Bledsoe leads Macalester with 17-for-18 effort
Macalester struck quickly with four first-quarter touchdowns and went on to roll past Crown 53-6 in the 2012 season-opener Saturday night at Macalester Stadium. Quarterback Clark Bledsoe (Sr., Jacksonville, Fla. / Episcopal) completed all but one of his aerial attempts, going 17-for-18 (94%) for 228 yards, passing for one touchdown and running for another before leaving the game midway through the third quarter.
The Scots out-gained the Storm 450-171 in total yardage, 23-9 in first downs, and held Crown off the scoreboard until the game's final play. Macalester posted its highest point total since '07.
T. Joe Loiselle (Sr., Chippewa Falls, Wis.), the school's all-time rushing leader, carried the ball 18 times for 92 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and Mike Adams (Sr., Chippewa Falls, Wis.) added two TD's, finishing with 58 yards on seven carries.
Riley Koval (Sr., Mount Horeb, Wis.) was Bledsoe's top target, grabbing five passes for 58 yards, while John Johnson (Jr., McKenzie, Tenn.) caught four passes for 39. Ben Hillman (So., Watertown, Minn. / Watertown-Mayer) made the most of his lone catch, going for a 55-yard catch-and-run touchdown.
Auburn Jimenez (Jr., Los Angeles, Calif. / St. John Bosco) averaged 48 yards on his two punts, and kicked six extra points and a field goal.
The Scots, who snapped a string of four straight season-opening defeats, sacked the Crown QB three times and picked off three passes, getting interceptions from David Melms (Sr., Wauwatosa, Wis. / Wisconsin Lutheran), who ran it back 22 yards for a score and a 34-0 Mac lead early in the second quarter, as well as Aaron Gallegos (Sr., Lakeville, Minn. / North) and Nick Sia (Fy., Gambrills, Md. / South River).
Macalester tackle leaders were Spencer Robinson (Sr., Chattaroy, Wash. / Riverside) with seven stops and Jole Miller (So., Missouri Valley, Ia.) with five.
Crown scored on the game's final play, an 8-yard pass from Wes Safford to Terrell Thomas to cap a quick 69-yard drive. Safford was 18-for-32 for 148 yards. Eli Dahl led the defense with nine tackles.
The Scots play Concordia (Wis.) for the first time ever next Saturday (Sept. 8) at Macalester Stadium at 1 p.m. on "Clovis Ray Day." The college will honor former football player Clovis Ray '99, who was killed in Afghanistan this past spring while leading his U.S. Army infantry platoon in Kunar Province.
