Carleton (3-4, 1-4 MIAC) travels to Hamline Univerity on Saturday and looks to snap a three-game slide. The Pipers (2-5, 1-4 MIAC) has also gone three consecutive weeks without a victory. A year ago, Phil Blue totaled 188 all-purpose yards and scored the game-winning touchdown with 2:28 remaining. Follow this week’s action via live stats and the Power 96 (KQCL 95.9 FM) broadcast.

Live Stats -- Live Audio (Carleton feed) – Game Notes (pdf)
Live Video (Hamline feed)

>>THIS WEEK'S GAME -- AT HAMLINE UNIVERSITY

Both Carleton and Hamline will be looking to snap three-game losing streaks as they square off in today's Halloween matchup. For the Knights, a hard-fought loss to #19 St. Thomas last week continued the trend of tough defeats and dropped Carleton into the bottom half of the MIAC standings, where they join St. Olaf and Concordia with 1-4 records.

The Pipers, meanwhile, after giving powerful Bethel all it could handle the week before, suffered a demoralizing 41-21 loss in Moorhead for the Cobbers' first conference win of the season.
In the all-time series between today's competitors, the Knights hold a 30-27-2 edge, including victories in five of the last six meetings. These schools first faced each other on the gridiron in 1898, a 10-0 Hamline victory.

>>LAST YEAR: Carleton 28, Hamline 27 -- 11/1/08

Senior quarterback Shane Henfling (now the Knights' QB Coach) threw for a career-high 462 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another, and Phil Blue totaled 188 all-purpose yards and scored the game-winning touchdown with 2:28 left as Carleton pulled into a first-place tie atop the conference standings with a thrilling 28-27 win over snake-bitten Hamline University.

The win not only gave Carleton its first winning season since 1993, but helped erase bitter memories from the past two weeks when the Knights lost by one point in overtime to Gustavus Adolphus and by two points at St. Thomas a week ago when the Tommies scored on the game’s final play.

The Pipers rushed for 348 yards, led by Jack Madryga’s 224 yards and three scores, but couldn’t avoid their fifth loss by three points or less.

Henfling was 34-for-49 for the 462 yards, the third-most in Carleton history, and in the process he set the Knight single-season record for most passing yards in a season (2,509) and tied the mark for most TD passes in a season (25).

>>LAST WEEK: No. 19 St. Thomas 48, Carleton 28

There were moments early in the second half when it looked like Carleton College was capable of a monumental upset, but in the end, the relentless rushing attack of No. 19 University of St. Thomas was too much for the Knights, as the visitors pulled away late for a 48-28 win.

Carleton tied the game 14-14 midway through the third quarter when junior linebacker Tim Mulso’s diving interception at midfield set up a 2-yard touchdown run by sophomore quarterback Vaughn Schmid.

Following the score, the Knights barely missed recovering a sneaky on-sides kick, but the scare woke up the Tommie offense, which found the endzone on five of its next six possessions and went on to outscore Carleton 34-14 for the remainder of the contest.

Carleton’s 28 points were the most allowed by St. Thomas all season as the Knights outgained the Tommies 400-394 in total offense on the day. Schmid threw for 244 yards and two touchdowns on 22-of-40 passing for the Knights, while sophomore wide receiver Anthony Kemper caught seven passes for a career-high 123 yards and his team-leading seventh touchdown grab of the season.

Ultimately, however, the Tommie ground attack was too efficient, with the visitors averaging 6.8 yards per carry en route to six rushing touchdowns. St. Thomas never put together a drive longer than nine plays, as Ben Wartman led a multi-headed attack with 124 yards and two scores.

>>SCOUTING THE PIPERS

 It has been a frustrating year so far for head coach Jim Good's Pipers. With three of its five losses coming to MIAC topdogs Saint John's, St. Thomas, and Bethel, Hamline finds itself averaging the fewest yards of total offense in the conference while surrendering the highest points per game average.

Hamline's offense has relied heavily on the pass, averaging just 82.7 yards per game on the ground as opposed to 229.0 in the air. Sophomore quarterback Adam Meyer's 231.8 yards per game ranks second in the MIAC, while receivers Tim Queck and Alex House are among the conference's top 10 in both receptions and receiving yards. Both are dangerous returners as well, each averaging over 20 yards per kick return. Queck's 89-yard kickoff return touchdown was one of the few bright points in last weeks' loss to Concordia.

Kicking has been a strength for the Pipers, as senior Derek Johnson is 6-for-8 (75%) on field goals this year and a perfect 19-for-19 on PATs. Carleton kickers, by contrast, have converted just 2-of-7 field goal attempts.

Defensively, Hamline has especially struggled to control the rush, yielding a conference-worst 201.9 yards per game on the ground. Junior linebacker Josh Bain has recorded a team-leading 54 tackles, including a whopping 10.5 tackles for loss, good for second in the conference. Freshman safety Marc McDonald has been a force in the secondary with 49 stops.

>>VAUGHN TO THE ENDZONE

With 12 passing and six rushing touchdowns on the year, Knights' sophomore quarterback Vaughn Schmid is responsible for more touchdowns than any other MIAC player regardless of position. A look at the top endzone threats in the conference.

>>CALL IT THE MAIZE-AND-BLUE ZONE

Carleton's red zone defense has been stifling this year, yielding points of any kind on only 16 of 31 (51.6%) of opponent's drives, tied for tenth-best 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. A look at the top red zone defenses in D-III, according to the NCAA:

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