NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College football team pulled away from Luther College over the middle two quarters to pick up its first victory of the season by a 55-27 score on Saturday afternoon at Klein Field at Manitou.
Sophomore Christian Graske, senior Jordan Embry, and senior Payton Schott all scored a pair of touchdowns for St. Olaf (2-2), which got five total touchdowns from sophomore quarterback Theo Doran in the win. Luther (0-2) led 15-14 five minutes into the second quarter before the Oles scored 27 of the next 33 points in the game to open up a 48-21 lead midway through the third quarter.
Doran was 13-for-23 for 291 yards with a career-high-tying four touchdowns and one interception and added a rushing touchdown. Schott hauled in touchdowns of 56 and 38 yards from Doran to finish with four receptions for 108 yards, as St. Olaf piled up 522 yards of total offense and averaged 9.0 yards per play.
Graske had over 100 yards and a touchdown both rushing and receiving, finishing with 221 yards of offense on 10 touches with a pair of scores. Embry had his second-straight 100-yard rushing game to start the season – the ninth of his career – with 16 carries for 118 yards and two touchdowns. Sophomore tight end Braden Menz also caught his first-career touchdown for the Oles.
After getting a fourth-down stop from its defense after Luther drove to the brink of the red zone on the opening possession, St. Olaf went 73 yards in just three plays to open the scoring, as Doran found Schott in behind the Luther secondary for a 56-yard touchdown four minutes into the game. The connection was the lone score of the opening quarter, which ended with the Oles in the red zone.
Just two plays into the second quarter, Embry scored from three yards out to give St. Olaf a two-touchdown advantage, but it didn't last long, as Luther scored a pair of touchdowns over the next five minutes to take a 15-14 lead 5:05 into the second quarter thanks to a successful two-point conversion on the second score.
Trailing by a point, the Oles needed just three plays to go back ahead, as a 42-yard pass from Doran to Graske on the first play of the possession got St. Olaf into the red zone. Two plays later, Embry barreled in from six yards out for his second score, which came just 1:09 after the Norse took the lead.
Junior Jacob Halek intercepted a pass deflected by classmate Mark Thrower in the end zone on the ensuing Luther possession to keep the Oles ahead. St. Olaf stretched its lead to 27-15 at the break on a sneak by Doran with 27 seconds to go in the half after Embry busted a 44-yard rush down to the one-yard line.
Out of the halftime break, the Oles marched 70 yards in six plays, capped by a six-yard scoring pass from Doran to Menz to open up a three-score lead, but the Norse countered with a pick-six two minutes later to make it a 34-21 ballgame. Menz's touchdown catch started a stretch of four touchdowns in 5:18 of game time, as Doran found Schott for a 38-yard score and Graske for a 62-yard catch and run to push St. Olaf's lead to 48-21 midway through the third.
After Luther scored just two plays into the fourth quarter, Graske broke loose on the right for a 45-yard touchdown on a one-play drive for the Oles on what proved to be the final score of the game. Four of St. Olaf's eight touchdowns in the win covered at least 38 yards.
Luther possessed the ball for 38:48 in the game but was just 6-for-18 on third down and 2-for-7 on fourth down on the afternoon. The two teams combined for 27 penalties and both had over 100 yards worth of infractions in the game.
Junior Luke Stanga paced the St. Olaf defense with a game-high nine tackles, while first year Miles Townsend had six tackles including his first collegiate sack.
St. Olaf is off next weekend before traveling to Macalester College for its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) opener on Saturday, Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. in St. Paul.
Big middle quarters help St. Olaf pull away for 55-27 win over Luther
/seasons/2022/boxscores/20220910_otck.xml
2022
Luther
27
St. Olaf
55
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luther (0-2) | 0 | 15 | 6 | 6 | 27 |
| St. Olaf (1-1) | 7 | 20 | 21 | 7 | 55 |
Sep 10, 2022