Fast starts and fun finishes
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Fast start
St. John’s wasted no time in disposing of Marietta, 55-14, on Saturday and unknown wide receiver Ben Vanderheyden played a significant role. The sophomore wide receiver hauled in his first collegiate pass which just happened to go for a 6-yard touchdown to give the Johnnies a 17-0 lead. His second career touchdown, another 6-yard snare, put the Johnnies up 34-0 in the third quarter and sealed the victory. Vanderheyden finished the day with three receptions for 28 yards. He now trails Johnnie legend Blake Elliott by a mere 61 touchdowns for the Johnnies all-time touchdown receptions mark.
Almost a record in Week 1
So much for the hype in this showdown of top 15 teams. The UW-La Crosse used 678 yards of offense in their season-opening 47-21 romp at Hardin-Simmons University. The Eagles finished with 338 yards rushing and 340 passing. The 678 yards are the second-most in school history. UW-L finished with a school record 701 yards vs. Upper Iowa on Sept. 11, 1976.
New date, new fate
Last year, UW-River Falls threw four touchdown passes on the season. On Saturday, new Falcon quarterback Storm Harmon equaled that total in the first game throwing for 306 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. Similarly, the Concordia-Moorhead Cobbers threw one touchdown pass in 2006. On Saturday, Cobber quarterbacks Jesse Nelson and Andrew Larson each completed a touchdown pass including Larson’s to Nick Alton with 0:03 to play to seal the 34-32 victory for Concordia.
How’d they do that?
With 5:12 to go in the first quarter on Saturday the Central Dutch found themselves up 21-0 on the visiting St. Thomas Tommies. This is not all that interesting of a feat unless you notice their offense had only been on the field for one drive. It was their stingy defense that was responsible for a majority of that cushion. Linebacker Greg Altmaier returned a Tommie fumble 52 yards for a touchdown and Brett Doud returned a David Sauer interception 82 yards for a touchdown to sink the Tommies in a 21-0 deficit.
Central only got seven first downs and 105 yards over the final 51 minutes of the game but their early cushion would hold up for a 35-10 win.
Factor in the Tommies 98 plays and 379 yards of total offense compared to just 54 plays and 175 yards of total offense for the Dutch and Tommie fans are still scratching their heads on this one.
This is why games aren’t 59 minutes
UW-Stevens Point’s Dustin Robinson blocked a Webber International punt and Lincoln Berg recovered it in the end zone with 38 seconds left for the game-winning score as the Pointers pulled out a 13-7 win in Lake Wales, Fla. Dating to last season, the Pointers have won five consecutive games by a total of 16 points.
Sly as a… well, uh, Beaver
Buena Vista running back Michael Sly, was just that, sly, in a stellar performance defensively for the Beavers, registering 12.5 tackles, including nine solo and 2.5 for a loss. He returned a Ben Wetzell interception 48 yards for a touchdown and rushed three times for seven yards and a touchdown on offense. The senior also punted nine times for a 37.9 yard average, including a long of 46 yards.
There’s no “I” in team
UW-River Falls defeated Hope on Saturday 54-24 and just about everyone got in on the action. Eight players scored for the Falcons including Ryan Hansen, Corey Danielson, Michael Zweifel, Josh Grover, Dan Keller, Connor Graves, Ryan Luessenheide and Brandon Trzbiatowski.
On and Off
“On and Off” is a new feature of the Around the West weekly column. It highlights not only what a player does on the field on Saturday but also gives you a glimpse into his world off the field. After leading his team to a season opening win for the first time since 2000, Macalester’s Mr. Everything, Jacob McDonnell, is the focus of this inaugural feature.
On the field … McDonnell totaled a school record with 430 yards of total offense on Saturday in the Scots 34-21 victory against Beloit. Trailing 14-0, McDonnell’s 81-yard kickoff return sparked a string of 34 consecutive points for Macalester. He finished the day with 24 rushes for 143 yards, six receptions for 190 yards and two touchdowns (45 and 66 yard scores) and returned two kickoffs 97 yards including the touchdown.
His 430 yards is the most since Mac Russell from Hampden-Sydney racked up 462 against Bridgewater (Va.) in 2001 and he is the first 400-yard producer in the Division III ranks since 2002. The all-time NCAA Division III single-game record for all-purpose yards is 527 yards by Paul Smith of Gettysburg against Muhlenberg in 1999. Last year's single-game high in the nation was 375 yards.
Off the field …
Most dreaded class this fall: Environmental Economics and Policy
Favorite food: Lasagna
If you could have dinner with anyone past or present: Jim Brown
Childhood hero: Cris Carter
Favorite football team: Minnesota Vikings
Republican or Democrat: Democrat
Early riser or sleep in: Sleep in, definitely
Major: Economics
Favorite TV show: Entourage
Dorms or off-campus housing: Dorms
Favorite professor: Leola Johnson (Humanities and Media and Cultural Studies)
Why Macalester: Three things great education, location -- parents could watch me play and I could go home on occasion and Coach Caruso and his passion to turn around the program.
Notes, nuggets and things you might have missed
• St. John’s kicker Russell Gliadon’s became the first Johnnie kicker since Anthony Schmidt (Sept. 24, 2005 at Gustavus Adolphus) to make two field goals in a game.
• St. Thomas has lost nine of its last ten season openers.
• UW-Whitewater running back Justin Beaver inched closer to the Warhawk career rushing record, gaining 138 yards to put him at 4,267, with Chad Wurth (2000-2003) in the No. 1 spot at 4,301.
• Buena Vista beat Bethel for the first time in school history and won its first season opener since 2003 over Gustavus Adolphus.
• UW-Eau Claire held Southwest Minnesota State to 4 rushing yards in a 42-13 victory.
• UW-Stout coach Duey Naatz picked up his first career victory with a 24-19 victory over Menlo.
• Concordia held MSU Moorhead to -24 yards rushing in its 34-32 victory.
• Luther’s Mark Hendrickson intercepted St. Olaf quarterback Matt Penz's conversion pass and returned it the length of the field for two points. That’s 0.02 points per yard.
• UW-Oshkosh defeated Ripon 44-6 on Saturday marking their eighth straight win against the Red Hawks having outscored them 250-26 in those games.
Games to watch
NWC vs. SCIAC
Three games will be played this coming week between these two conferences including Occidental at Lewis and Clark, Pacific Lutheran at Cal Lutheran and Redlands at Whitworth. These games are for conference bragging rights and the NWC has established itself over the past several years as the better conference. Redlands has a chance to show they are back on the national scene with a good showing at Whitworth. Pacific Lutheran returns almost their entire offense and will look to pounce on Cal Lutheran while they get adjusted to a new quarterback and a new head coach. Occidental is the heavy favorite over Lewis and Clark which is looking to continue its revival after canceling the remainder of their season in 2005 for lack of players.
Willamette at Gustavus Adolphus, 1 p.m., St. Peter, Minn.
This game is the back end of a home and away series which Gustavus won last season 35-7. It will be the first game played in the new Gustavus football stadium. Willamette has a game under its belt losing in Week 1, 23-9 to Western Oregon. Gustavus, who could be a sleeper in the MIAC this season, returns a majority of its offense and will count on four-year starter Jordan Stolp at quarterback to lead the charge.
No. 3 St. John’s at UW-River Falls, 1 p.m., River Falls, Wis.
UW-River Falls put up a surprising 505 yards of total offense in Week 1, including 336 through the air in beating Hope 54-24. The Falcons have left their wishbone past completely behind them, and after passing just 13 times against St. John’s in 2006, will present an entirely different look to the Johnnies in 2007. St. John’s comes in off a 55-14 drubbing of Marietta and won last year’s meeting 41-9.