NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Jonathan Singleton threw five touchdown passes in leading the Carleton College football team to a 56-27 victory over visiting Macalester College, leaving the Knights as the lone undefeated team in the MIAC this season.
With the win, Carleton (4-0, 2-0 MIAC) maintains possession of the series' traveling trophy—the Book of Knowledge—for the fourth consecutive year. The Knights are now 18-7 in Book of Knowledge games and 56-12-1 all-time versus Macalester (2-2, 0-2 MIAC).
"It's a great TEAM win," said Carleton head coach Tom Journell. "I am very proud of our effort and execution on offense, defense, and kicking. Our scholars deserve all the credit. Each week we practice and prepare like champions. Our expectations continue to be raised."
The Scots got off to a fast start, scoring on the first play from scrimmage via a 75-yard flea flicker touchdown pass from Michael Nadeau to Rex Dresso.
After punting on their first possession, the Knights got the ball right back when Ed Kotula intercepted Nadeau in Macalester territory. The Knights would find the end zone on eight of their next 10 possessions to run away with this one.
On Carleton's first scoring drive, Aiden Chang carried the ball seven times, including a one-yard touchdown run for his seventh rushing score of the season, tops among MIAC running backs. He would finish the day with 81 yards, pushing him past the 1000-yard mark for his career (1052 total rushing yards).
The teams exchanged punts until Isaac Simons and Kevin Xiong combined on a fourth-down sack of Nadeau to give the ball back to Carleton with 1:21 remaining in the first quarter.
That sack propelled the subsequent Carleton scoring drive. Singleton connected with Will Irons for a 45-yard pass that setup the Knights inside the five-yard line. The touchdown was scored soon after by Nick Toole with a 1-yard rush.
The Knights' first drive of the second quarter covered 69 yards, including a 28-yard scoring strike from Singleton to Beau Nelson. Macalester countered with an 11-play, 80-yard touchdown drive.
Jackson Cleveland had the Knights' second interception of the day, giving the hosts back the ball with 3:11 still to go before intermission. Carleton marched 75 yards on 11 plays, capped by Singleton hitting Ntense Obono for the first of his career-high three touchdown receptions on the day.
Leading 28-14 at the break, Carleton scored on each of its three possessions of the third quarter, drives that were capped by a Singleton touchdown tosses to Nelson (18 yards) and Obono (11 yards) before a 22-yard catch and run by Garrett Siff.
The second half ended with Carleton up 28-14, but the Knights showed no sign of stopping. Starting the third quarter, a combination of rushes to Chang and short passes to Beau Nelson gave Carleton their next score. The 18-yard pass to Nelson marked the team's fifth touchdown of the day, and Nelson's second. This also marks Nelson's 10th career receiving touchdown, second only to Obono.
The win was cemented by the Knights in the fourth quarter, with a drive led by rookie quarterback Jack Curtis (Charlotte, N.C./Ardrey Kell). His 42-yard pass to Tyler Dimond moved Carleton into the red zone, followed later by a 3-yard touchdown catch by Obono.
Singleton was 24-of-37 for 276 passing yards before yielding to the backups for the fourth quarter. This was his third career game with at least five TD passes, tying the school record. He also moved into second place in team history as he now has 5,404 career passing yards, only 25 shy of the school record.
Obono was Singleton's primary target, finishing the day with a career-high nine catches, including a career-best three touchdowns. Nelson finished with seven catches for 81 yards and two scores. Chang totaled a game-high 81 rushing yards on 17 carries.
Ryan McGregor led the Carleton defense with nine tackles, while Ryan Flanagan had eight stops.
Nadeau was 28-of-49 for 326 yards and three touchdowns. Desso and Nick Bice finished with 125 and 106 receiving yards, respectively.