NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College football team overcame a 13-point deficit to take a late lead, but Carleton College kept possession of the Goat Trophy with a fourth-down stop and field goal in the final two minutes of a 33-31 victory on Saturday afternoon at Laird Stadium.
St. Olaf (3-2, 2-1 MIAC) trailed 30-17 late in the third quarter but got a pair of quarterback-sneak touchdowns from junior Theo Doran to take a 31-30 lead with 3:55 remaining. With less than two minutes to go, the Oles went for a fourth-and-two at their own 46-yard line but did not convert, giving the ball back to Carleton (5-0, 3-0 MIAC) with 1:45 remaining. The Knights proceeded to convert on a pair of third downs to move the ball into field goal range and got a game-winning 30-yard field goal from Marcus Merkelbach with 23 seconds to go.
After Merkelbach's kick, St. Olaf returned the kickoff to its own 36-yard line and gained 11 yards on its first play to get near midfield with seven seconds remaining. On the next play, Doran found fifth-year senior Payton Schott on the right for a 13-yard gain to the Carleton 40-yard line, but Schott was adjudged to step out of bounds just after the clock hit zero to end the game. The win marked the first back-to-back victories for the Knights in the series since 2008 and 2009.
The game was a rare joint Homecoming, as St. Olaf took its Homecoming on the road as a result of being in the midst of three-straight road games during dates suited for the event.
St. Olaf outgained Carleton by a 471-400 margin and controlled the ball for 34:28, but the Knights did not turn the ball over in the game and scored a touchdown off the Oles' lone turnover early on. Both teams converted over 50.0 percent of their third downs in the game, as Carleton was 13-for-21 and St. Olaf was 9-for-18. The Oles were also 4-for-5 on fourth down but the lone unsuccessful conversion led to the decisive field goal.
Doran was 29-for-46 for a season-high 319 yards and one touchdown while also rushing for two scores for St. Olaf, which was playing without fifth-year senior running back Jordan Embry. First year Ralph Naimah filled in admirably for Embry, carrying the ball 27 times for 121 yards for the first 100-yard game of his young career. Junior Evan Hammonds had nine receptions for 120 yards, while Schott caught nine passes for 100 yards and a touchdown.
Jack Curtis went 31-for-47 for 287 yards and three touchdowns for Carleton, connecting with Ntense Obono 13 times for 112 yards and a score. Rye Storrs added seven receptions for 79 yards and Jack Huffman caught a 25-yard score from Curtis as well.
The Knights jumped out to an early 13-0 lead with touchdowns on their first two possessions, getting an 11-yard pass from Curtis to Obono on their first drive and a two-yard touchdown run by Nick Toole a little over two minutes later. Toole's score was set up by Michael Carey hitting Doran just as he was getting ready to throw a pass, resulting in a fumble that gave Carleton the ball at the St. Olaf 18-yard line.
Down by two touchdowns early, St. Olaf put together a 17-play, 85-yard drive that took nearly eight minutes off the clock and resulted in the Oles' first points of the game. St. Olaf converted a fourth-and-three on a run by Hammonds and a third-and-11 on a 21-yard pass from Doran to Hammonds before scoring on a four-yard pass from Doran to Scott on a fourth-and-goal play two minutes into the third quarter.
The teams traded field goals on their next possessions, with Naimah breaking loose for a 30-yard run to help set up senior Collin Swan's 24-yarder for St. Olaf with 5:02 left in the first half. Late in the half, Carleton converted a fourth-and-one with 23 seconds to go on a keeper by Curtis and, out of a time timeout, got a 25-yard touchdown pass from Curtis to Huffman on the next play to build a 23-10 halftime lead. The Knights were 9-for-12 on third down and generated 239 yards of offense in the first half.
After the St. Olaf defense got a three-and-out to start the third quarter, the Oles marched 91 yards on 17 plays to make it a one-score game on a one-yard quarterback sneak by first year Asher Zubich after Doran was forced to leave the game after his helmet came off. St. Olaf converted a pair of fourth downs on the drive, including a fourth-and-10 at the Carleton 25-yard line on a 23-yard pass from Doran to Hammonds.
Carleton answered less than two minutes later with a seven-play, 63-yard drive that culminated in a 14-yard pass from Curtis to Storrs to make it a two-score game again. On St. Olaf's next possession, Doran found Schott for an acrobatic 42-yard catch down to the three-yard line on third-and-15 to set up the first of Doran's two scoring sneaks with 3:57 to go in the third.
The Oles' defense got a three-and-out on the next possession, but a personal foul on the punt kept the Knights' drive alive After Carleton moved the chains on two third-and-long situations, the Knights went for it on fourth-and-goal at the two, but senior Ben Hestorff hit Curtis as he threw to turn the ball over on downs.
St. Olaf proceeded to march 98 yards in 21 plays on a drive that lasted nearly 10 minutes to take its first and only lead of the game. The Oles converted fourth-straight third downs on the drive before Doran barreled in from a yard out and Swan drilled the extra point to put the Oles up 31-30 with 3:55 left.
St. Olaf's defense forced three consecutive incomplete passes on Carleton's next drive to get the ball back with a chance to run out the clock, but, after giving up one first down, the Knights' defense stopped Doran on a keeper on fourth-and-two to set up Merkelbach's game-winner. Carleton got into field-goal range when Curtis scrambled to his left and flipped the ball to Storrs for an 11-yard gain on third-and-11 at the St. Olaf 30-yard line.
Senior Luke Stanga had a game-high 12 tackles (eight solo) for St. Olaf, while Hestorff added nine tackles (seven solo) and sophomore Alijah Cruel had eight. The Oles head to Duluth to face the College of St. Scholastica on Saturday, Oct. 14 at 1 p.m.
St. Olaf drops hearbreaker to Carleton in battle for the Goat
/seasons/2023/boxscores/20231007_hnvj.xml
2023
St. Olaf
31
Carleton
33
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Olaf (3-2) | 0 | 10 | 14 | 7 | 31 |
| Carleton (5-0) | 13 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 33 |
Oct 07, 2023