KIND

All four MIAC football games went down to the wire last Saturday. In fact, the Carleton-Gustavus game was actually the contest to be decided the earliest (14 seconds left). Bethel edged Hamline 20-17 on a field goal as time expired. Saint John’s defeated St. Thomas 20-17 in overtime, and Augsburg also pulled out an overtime victory at Concordia, 27-20.

>>ANTHONY "TOUCHDOWN" KEMPER

With two TD catches last week at Gustavus, rookie wide receiver Anthony Kemper has cemented himself as one of the conference's top end zone threats.  Kemper's six touchdown grabs on the season is tied for second among MIAC receivers, trailing only the Gusties' Elliott Herdina with seven.

Kemper has stepped into the role of big-play receiver for the Knights, a spot formerly held by the graduated Chris Gardner. The sophomore rookie, who played basketball last year, leads Carleton with 365 receiving yards and 21.5 yards/catch.

>>CALL IT THE MAIZE-AND-BLUE ZONE

Carleton has excelled inside the 20 yard-line on both sides of the ball this year. The offense has converted 15 of 19 Red Zone trips into scores (79%), good for third in the MIAC, while the defense has been even more impressive, yielding scores on only 12 of 27 (44.4%) of opponent's Red Zone drives, easily the lowest percentage in the conference, and tied for fifth-lowest in all of Division III.
Red Zone defense has in fact led directly to two of the Knights' three wins. In the season opener against Cornell College, linebacker Dylan Gessner sealed the victory when he broke-up a would-be game-tying touchdown pass at the goal line on fourth down with 18 seconds remaining. In the biggest win of the year so far, Carleton's defense stepped up in the red zone and brought home the Goat Trophy against St. Olaf College. Leading 17-13, the Knights stopped the Oles' final drive at the 12-yard line, forcing a turnover on downs with 40 seconds remaining.

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