Football to Host St. Thomas in Home Finale
Sean Smith catches a touchdown pass against UW-Eau Claire
Thursday, October 28, 2004 (4 years ago)
Welcome
Gustavus welcomes the University of St. Thomas to Lloyd Hollingsworth Field today for a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest. The Gusties enter the game with a record of 1-6 overall and 1-5 in the MIAC, while the Tommies come into this afternoon's match-up with a 5-1 overall mark, 4-1 in conference play. Last week, Gustavus lost 30-14 to UW-Eau Claire in Saint Peter, while St. Thomas defeated Carleton 38-7 in St. Paul.
The Gusties will look to play spoiler this week against a Tommy squad that has won four straight games and worked its way back into contention for the MIAC title. Coach Jay Schoenebeck and his squad are focused on improving each game and finishing the season on a positive note to build confidence for the future. St. Thomas is hoping to finish with a flurry and chase down Concordia for a share of the league title.
As is tradition at Gustavus, the final home game of the regular season is dedicated as Senior Day and a special tribute is made to the individuals who have committed themselves to Gustavus football for the past four years. This year, the athletics department, Coach Schoenebeck and his staff, parents, and fans salute the eight seniors who have represented the Gustavus football program with pride and class from 2001 to the present. We thank them all for their efforts and wish them the very best in the challenges ahead.
The Series
This will be the 73rd meeting between Gustavus and St. Thomas. The series is currently tied with each team posting a record of 35-35-2. The Gusties moved back to .500 against the Tommies with a convincing 21-0 win in St. Peter last year. It was the first time that Gustavus had shutout Saint Thomas in 23 years (26-0 in 1980). Traditionally, games between the Gusties and Tommies are closely contested. Five of the past seven games have been decided by a touchdown or less, with three of those games being decided in the final minute of play.
Meet the Head Coaches
Gustavus Head Coach Jay Schoenebeck ('80) is in his eleventh season at the helm of the Gusties with a career record of 53-54, 48-45 in the MIAC. Schoenebeck's squads have placed in the top four in the MIAC for six consecutive seasons. St. Thomas Head Coach Don Roney is in his seventh season coaching his alma mater. Through that time he has accumulated an overall record of 40-26.
A Look at Today's Game
A Glimpse of the Gusties
The Gusties close out their 2004 home schedule today against a St. Thomas team that lost in the first week of MIAC play to Concordia, but has posted four straight wins since that opening defeat. Coach Jay Schoenebeck's squad will be looking to spoil the Tommies hopes of chasing down Concordia for the league title, while posting their second straight win in this 73rd meeting of the series.
The Gusties once again hung in there with a top ten team last week, but ended up losing to #8 UW-Eau Claire 30-14. Consistency was once again a problem for this young Gustie squad. They stayed close for three quarters, but then allowed their opponent to pull away in the fourth quarter. Offensively, freshman running back Mitch Anderson turned in a strong performance after entering the game in the second quarter when Drew Stifter suffered a hip injury. Anderson finished with 35 yards rushing on nine attempts and 70 yards receiving on six catches. Defensively, middle linebacker Isaac Sieling continued to set the pace with 20 tackles. Safeties Chris Thorson and Kevin Hegland provided solid support in the secondary with eight tackles and one interception each.
The Gusties have played very well in spots this season, however they have not been able to sustain a high level of play for four quarters. Starting and finishing games has been a problem for Schoenebeck's squad this season. Gustavus has been outscored by 71 points in the first and fourth quarters, while playing their opponents even in the middle two quarters scoring 110 points and giving up 113. The team stayed true to form last week, scoring once in the second quarter and once in third quarter, but failing to score in the first or fourth quarters.
A View of the Tommies
Saint Thomas comes to Gustavus as one of the hottest teams in the MIAC after defeating Carleton 38-7 last week and extending its winning streak to four games. The Tommies were sparked by senior running back Peter Ridley who rushed for 314 yards and three touchdowns. Ridley broke a 35-year old conference record for yards rushing in a game, which was 311 yards set by Terry Graff of Macalester in 1969. While the offense was rolling up 443 yards of total offense, the defense was forcing five turnovers and limiting the Knights to 243 yards of total offense. Senior linebacker Joe Skaja had three tackles, an interception and forced a fumble.
Saint Thomas enters the game ranked sixth in the league in total offense with an average of 329.6 yards per game and fourth in total defense allowing an average of 300.2 yards per game. The offense has been very balanced rushing for 782 yards and passing for 866 yards. The defense has been very opportunistic forcing 17 turnovers. The Tommies lead the MIAC in turnover margin at +10.
Individually, running back Peter Ridley ranks third in the league in rushing with an average of 107.4 yards per game, while quarterback Ryan Jansen ranks fourth in passing with an average of 152.8 yards per game. Jansen has thrown only two interceptions all season. Ridley, who also returns punts and kicks for the Tommies leads the MIAC in all-purpose yards with an average of 193.8 yards per game. Defensively, Ben Kessler ranks second in the league in sacks and John Kaiser ranks second in tackles for loss. Linebacker Andy Ubbelohde, who missed last week's game with an injury, is the team's leading tackler with 37 (19 solo, 18 assists).
Game Notes
Senior Sendoff -- Eight seniors will play their final home game as Golden Gusties today. This group has helped the Gusties post a mark of 24-23 overall and 22-18 in the MIAC over the past four years. In spite of its relatively small size, this group has set a great example for the program by its performance on the field and its work ethic during practices. Off the field, this group has excelled in the classroom posting a group cumulative grade point average of 3.26. Two members of this group, Isaac Sieling and Kris Storvick earned MIAC Scholar Athlete Honors for maintaining a cumulative grade point average above 3.50.
Sieling Nears Single Season Tackle Mark - Gustavus senior linebacker Isaac Sieling recorded his third 20-tackle game of the season when he posted 20 tackles (8 solo, 12 assists) against UW-Eau Claire last Saturday. Sieling has recorded 120 tackles in seven games (37 solo, 83 assists) and needs 16 tackles in the team's last three games to break the school record for tackles in a season which is 136 set by Brian Bergstrom in 1999. Sieling leads Division III in tackles with an average of 17.14 per game.
A Look Ahead -- Head Coach Jay Schoenebeck has released the 2005 Golden Gustie football schedule and it begins on September 10th with a home game against Wheaton College. The rest of the schedule includes Hamline (Away) on September 17, Saint John's (Home) on September 24, Concordia (Away) on October 1, Augsburg (Home- Homecoming) on October 8, St. Olaf (Away) on October 15, Wisconsin-Eau Claire (Away) on October 22, St. Thomas (Away) on October 29, Carleton (Home) on November 5 and Bethel (Home) on November 12. The 2005 season will be the 90th season in the history of Gustavus football.
Spilseth Moves Past Century Mark -- Senior defensive tackle Karl Spilseth recently recorded his 100th career tackle at Gustavus. A four-year letterwinner, Spilseth has compiled 111 career tackles including 45 solo and 66 assisted tackles. A second-generation Golden Gustie football player, Spilseth follows his father Don (1970-73) and brother Ben (1999-2002) to Gustavus. Karl has started 17 consecutive games for the Gusties and played in 34 of 37 games in his career.
Stolp Sets Rookie Passing Mark - Freshman quarterback Jordan Stolp has broken the Gustavus freshman passing record for passing yards and tied the school record for touchdown passes. Stolp, a Mankato native, has completed 115-of-215 passes for 1,397 yards and 11 touchdowns with five interceptions. The old record for yards passing by a freshman was 1,027 by Brad Baker in 1976. Baker also threw for 11 touchdown passes that season. Stolp currently leads the MIAC in passing with an average of 213.2 yards per game. He has thrown at least one touchdown pass in every game this season.
Fond Farewell to a Gustie Coaching Legend -- Dennis Raarup will coach his final game on the Gustavus football field today after walking the sidelines for the past 31 years. The winningest head coach in Gustavus football history with 99 wins, Raarup has been an assistant or head coach for the Gusties since 1968. This will be the 305th time that Dennis has walked on to the field as a coach of the Golden Gusties.
STARTING LINEUPS
Gustavus Adolphus College
OFFENSE
08 Sean Smith WR
17 Kerry Zajicek WR
68 Andy Klaers LT
76 Brian Trussell LG
68 Dan Tiegen C
79 Mark Iverson RG
70 Anders Haugen RT
85 Jamie Germschied TE
03 Clint Riegelman WR
11 Jordan Stolp QB
31 Blake Thiesen RB
05 Drew Stifter RB
DEFENSE
52 Adam Miron LE
94 Karl Spilseth LT
53 Nick David RT
27 Jerry Millan RE
47 Jon Horbacz SAM
99 Isaac Sieling MIKE
04 Jared Sieling WILL
32 Wade Vrieze CB
36 Tyler Ringquist S
16 Kevin Hegland S
21 Brian Evans CB
SPECIAL TEAMS
16 Kevin Hegland LS
15 A.J. Bouquet H
32 Wade Vrieze KR
29 Loren Havemeier KR/PR
11 Jordan Stolp K
22 Mike Leonard P
University of St. Thomas
OFFENSE
07 Ryan Jansen QB
21 Peter Ridley RB
26 Joe Lepsche FB
65 Sam Friedrichs LT
69 Graham Gmach LG
53 Brock Norman C
79 Ben Hanson RG
74 Greg Graham RT
87 Peter Rosholt TE
84 P.J. Theisen FL
04 Joel Korte WR
DEFENSE
49 Luke Rezac DE
93 Mike Rouse DT
66 Ben Kessler DT
44 John Kaiser DE
48 Justin Thom OLB
33 Joe Skaja ILB
38 Dustin Peltier OLB
37 Matt Meunier SS
24 Paul Sommerstad FS
32 Steve Groth CB
41 Jeremy Krentz CB
SPECIAL TEAMS
69 Graham Gmach LS
18 J.J. Kirby H
06 Walter Dosh KR
21 Peter Ridley KR/PR
88 Adam Valenta K
31 Chris Husby P
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