3 days Ago By Andy Rennecke
COLLEGEVILLE — The real fun is about to begin for St. John's. After dismantling St.
Olaf in a 55-6 MIAC win on Saturday, Nov. 9, at Clemens Stadium, every opponent from here on out will provide a challenge for the No. 3 Johnnies (7-0 MIAC, 9-0 overall).
SJU, the MIAC Northwoods Division champion, will host Skyline Division champion Bethel in the conference championship game at noon on Nov. 16 in Collegeville. The Royals beat Concordia 49-16 Saturday in Moorhead to clinch the Skyline.
"It should be a really good game next week," St. John's quarterback Aaron Syverson said. "Bethel is playing really well and that's why you play football — to play against really good teams.
It's a big game. It's the MIAC championship. We're going to be really excited for it.
"Last year, we were pressing at this point and trying to make a statement every week. This year, it's not as much of that. We're just trying to be the best team we can be.
" The winner of the MIAC championship game will get an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs, which begin with a play-in round on Nov. 23. If the Johnnies win the MIAC championship, they most likely won't play until Nov.
30. After playing in the Nos. 3/4 seed game last season at Concordia for MIAC Championship Week, it's a completely different feeling for SJU this November.
"Last year at this time we had already lost two games," SJU head coach Gary Fasching said. "We felt like we were still a playoff team, but ultimately didn't get chosen. Our expectation at the beginning of the year was to have the MIAC championship game played at our place.
We've accomplished that. We're in the game, now we have to finish the job." St.
John's beat Bethel (6-1 MIAC, 8-1 overall) 45-20 back on Sept. 20 in Arden Hills. That was the MIAC opener for both teams, so a lot has changed since then.
And, the Royals haven't lost since playing the Johnnies . Since losing to SJU, Bethel has won six straight and outscored its opponents 350-31. "Their quarterback (Cooper Drews) was only in his third game at that point.
They're a completely different team now," Fasching said. "He's played really well for them. Other than Aaron, he might be the best quarterback in the league right now.
Their offense has changed and it's much more fluid now. "Look at the scores they're putting up, they're playing at a high level. It's not going to be an easy game.
I think both teams are better now then they were in Week 3." Syverson continued his remarkable senior season. He finished 25-of-28 passing for 438 yards with six touchdowns and an interception.
Syverson became the all-time MIAC and SJU passing yardage leader with the performance. He now has 11,646 yards for his career, which broke Jackson Erdmann's old record of 11,639. Erdmann set his record in 2019.
"Aaron is always a part of our offensive game plan each week. People don't realize the time he puts into this," Fasching said. "He's playing at such a high level right now and we're going to need him to do that the rest of the year.
" Syverson now has 134 career touchdown passes, which is five behind Erdmann's MIAC and SJU record of 139. Syverson admitted he didn't know about breaking the yardage mark until later in the game. "Records aren't what I play football for.
I've had a lot of great coaches and players around me that have helped," he said. "They make it pretty easy. It's easy to look good out there when you have guys making plays for you left and right.
" Senior wide receiver Marselio Mendez and junior wide receiver Dylan Wheeler were the biggest benefactors of another big day from their quarterback. Mendez had nine catches for 180 yards and three touchdowns and Wheeler had seven catches for 158 yards and three touchdowns. Mendez, who transferred from the North Dakota State College of Science in the summer of 2023, said he's been honored to play with Syverson the past two seasons.
"Coming out of JUCO, I was looking for a home. As a receiver, you can't get the ball unless you have a good quarterback," Mendez said. "Coming here, I knew of Aaron.
But he just showed me everything I heard of. He's a great person. "I'm so happy for him — he'll be in the record books forever now.
He should be because he's a very good quarterback. He had a great day." The Johnnies piled of 607 yards of total offense while limiting the Oles to 180 yards.
SJU's defense held St. Olaf quarterback Theo Doran to 153 passing yards and also sacked him for a 31-yard loss (linebacker Aiden McMahon finally wrapped Doran up) early in the second quarter. It was that kind of day for Doran and St.
Olaf (4-3 MIAC, 6-3 overall). Senior linebacker Cooper Yaggie led SJU with eight tackles and returned an interception of Doran for a 50-yard TD to open the third quarter. Since giving up 31 points at Concordia in a 38-31 win on Oct.
12, the Johnnies have given up a combined 13 points in their past four games. "We've been rolling since then. We're a tight-knit group of guys who love playing with each other," Yaggie said.
"We're acting like every game is our last one right now. We put pressure on (Doran) today and made it tough for him. Since it was Aiden's birthday, it made sense that he got the sack.
" Here is the complete box score from the game..
