SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus football team won its final home game of the season Saturday at Hollingsworth Field, defeating St. Olaf 29-14, improving to 7-2 overall, 5-2 in the MIAC, and 3-1 in the Northwoods Division. With the victory, the Gusties have secured a spot in the MIAC third-place matchup next Saturday at Concordia, who earned the Skyline Division's No. 2 seed with a 41-7 victory over Hamline today.
The Gustie run defense was stout all day, holding the Oles to -15 yards on the ground. The Oles turned one-dimensional with 278 passing yards for a total of 263 yards. The Gusties amassed 342 total yards – 276 through the air and 66 on the ground. Gustavus also continued its trend of controlling the ball with 37:46 time of possession.
"I really am pleased," Head Coach
Peter Haugen said. "Our defensive staff has done a great job and our defense certainly played really well. We put a lot of stress on our own defensive backs with the way we play. We did a great job against the run and pressured the quarterback. They did get a couple plays against us in the passing game but that is going to happen when you're doing as good as you are against the run."
Brett Hufendick (Sr., Edina) completed 30-of-41 passes for 276 yards, a touchdown, and an interception.
"I think there's still things within our offense that we need to clean up, but he made some really key throws in some key moments on third down and that really helped us," Haugen said.
Dalton Thelen (Sr., Cold Spring) had a game-high 11 receptions for 58 yards and a touchdown.
Jake Breitbach (So., Golden Valley) had 10 catches for a game-high 131 yards.
Andrew Abegglen (Jr., Mound) went 3-for-3 on field goals, including a career-long 42-yarder, and is now one made field goal shy of tying the program record of 13 field goals in a season.
Abegglen started the scoring with 8:30 remaining in the first quarter, connect on a 32-yard field goal.
Nicolas Negron (Sr., Dallas, Texas) intercepted a pass on the next possession, but the Gustie offense was unable to turn the turnover into points. On the next Gustie drive, Abegglen put the home team up 6-0 with a career-long 42-yard field goal with 13:42 left in the half.
The Oles took their only lead of the game at the 9:31 mark of the second quarter with a five-yard touchdown run, capping an eight-play, 80-yard drive. The Gusties immediately responded with a five-play, 65-yard drive, finished on a six-yard touchdown pass from Hufendick to Thelen. The extra point was no good and the Gusties led 12-7 with 7:38 left in the quarter.
A quick three-and-out led to an Ole punt and the Gusties then drove 46 yards in eight plays for the score.
Rohee Konde (So., Hopkins) had an eight-yard touchdown run, giving the Gusties a 19-7 advantage with 3:02 on the clock.
On the third play of the ensuing Ole drive,
Isaiah Chambers (So., Houston, Texas) forced a fumble, which was recovered by Carson Dekam (So., Owatonna) at the Gustie 46. The Gusties drive down to the Oles 6 and ended the first half with a 23-yard field goal by Abegglen, taking a 22-7 advantage into the locker room.
St. Olaf took its opening drive down to the Gustie 9, but turned the ball over on downs. The Gusties answered with a seven-play, 91-yard drive, capped by an 18-yard touchdown run by
Kevin Durham (Sr., Gaylord). The Gusties led 29-7 after three quarters.
The Oles made a bid for a fourth quarter comeback by scoring on a 33-yard touchdown reception, making the score 29-14 with 9:20 left in the game, but the Gusties were able to drain time off the clock and stopped the Oles on their final drive.
