DULUTH, Minn. (
csssaints.com) – Season No. 10 kicks off for the St. Scholastica football program on Saturday and for the second straight year it will face a top 10 nationally-ranked Saint John's University squad at Clemons Stadium.
Where:
Clemons Stadium – Collegeville, Minn.
When:
Saturday at 1 p.m.
Watch: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/csbsju/
Live Stats: http://portal.stretchinternet.com/csbsju/
Game Notes vs. Saint John's
Social Media:
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/CSSSAINTSFB
Instagram:
www.instagram.com/csssaintsfb
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/StScholasticaFootball
St. Scholastica Saints
2016 Stats
2016 Record: 7-3, 7-2 UMAC
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference: Standings | Stats
Offensive Outlook:
The Saints will be youthful on the offensive side, but plenty of the underclassman have seen the field the last couple of seasons … The biggest question mark for the Saints will be at quarterback … Sophomores
Eric Soderberg (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids HS) and
Zach Edwards (West St. Paul, Minn./Henry Sibley HS) will both see time … Both saw action at the position last year with Edwards starting one game … Soderberg scored the first touchdown of the 2016 season against Saint John's … On the offensive line, senior center Elliot Simon will be in his third year as a starter … The Saints have added more depth to the group that has seen injury problems the last few seasons … Senior
Andy Lawrence (Boise, Idaho/Bishop Kelly HS) started seven games last season, while junior
Blake Hartmann (Andover, Minn./Andover HS) started five games in 2016 … In the backfield, the Saints return leading rusher
Ben Buthe (New Prague, Minn./New Prague HS) … In his sophomore season Buthe ran for 497 yards, averaging 5.0 yards per carry … CSS also returns sophomores
Teddy Gildersleeve (Osceola, Wis./Osceola HS) and
Jeff LeMay (Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View HS) … Gildersleeve averaged 5.4 yards per carry thru the first five games before suffering an injury … LeMay started the final six games of last season and will lineup in a variety of positions … At wide receiver, the Saints bring back
Aaron Olson (Esko, Minn./Esko HS), who had a standout sophomore campaign … Olson set a program record and tied for a NCAA Division III high with 18 TD receptions in 2016 … The Saints will have to find a second target to Olson, however … Senior
Hunter Thompson (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo HS) may be limited in his senior season due to injury … Other than Thompson, the next leading returning receiver is Buthe followed by defensive back
Jack Peru (Phoenix, Ariz./Trevor G. Browne HS (Phoenix College)).
Defensive Outlook:
The Saints bring back experience on the defensive side of the ball … Up front, senior
Jake Zoellick (Sarona, Wis./Rice Lake HS) leads the unit … Zoellick, a two-time Second Team All-UMAC selection has started all 21 games the past two seasons and led the team with 8.5 tackles and 3.5 sacks a year ago … Also back up front is junior
Jordan Kittelson (Avon, Minn./Albany HS) … Kittelson played in nine games as a sophomore and had a season-high eight tackles vs. Saint John's in the 2016 opener … Junior
Jonathan Senger (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo HS) is the top returning linebacker … Senger led the team in tackles last season and was a First Team All-UMAC choice … Fellow junior
Quinten McGregor (Northfield, Minn./Northfield HS) started five games last season … In the secondary, the Saints bring back plenty of experience led by senior
Kenneth Jinkins (West St. Paul, Minn./Henry Sibley HS) … Jinkins, along with Olson, was a D3football.com All-West Region Third Team selection in 2016 … Jinkins set a program record with 15 passes defended and ranked second in the region in forced fumbles … At corner, senior
Rick Johnson (Wrenshall, Minn./Esko HS) and sophomore
Will Halloran (Belle Plaine, Minn./New Prague HS) return … Halloran started the final five games of his freshman season, while Johnson started the first six games, before missing the rest of the year due to injury … Also in the mix will be senior
Nick Jerhoff (Eagan, Minn./South St. Paul HS), who is recovering from injury and should be ready to go at some point this season … Senior
Jack Peru (Phoenix, Ariz./Trevor G. Browne HS (Phoenix College)) also returns to the secondary … Peru was a Second Team All-UMAC choice in his first season as a Saints and he was a contributor on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.
Special Teams Outlook:
Junior
Donovan Blatz (Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View HS) returns for his third season as the team's place kicker … Blatz has yet to miss a field goal attempt in his career (5-5) … Blatz will likely add punting duties to his resume this season replacing three-year punter
Jason Senger (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo HS (Gustavus Adolphus)) … Blatz will also see reps at defensive back this season … Jinkins, Buthe and Peru will all likely be the primary returners for the Saints this season … Jinkins has returned a kickoff and two punts for TDs in his career.
Coach Ramler Homecoming: St. Scholastica Head Coach
Kurt Ramler, a Johnnie Alum, begins his fourth season with the Saints … Ramler enters the season with a 26-6 mark in his first three seasons … He is two wins shy of 50 for his career, including his time at Carleton College … Ramler still holds the top three program records in Saint John's history for passing yards in a game and is the second winningest quarterback in Johnnie history.
Season Openers: The Saints are 3-6 all-time in season openers … CSS has not won a non-conference road game since defeating Lawrence University (Wis.) to open the 2011 season.
History Disparity: While the Saints will begin its 10
th season as a program on Saturday, Saint John's will open its 107
th year playing football.
QB Stability: Since the departure of Tyler Harper, the Saints have used six different starting quarterbacks the past two seasons, mostly due to injury … In the programs first seven seasons, the Saints had only five different starting quarterbacks.
Limit Turnovers: CSS committed 29 turnovers last season, which ranked near the most in NCAA Division III last season and was the second-most among UMAC teams … 19 of those 29 turnovers were interceptions, which matched a program-high
Top 5 Games to Watch
9/2 – at #10 Saint John's
The top non-conference matchup in the UMAC this season
9/23 – vs. Minnesota Morris
The Saints will hope to avenge one of last season's conference losses when the Cougars visit Public Schools Stadium
9/30 – at Northwestern
It will be Homecoming in Roseville when the Saints make the trip to the Twin Cities to face the reigning UMAC champions
10/28 – at Eureka
In the final meeting as conference members, the Saints will face the Red Devils, who were picked by D3football.com to win the UMAC this season
11/4 – vs. MacMurray
The Highlanders tied with the Saints for second last year and bring back the leading rusher in NCAA Division III in Chazz Middlebrook.
UMAC Preseason Poll
1. St. Scholastica – 73 points (3 First Place Votes)
2. Northwestern – 72 points (5 First Place Votes)
3. MacMurray – 61 points
4. Eureka – 54 points (2 First Place Votes)
5. Westminster – 49 points
6. Greenville – 41 points
7. Crown – 35 points
8. Minnesota Morris – 30 points
9. Iowa Wesleyan – 21 points
10. Martin Luther – 14 points
Upcoming Opponent
#10 Saint John's Johnnies
2016 Record: 10-2, 7-1 MIAC
For the third straight year, the Johnnies advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs in 2016 where it fell to eventual national runner-up University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh … Saint John's is one of only six Division III programs that have reached the second round of the playoffs each of the past three seasons … The Johnnies have been picked to place second in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) this season, receiving two first-place votes … Saint John's will return seven starters on offense and will be led by preseason D3football.com Second Team All-American receiver Evan Clark … Clark led SJU with 43 catches for 892 yards and 13 touchdowns last fall, and his 20.7 yards per reception was the fifth-best in a single season in school history … At quarterback sophomore Jackson Erdman returns, but missed the latter half of the season due to injury … His replacement, junior Ben Alvord, also returns … Alvord threw for over 1,100 yards and 11 touchdowns last season … Defensively, the Johnnies will have to replace graduating linebacker Carter Hansen, who won the Gagliardi Trophy last year … Saint John's ranked seventh in the nation in passing yards allowed, but only return one starter in the secondary … The strength of the Johnnie defense will be up front with many veterans returning.
Series Record: SJU leads 2-0
(Last Meeting: 49-7 SJU – 9/3/2016)
Series History: In last year's season opener in Collegeville, the Saints committed five turnovers and mustered only 97 yards of total offense … The Johnnies scored 21 points in the opening four minutes of the second half to put the game away … In the two meetings vs. Saint John's, CSS has committed 13 turnovers, including 12 interceptions.
Looking Ahead: The Saints open UMAC play at Greenville College (Ill.) on Saturday, September 9. Kickoff is scheduled for noon.
