NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Senior quarterback Ricardo Johnson III accounted for 414 yards and five total touchdowns to spur the St. Olaf College football team to a 34-29 victory over visiting Luther College in the Oles' home opener on Saturday afternoon at Klein Field at Manitou.
Box Score
Johnson III ran for 192 yards and two touchdowns and added 222 yards and three touchdowns and accounted for all 414 yards of offense in the victory for St. Olaf (2-0). The Oles built a 28-3 lead late in the first half, but had to hold on with a defensive stand in the final minute to hold off Luther (0-2) and improve to 2-0 for the first time since 2012. The victory also snapped St. Olaf's five-game losing streak in the series with the Norse.
After trimming a 25-point deficit down to five in the fourth quarter, Luther's defense stopped St. Olaf on a fourth-down play with 3:03 remaining to get the ball back at its own 44-yard line and proceeded to move the ball inside the red zone at the St. Olaf 13-yard line. Following a pair of rushes and a false start that forced Luther into a third-and-14 situation, junior Marcel Diggs broke up a pair of passes to force a turnover on downs and allow St. Olaf to take two knees and end the game.
Johnson III completed 12-of-26 passes for 222 yards, including touchdowns of 49, 20 and 47 yards, and averaged nearly nine yards per carry, gaining 192 yards on 22 rushes. The senior ran for touchdowns of two and 23 yards. His favorite target was junior Gonzalo Pirela, who hauled in six passes for 109 yards and a touchdown. First-year Gabe Alada caught a 47-yard touchdown in the victory, while senior tight end Ben Smithson also caught a touchdown for the second-straight week after being on the receiving end of a 20-yard connection with Johnson III.
Luther opened the scoring on a 41-yard field goal by Jonah Zaimes with 3:17 left in the first quarter, but the lead lasted just over a minute after Johnson III found a streaking Pirela in behind the Luther defense on a play-action pass for a 49-yard touchdown with 1:59 remaining in the opening quarter. On the next possession for the Norse, sophomore Jordan Bartholomew recovered a fumble and the Oles needed just two plays to go ahead 14-3, scoring on a 23-yard keeper by Johnson III.
Johnson III hit Smithson for a 20-yard touchdown, one play after a roughing the passer penalty prolonged St. Olaf's first possession of the second quarter, to make it a 21-3 lead. After a three-and-out by the Ole defense, the offense covered 78 yards in seven plays, culminating in a 47-yard scoring pass from Johnson III to Alada, giving the Oles a 28-3 advantage with 5:54 left in the half.
Luther cut the St. Olaf lead to 28-15 at the half with a pair of touchdowns in the final two minutes. Ian Kuykendall found Justin Montgomery on a nine-yard fade in the corner of the end zone with 1:56 left, although a bad snap on the . After an interception on the first play of the ensuing drive set up the Norse at the St. Olaf six-yard line, Kuykendall snuck in from a yard out to make it a two-score game, although Luther could not capitalize on either extra-point attempt.
The score remained 28-15 until the Oles put together a 10-play drive, including a 30-yard Johnson III scamper on a third and six play, that ended in a two-yard Johnson III run to stretch St. Olaf's lead back to 34-15. The Norse responded with a 10-play, 75-yard drive of their own that Kuykendall capped with his second rushing touchdown of the game, bringing the score to 34-22.
On the first possession of the fourth quarter, Luther got within five, 34-29, as Yassine Ouazzani barreled in from two yards out. The Norse threatened to take the lead shortly thereafter, taking over at the St. Olaf 20-yard line following a mishap on a punt, but Bartholomew and Shiloh Goodwin stuffed Ouazzani for a two-yard loss on a fourth-and-one play at the St. Olaf 11-yard line to preserve the lead. The pair of failed point-after-touchdown attempts late in the second quarter prevented Luther from being in position to kick a game-tying field goal.
The St. Olaf defense forced Luther to turn the ball over on downs inside the St. Olaf 20-yard line on each of the Norse's final two possessions of the game. Senior Luke Dahl had a game-high 12 tackles for the Oles, including eight solo stops and 1.5 tackles for a loss. Bartholomew added nine tackles, 2.5 tackles for a loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
St. Olaf outgained Luther by a 414-329 margin and converted on 7-of-11 third-down conversions in the win. The Oles limited the Norse to 2-for-5 on fourth down to help overcome four turnovers of their own.
The Oles open Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play with a trip across the Cannon River to face Carleton College on Saturday, Sept. 15. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Laird Stadium.