1 week Ago By Andy Rennecke
COLLEGEVILLE — Marselio Mendez had one catch at halftime of the MIAC championship game on Saturday, Nov. 16, at Clemens Stadium. But the St.
John's senior wide receiver didn't get down on himself with his team clinging to a 13-9 lead over Bethel. "I was trying to get open and trying too hard to make plays in the first half," Mendez said. "In the second half, I went out there and kept a positive mind-set.
The ball just started coming to me." The Cretin-Derham Hall graduate finished with seven catches for 154 yards and the two TDs to help the No. 3 Johnnies to a 41-33 win over the No.
24 Royals in front of 8,639 fans. The victory clinched an NCAA Division III playoff berth for St. John's (8-0 MIAC, 10-0 overall).
"This is my first time playing in the NCAA Tournament," said Mendez, who transferred to St. John's in the summer of 2023 after two seasons at the North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton. "We had a nasty taste in our mouth after not making the playoffs last year.
This feels good. "No matter what, we still feel that from last year. We're really motivated right now.
" After Bethel cut the lead to 20-16 with 9:14 left in the third, Mendez went to work with senior quarterback Aaron Syverson . Mendez had three catches for 82 yards on the ensuing drive and ended it with a 38-yard touchdown pass from Syverson with 5:23 left to put the Johnnies up 27-16. Bethel cut the lead to one possession again at 27-19 after a 32-yard field goal from Hugo Cifuentes to start the fourth quarter.
But Mendez was there to respond. A 7-play, 75-yard drive ended with Syverson finding Mendez for a 22-yard TD pass with 11:50 left to give SJU a 34-19 edge. And, to make it even more impressive, Mendez had two catches for 49 yards leading up to the TD.
"I know Marselio was frustrated at halftime — and rightfully so," said Syverson, who finished 32-of-44 passing for 419 yards and five TDs. "It wasn't anything with him, I just wasn't getting the ball to him. I knew we were going to turn it around because he's really, really good.
"Marselio's a goofball. But I knew he was going to fit in here right away when he transferred. He was himself right away and always comfortable around the guys.
" Not to be outdone was the play of SJU senior wide receiver Dylan Wheeler, who finished with nine catches for 115 yards and three TDs. No one was bigger than Wheeler's 16-yard fade catch for a TD with 3:18 left to give the Johnnies a 41-26 lead. "That's just what Dylan does on those fades.
He's caught everyone I've thrown to him in the end zone this year," Syverson said. "Most people think that's a 50-50 ball, but with him it's like a 95-5 ball in our favor. He's unbelievable.
" The drive was kept alive by a 16-yard catch from Zach Frank — an SJU defensive lineman who lines up in the backfield in short-yardage situations — on a 4th-and-1 play from the 32-yard line. Wheeler hauled in his third TD catch a play later. Frank and the Johnnies have practiced the play all season — and even run it at times in games — but Frank didn't have a reception until Saturday.
Frank had a 17-yard catch in the first quarter on the same play and finished with two catches for 33 yards. Frank, who was a tight end at Centennial High School, had a big smile on his face when asked about the play after the game. "We've run it a few times, but teams always covered me on it during the season," Frank said.
"I wasn't nervous in that situation. Since we run it every week in practice, that helped me a lot. I knew what I had to do when the play was called.
"I've only dropped it once or twice in practice this year. That gave me a lot of confidence. I love that it happened today.
It meant a lot." Bethel scored less than two minutes after Wheeler's TD to make it 41-33 when Royals quarterback Cooper Drews found Joey Kidder for a 23-yard TD. The Royals attempted an onside kick, but SJU's Cooper Yaggie recovered it.
However, Bethel (6-2 MIAC, 8-2 overall) forced the Johnnies to punt and got the ball back on their own 20 after a touch-back with 1:08 to go. After one first down, SJU's defense came up big when it had to and ended things when cornerback Blake Simonson intercepted a pass from Drews with 15 seconds left. The Royals finished with four turnovers while the Johnnies had none.
St. John's head coach Gary Fasching gave Simonson a bear hug after the clinching turnover. "They had run that play a bunch of times," Simonson said.
"We knew that was their third-down play after watching film. The minute Drews looked at me, I was ready to jump it. It's awesome when you can make a play like that to win a ball game.
" Bethel outgained St. John's 411-410 in total offense. The Johnnies gave up 137 yards rushing and Drews went 32-of-49 for 274 yards with four TDs and the interception at the end.
St. John's special teams play bailed the offense and defense out with two fumble recoveries off a muffed kick return and punt return by the Royals. The Johnnies scored after both turnovers (including a field goal in the first quarter), but none was bigger than junior Charlie Ryks' punt fumble recovery off a muffed catch by Bethel's Isaac Call with 5:54 left.
The recovery set up Frank's heroics — and Wheeler's touchdown catch — to give the Johnnies the momentum back after Bethel's defense had forced them to punt while clinging to a one-possession lead. "In a game like this, special teams can be a deciding factor," Fasching said. "Both of those recoveries gave us great field position and we scored on both of them.
Our specials teams have been good all year. It's why you have to be great in all three phases." The Division III playoff selection show is slated to begin at 4 p.
m. on Sunday at NCAA.com.
Knowing a playoff berth has already been clinched going into it will be a different feeling from last November when the 8-2 Johnnies were left out of the 32-team playoff field. St. John's most likely won't play next until Saturday, Nov.
30. The D-III playoffs were expanded to include 40 teams this season (28 automatic berths, 12 at-large selections). "To not have to be uneasy (Sunday), that's a nice feeling compared to last year," Syverson said.
"I'm just really proud of this team." Notes Bethel junior quarterback Devin Williams was ejected for the first half after a targeting penalty on St. John's tight end Joey Gendreau with six minutes left in the first quarter.
The referees reviewed the hit at halftime to see if Williams could play in the second half, but he was ejected for the entirety of the game after they ruled the hit severe enough. Williams' ejection came with an announcement from head referee Nate Meissner before the start of the second half. "Williams is a good player and you hate to see that, but I don't think it had an impact on the game," Fasching said.
"I'm actually not a fan of that rule. I understand it's a safety issue. It didn't change our game plan at all.
We didn't go after the guy who came in for him. We kept going with our normal plan." St.
John's senior linebacker Hayden Sanders left the game with a knee injury early in the second half, but returned and finished with six tackles. Senior linebacker Cooper Yaggie and sophomore linebacker Aiden McMahon led the Johnnies with nine tackles each. Bethel quarterback Cooper Drews (9) just gets the ball off before being tackled by St.
John's linebacker Hayden Sanders (43) in the first half Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, at Clemens Field in Collegeville. Kimm Anderson / For St.
Cloud LIVE St. John's offensive line gave up eight sacks. The Johnnies were held to (minus)-9 yards rushing by the Royals.
"That's going to have to improve in the playoffs," Fasching said. "Bethel has a good defense, but we can't expect to win in the playoffs if we can't run the ball." Here is a complete box score from the game.
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