Promises ring true for a half-century
St. John's disposed of the Gusties 42-14 on Saturday in Collegeville head coach John Gagliardi once again made true on a victory promise made many, many years ago. 
It was 1953 when a 26-year-old Gagliardi found himself at St. John’s, seated at a table, surrounded by monks who wanted answers to several questions. Specifically, without scholarships, they wondered if Gagliardi could beat reigning conference titans St. Thomas and Gustavus Adolphus?
“I didn't know any better,” Gagliardi recollected. “I said sure.”
He made true on his prediction that first year dropping Gustavus 21-7, thus ending the Gusties’ 21-game conference winning streak. Fifty-one years later, the Johnnies victory over Gustavus extended their own conference winning streak to 26 games. In between Gagliardi’s naïve assumption has resulted in a 31-17-3 record against the Gusties including seven in a row and 17 of the last 18 matchups.
Enough already
SCIAC favorite Redlands finally stopped the bleeding on Saturday after dropping four straight games dating back to last season. After losing to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Linfield to end last season, the Bulldogs opened the 2004 campaign losing games to Whitworth and Trinity (Texas). On Saturday, they defeated Chapman for their first win of the season. Even with two losses to open the 2004 season, Redlands is in familiar territory. They dropped their first two games in 2002 and 2003 before going on to win the SCIAC and advance to the national playoffs.
Streakin’
Off to a suspiciously slow start the Wartburg Knights may have righted the ship on Saturday when they extended two double digit streaks. In front of a Homecoming crowd of 6,250 the Knights won their 10th home game in a row and extended their victory streak vs. rival Luther to 13 consecutive games with a 16-7 victory. Up next for Wartburg is Simpson, a team they will look to extend their current six game win streak against.
Oops!
On Saturday, two of the MIAC’s biggest up-and-coming stars, St. John’s freshman quarterback Alex Kofoed and Bethel sophomore Phil Porta accounted for six turnovers — luckily, both their teams were able to remain undefeated in conference play. Porta fumbled three times, to the dismay of Bethel fans, but was also able to pile up 186 yards rushing on 29 carries and two touchdowns to defeat Hamline 21-6. Kofoed had 17 receptions on the day but three went to the wrong team. The 14 receptions that went to his own receivers tallied 180 yards and four touchdowns. St. John’s defeated Gustavus 42-14.
Box score confusion
Looking at the box score, it appeared Lewis and Clark should have picked up its first win of the season over Colorado College. Unfortunately, for the Pioneers they ended up on the short end of the stick 22-6. Lewis & Clark held a 16 minute advantage in time of possession and outgained Colorado College 333 yards to 242 yards. Colorado College capitalized on their four sacks, two interceptions and 40 yard punt average to outscore the Pioneers and send them to 0-2 on the season.
The kick is up…
In Bethel’s first two games, they missed one extra point and four of seven two point conversions. This resulted in a split with IIAC foes Buena Vista and Central. Since the overtime loss to the Dutch, the Royals have not attempted a single two point conversion and have kicked nine consecutive PATs — all by receiver Zach Ludvigson.
The decoy
Simpson is usually in bad shape when Dusty Kain hauls in four catches for five yards and no touchdowns but that wasn’t the case Saturday. While Kain spent the afternoon with linebackers jamming him at the line of scrimmage and two defensive backs shadowing his every move in the secondary, Kyle Peterson was torching the Dubuque Spartans for a 66-yard touchdown and 111 yards on four catches. Even Kain’s younger brother, freshman Trent Kain, got in on the action with two catches for 8 yards and a touchdown. Usually, the go-to guy for Simpson, Dusty Kain spent Saturday as the decoy and it worked well for Simpson as they dropped Dubuque for the 18th consecutive time, 31-13.
Flip flop
With 8:20 to play in the second quarter of Luther’s second game of the season they had out scored their opponents 75-6. Since that time they have been outscored by their opponents 97-37 — including St. Olaf 32-0, Coe 49-30 and Wartburg 16-7.
Now that’s special
St. Thomas had a huge day on special teams in their come-from-behind 28-21 win against Augsburg. Trailing 14-7 in the third, Luke Rezac returned a blocked punt 18 yards for a touchdown to even the score. Later in the fourth, Peter Ridley returned a punt 62 yards for a touchdown to knot it up at 21-21.
GET to the GAME!!
Central at Coe, 1 p.m., Cedar Rapids, Iowa: These two teams have been a virtual mirror of each other since the 2002 season. Two years ago they shared the IIAC title along with Wartburg but followed it up in 2003 with disappointing 5-5 seasons including 3-5 conference records. So far in 2004, both teams have lost just one game and are undefeated in IIAC play. Coe has benefited greatly from freshman running back Neil Suckow on offense who has rushed for 153 yards per game and eight touchdowns. Central has already knocked Bethel out of the Top 25 and beat Simpson and Loras, picked by the coaches to finish 2nd and 3rd, in the IIAC. They are led by linebacker Mark Sanger who looks to end his IIAC career like his three brothers before him — with an IIAC conference championship.
Wartburg at Simpson, 1 p.m., Indianola, Iowa: IIAC coaches pick these two teams to finish one-two at the top of the IIAC this season but both teams have struggled so far to live up to the expectation. Wartburg has had close games with Augsburg and Buena Vista beating the Auggies on a last second field goal and losing to the Beavers on the same play. They are coming off a 16-7 victory against Luther to even their conference record at 1-1. They only lost one game in the IIAC during the 2002 and 2003 seasons. Simpson, picked to finish second in the IIAC, has struggled to find a replacement for quarterback Mike Donnenwerth. The Storm scored only 26 points total in their first two games including a loss to Central. Their 31-point outburst against Dubuque last week could be a sign that the offense is getting back on the right track. Wartburg will need to keep an eye on wide receiver Dusty Kain at all times — the All American is due for a huge game receiving.
Linfield at Pacific Lutheran, 1:30 p.m, Tacoma, Wash.: It seems to be the game of the year in the NWC every year — one of those games where you throw out the records and stats and anything written on paper and let the two teams duke it out. Linfield has won three of the last five matchups between the rivals but only by nine points last year at home. Linfield is coming off the bye week after an impressive win on the road in Stevens Point, Wis., over the Pointers. Pacific Lutheran just defeated its visitors from Wisconsin, UW-River Falls, 28-24. Both teams are undefeated on the season but Linfield is ranked No. 2 while PLU has received 54 votes but has yet to crack the Top 25. PLU will bring in a solid defense as their offense continues to work out the kinks. Linfield brings in one of the fastest offenses in the country with the ability to put up points fast.
Thanks to help from Northwest Conference fans, I’ll be able to bring you a first-hand report from this game next week.