Last year when the Knights and Johnnies met on the final Saturday of the regular season, they were playing for a MIAC championship. Saint John's will be doing so again, but it's been a vastly different year for Carleton (3-6, 1-6 MIAC). The Knights will look to snap a five-game losing streak and salvage a disappointing 2009 today, while the Johnnies (9-0, 7-0 MIAC) can clinch the out-right conference crown and complete an undefeated regular season with a win at home. Today's game also marks the final time five seniors will wear the maize and blue for Carleton. Defensive end Adam Hallbeck, running back Phil Blue, defensive end John Schlaefer, quarterback Spenser Williamson, and kicker Kyle Burkhardt will all be finishing their collegiate football careers this afternoon.

Live Audio (Carleton broadcast) -- Live Stats -- Game Notes (pdf)

>>LAST YEAR: Saint John's 14, Carleton 10 -- 11/15/08

Carleton’s Matt Frank soared over two defenders and snared a 4-yard touchdown pass with less than a minute left to give the Knights a 10-7 lead, but Saint John's drove 62 yards in a little less than 40 seconds, capped by a 22-yard touchdown catchtoss from Joe Boyle to running back Jeff Schnobrich, giving the Johnnies a thrilling 14-10 win over the Knights. The win gave Saint John's the MIAC title outright–and with it the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Playoff–and denied Carleton its first conference crown since 1992. The Knights finished the season at 7-3 overall (5-3 MIAC), tied for second in the conference standings.

Frank who broke Jim Bradford’s career reception record in the second quarter and also owns the single-season mark (90 receptions for 990 yards in 2009). Frank concluded his record-breaking career with 220 receptions for 2,766 yards and 26 touchdowns. Carleton quarterback Shane Henfling (now the Knights' QB Coach) played his final college game, going 28-for-44 for 231 yards. He finished with a school-record 3,045 yards this season and 4,967 in his career, the fourth-best total in the program’s history. His final collegiate pass was his 51st career touchdown toss, breaking Ted Kluender’s school record. Henfling also established new Carleton single-season (66.8%) and career (62.8) marks for completion percentage.

>>LAST WEEK: Concordia 31, Carleton 16

On an unnaturally warm November day, the Carleton College offense could never heat up when it needed to most as the Knights fell to visiting Concordia College-Moorhead 31-16 in the season's home finale at Laird Stadium.

It was the final home game in front of the home fans for five Carleton seniors, and two turned in stellar performances. Defensive end Adam Hallbeck matched his career high with nine tackles and added a sack and fumble recovery. Running back Phil Blue notched 55 yards on five carries, including an electrifying 47-yard gallop that highlighted the Knights’ first scoring drive.

The gallant efforts of the senior Knights were in vain, however, as the Cobbers dominated possession, outgaining Carleton 416-228 in total offense. Concordia exploited the Knights’ run defense for 254 yards on the ground with Andrew Larson carrying the ball a whopping 32 times for 148 yards and two touchdowns.

Making his second career start, Carleton junior quarterback Jacob Anderson completed 17-of-31 passes for 122 yards and his first collegiate touchdown pass.

>>SCOUTING THE JOHNNIES

 It has seemed like a year of destiny for legendary head coach John Gagliardi and Saint John's, which was ranked fourth nationally in the latest American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Poll. Thanks to a pair of last-second victories, the Johnnies enter today's game undefeated and ensured at least a share of their MIAC-record 31st conference championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs. Regardless of today's outcome, Saint John's will be making its 24th postseason appearance, and the 11th in the past 12th seasons.

As usual, a stout defense and strong running game has equaled success for the Johnnies. Gagliardi's squad has yielded an average of just 14.2 points per game, second in the MIAC behind St. Olaf (14.1), and their plus-nine turnover margin ties for the conference lead. John Stanton and 2008 All-MIAC/All-Region Ryan Wimmer lead an experienced linebacking corps with 58 and 57 tackles, respectively. Safety Bobby Klint, also a 2008 All-MIAC selection has logged 45 stops out of the secondary, while tackle Kyle Schroeder has recorded six sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss to lead the linemen.

Offensively, three running backs combine to form a powerful ground attack. Jakob Reding (145 carries, 682 yards, 5 TD) leads the trio, while Kellen Blaser (74-356, 5 TD) has been a red-zone favorite. Stephen Johnson (74-345, 2 TD) will also see plenty of carries for the Johnnies. Joe Boyle, meanwhile, the culprit of last year's game-winning drive at Carleton, has missed the majority of the last two games with an apparent hand injury. Freshman John Ries got the start against Augsburg and completed 8-of-15 passes for 91 yards and a touchdown. In addition to the versatile Reding (23 catches, 192 yards), Josh Overman (26 catches, 352 yards, 4 TD) and Ben Vanderheyden (18-286, 3 TD) have been the Johnnies top recievers.

>>DON'T TAKE US LIGHTLY

Although they have yet to come away with a victory (0-26 all-time vs. SJU), Carleton has played Saint John's close in each of its three matchups under head coach Kurt Ramler. Since 2006, the Johnnies have beaten the Knights by scores of 29-19, 10-7, and 14-10, respectively. In the past two contests, Carleton has led with under a minute to play only to see a late Johnnie touchdown steal the win.

>>A HOMECOMING OF SORTS FOR RAMLER

For just the second time, Knights head coach Kurt Ramler returns to Clemens Stadium in Collegeville as the opponent. Before taking over at the helm for Carleton in 2006, Ramler previously served as the Johnnies' quarterbacks coach during the 2002 season. He earned his B.A. in English from Saint John’s in 1997 and won the 1996 MIAC most valuable player award for the Johnnies. He still holds the school record for passing yards in a single game (in fact he owns the top three marks). Ramler previously held the SJU marks for most total offense, career passing yards and touchdown passes and currently holds the MIAC single-season passing efficiency record at 174.91, set in 1996. He was the runner-up for the Gagliardi Trophy in 1996, awarded to Division III’s most outstanding football player, and was part of four MIAC title-winning teams at Saint John's.

In his four seasons at Carleton, Ramler (17-22 overall) has led the Knights to several strong performances against nationally-ranked opponents, including upsets over #31 Bethel in 2006, and #13 Bethel and #22 Augsburg in 2008.

>>THE ANTHONY KEMPER ENDZONE WATCH

Despite not finding paydirt in last week's loss, sophomore rookie Anthony Kemper still leads all MIAC receivers with nine touchdown catches on the season. The figure also puts him in a tie for the fourth-highest single-season total in Carleton history (SEE CHART BELOW). Kemper trails only what are arguably the three greatest wide receivers ever for the Knights: Jim Bradford (13-1990), Chris Gardner (13-2007), and Matt Frank (12-2008). With 587 yards on 32 catches, Kemper's 18.3 yards/catch average is second among MIAC players with at least 30 receptions.

. 

permalink