ST. PAUL, Minn. – The St. Olaf College football team used a trio of long touchdowns on offense to stretch its winning streak to three games with a 49-25 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) road victory over Hamline University on Saturday afternoon at Klas Field.
St. Olaf (3-1, 2-0 MIAC) scored three touchdowns of 50 yards or more and piled up 514 yards of offense while averaging 7.9 yards per play to defeat Hamline (2-2, 0-2 MIAC) in the first meeting between the two programs since 2019. The Oles have scored at least 40 points in three of their four-straight victories in the series with the Pipers.
Fifth-year senior Jordan Embry registered his fourth 100-yard effort in as many games this season by rushing for 141 yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries. Embry became the fourth student-athlete in program history to surpass 3,000 rushing yards for his career and moved to within 39 yards of third place on the program's all-time rushing list. The three-touchdown performance moved the senior into third in program history with 26 for his career.
First year Ralph Naimah broke loose for a 66-yard run for the first touchdown of his collegiate career, as St. Olaf outrushed Hamline by a 258-71 margin in the game. Junior Theo Doran was 13-for-23 for 253 yards and two touchdowns through the air and added a one-yard touchdown run. Doran connected with junior Evan Hammonds and senior Payton Schott for touchdowns, as the pair of receivers accounted for 191 of the Oles' 256 receiving yards in the win.
Defensively, junior Tate Saurewin, who was named to the D3football.com Team of the Week on Monday, had a team-high eight tackles, including two for a loss. Senior Luke Stanga had 1.5 sacks among his five tackles, while senior Ben Hestorff and senior Simon Dickerson also added sacks. Junior Elijah Short and senior Ben Kettelhut added interceptions as well.
St. Olaf was able to capitalize on a Kettelhut interception on Hamline's first offensive play to put the first points of the game on the board when Doran snuck in from a yard out with 10:29 to go in the opening quarter. Earlier in the drive, Doran found Hammonds for a 28-yard game on fourth-and-eight to keep the drive alive.
Hamline answered with a nine-play, 73-yard drive to tie the game at 7-7 on a five-yard run by Gilbert Guerra III and the score remained even at the end of the opening quarter. Early in the second, Doran hit Hammonds for a 55-yard touchdown up the right sideline to give the Oles the lead for good with Hammonds' third score of the season.
On its next possession, St. Olaf marched 80 yards on 15 plays for its third-straight scoring drive, culminating in a four-yard run by Embry with 3:31 to go in the second quarter. The Pipers coughed up the ball on the ensuing kickoff and it took just two plays for Embry to get in the end zone again, as the senior scored from 26 yards out for his second touchdown in three offensive snaps. Hamline made it a 28-17 game at the half by scoring the final 10 points of the half over the final two minutes.
In the third, St. Olaf need just three offensive snaps to score another touchdown, as Doran found Schott for a 73-yard touchdown midway through the quarter to push the Oles' lead to three scores at 35-17. After Short's first-career interception got St. Olaf the ball back, the Oles ate up over six minutes of clock on a 13-play, 70-yard drive that ended with a one-yard run by Embry for his third touchdown of the afternoon less than a minute into the fourth quarter.
Naimah accounted for the final points of the game for the Oles with a 66-yard touchdown run with 9:53 to go, as the first year spun out of a tackle and stayed on his feet before scampering up the St. Olaf sideline. Alejandro Villanueva and Charlie Wilson connected for their second touchdown pass of the game for Hamline with 6:52 remaining, as Wilson finished the game with 14 catches for 214 yards and two scores.
St. Olaf was just 4-for-13 on third down in the game but made up for it by going 4-for-4 on fourth down and scoring touchdowns on all three of its red-zone possessions. The Oles' defense held the Pipers to an average of just 2.5 yards per rush, although the hosts accumulated 392 yards of offense in the game.
Next week, St. Olaf heads across the river to face crosstown-rival Carleton College in a 1 p.m. kickoff on Saturday, Oct. 7. The game is Homecoming for both teams.
Big plays help St. Olaf roll past Hamline for third-straight win
/seasons/2023/boxscores/20230930_5ua4.xml
2023
St. Olaf
49
Hamline
25
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Olaf (3-1) | 7 | 21 | 7 | 14 | 49 |
| Hamline (2-2) | 7 | 10 | 0 | 8 | 25 |
Sep 30, 2023