NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College football team was seconds away from its first shutout in nearly 13 years before wrapping up a 53-7 non-conference victory over Luther College in its home opener on Saturday afternoon at Klein Field at Manitou.
St. Olaf (2-0) led 53-0 before Luther (0-1) avoided the shutout by scoring its lone points of the game with five seconds remaining. The Oles, who were in search of their first shutout since a 40-0 home win against Hamline University on Oct. 29, 2011, led just 3-0 after one quarter before exploding for 26 points in the second quarter to get on their way to the 46-point victory.
The St. Olaf defense held Luther to 90 yards on its first 62 plays before the Norse marched 65 yards on their 13-play scoring drive down the stretch. The Oles outgained the visitors by a 422-155 margin for the game, which saw the two teams go a combined 4-for-31 on third down.
Senior Theo Doran and sophomore Luke Crosby each threw a pair of touchdowns for St. Olaf in the win. Doran was 20-for-29 for 237 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions, while running for another score, before exiting the game midway through the third quarter. Crosby went 6-for-12 for 69 yards with the first two touchdowns of his collegiate career.
In his second collegiate start, junior Gus Gartzke ran 16 times for 54 yards and a touchdown as one of 11 Ole ballcarriers in the victory. Fifth-year senior Derek Hansen, senior Eli Shucha, senior Braden Menz, and senior Cory Hallada pulled in touchdown receptions among 10 Oles to catch at least one pass in the game. Hansen finished with a game-high seven catches for a game-high 65 yards.
Defensively, five Oles picked up a sack, including junior Noah Barrett, who tied classmate Alijah Cruel for the team lead with six tackles and recovered a fumble. Sophomore Terry Mikell added a strip sack as well. Fifth-year senior Collin Swan connected on three field goals, while first year Ethan Hess made a 35-yarder for the first field goal of his young career.
Swan's 29-yard field goal with 6:04 remaining was the lone scoring of the opening quarter, which saw the St. Olaf defense limit Luther to 12 yards on 10 offensive snaps. Swan connected on his second 29-yarder of the game less than a minute into the second quarter to make it 6-0 before the Oles scored two touchdowns in the span of 92 seconds to break the game open.
After a 37-yard punt return by senior Devin McNearny and a Luther penalty on the play set St. Olaf up at the Norse five-yard line, Gartzke rumbled in from six yards out two plays later for the first touchdown of the afternoon. On the ensuing Luther drive, sixth-year senior Giovanni Green forced a fumble that Barrett recovered to get the ball back for the Oles. On the next play, Doran found Hansen open over the top for a 31-yard touchdown to give St. Olaf a 19-0 lead after the extra point following the duo's fourth scoring connection of the season was blocked.
Swan tacked on a 32-yard field goal with 4:15 to go for his third field goal of the half before Doran hit Menz for a nine-yard touchdown with 1:04 left in the half to send the Oles into the locker room with a 29-0 lead. The Norse had just 39 yards on plays in the opening half.
After a three-and-out to start the third quarter from its defense, St. Olaf covered 54 yards in eight plays on its first possession, capped by a two-yard sneak by Doran to extend its lead to 36-0. Hallada and Shucha caught the first touchdowns of their respective careers on passes from Crosby late in the third quarter and early in the fourth before Hess drilled a 35-yard field goal for the Oles' final points with 7:19 to play.
Luther put together its lone drive of more than 20 yards in the game on its final possession and scored on an eight-yard pass from Brett Liljedahl to Michael White III with five seconds on the clock.
St. Olaf is off next week before opening Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play at Macalester College at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28.
St. Olaf nearly shuts out Luther in home opener
/seasons/2024/boxscores/20240914_owbf.xml
2024
Luther
7
St. Olaf
53
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luther (0-1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| St. Olaf (2-0) | 3 | 26 | 14 | 10 | 53 |
Sep 14, 2024