By Keith McMillan
D3sports.com
Pacific Lutheran head coach Frosty Westering recalls speaking with St. John’s head coach John Gagliardi by phone after both teams lost their first two games this season.
"Looks like we won’t be able to play each other this year," Westering says Gagliardi told him. "We’re off to a rough start."
The two coaches, among the most respected in Division III with 681 wins between them, had so enjoyed their first three matchups in the past three postseasons that they discussed scheduling a regular-season game against each other.
There’s no need to. The Johnnies reeled off 10 consecutive victories since that call and Pacific Lutheran won eight in a row to reach the West Region final. The squads will face each other in the quarterfinals for the second time in three years.
"Last year [at this time] we were talking about how this is old hat," said Pacific Lutheran sports information director Nick Dawson, laughing about how the two managed to meet again.
The Johnnies won 33-20 in 1998, and Pacific Lutheran rallied from a halftime deficit to win 19-9 en route to the national title in 1999. Last season, as St. John’s advanced to its second Stagg Bowl, it dispatched PLU 28-21 in overtime.
"I think we bring out the best in each other," said PLU offensive lineman Trevor Roberts, who has played in each Lutes-Johnnies game and on all 683 offensive snaps for PLU during the past four postseasons. "For our (22) seniors, it kind of wouldn’t have been the same if we hadn’t played them again."
Days before kickoff, the fourth matchup was already off to a peculiar start.
The Johnnies’ 9-7 win against UW-Stevens Point was played at Clemens Stadium in driving rain. Concerns about playing again on the torn up field were moot by Monday, when serious snowfall besieged Central Minnesota.
A search for an alternate site began, and almost led the two teams to an AstroTurf high school field in Minneapolis. But with North Dakota State’s FargoDome available, decision-makers figured the four-hour drive from Collegeville up I-94 was worth a dry atmosphere and speedy turf surface.
The move, which threw off many a Lute fan’s travel plans, made the coaches and players happy, especially Westering.
Last year’s Johnnie-Lute game was played in the rain and slick turf at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup, Wash. Westering said both teams were forced to compensate by slashing their playbooks.
"The game wasn’t really the game," he said, "because we were forced to cut a lot of things out of the game plan, and I’m sure they did too."
Neither team is known for its power game, so the arrangement works toward a crisper contest, not either team’s advantage.
"It makes the game real football," said Johnnies junior quarterback Ryan Keating. "I’d much rather play on a clean, dry field."
"This’ll be our fourth year," said Roberts, "and we’ve never been able to play them [in perfect conditions]."
Both teams are familiar with visiting new venues during the postseason anyway. Each team made its respective Stagg Bowl trip from the West’s seventh seed, proving the worth of the 28-team playoff system immediately. As a No. 7 in 2000, St. John’s played five games in five states, none in Minnesota.
The Lutes, who logged about 16,000 travel miles during their 1999 title run, are on the road for the third time in four meetings with St. John’s.
Familiar with the travel process, since so few of their postseason opponents are in the Pacific Northwest, the Lutes booked a charter through Alaksa Airlines and had no trouble switching their Thursday flight to North Dakota. But since Fargo is the site of a hockey tournament this weekend, getting motel reservations wasn’t easy.
Westering and the Lutes don’t mind the travel at all.
"We do really well on the road," said the coach, author of Make The Big Time Where You Are. "I think there’s less distractions. We travel well, and our whole team gets along with each other."
"This is exciting," said Roberts, a Puyallup native. "Just to see a new area. All we’ve heard is great things about this Fargodome and the renovations they’ve done to it."
Roberts’ parents are among the estimated 200-300 Lutes followers who planned for the trip by booking a flight into Minneapolis. A change of venue did not mean a canceled trip, not when you get this far and have this much fun. They, like many, will simply drive to Fargo.
Students say both campuses are alive and rocking in anticipation of the contest, even though the game is near neither. St. John’s is offering bus service to Fargo, but at $25 a seat. (This is Division III, remember, and those buses cost money).
Though the teams’ offensive and defensive styles are varied, their statistics are eerily similar.
They are just nine yards apart in total offense, each averaging more than 373 yards per outing. They are four yards apart in total defense. Their scoring offense, turnovers and takeaways are close as well.
What’s more similar is how they feel about each other. Players and coaches from each side heap praise on the other for their on-the-field skill as well as their tradition and personal class.
"It’s always nice to meet up with them," said Keating. "They are very similar to us in the way they play the game."
Each team initially struggled to replace several key starters.
"At 0-2, it was funny," said Keating. "We were just trying to find ourselves and see what we could do. We weren’t even thinking playoffs."
"It’s been a pretty wild ride," said PLU linebacker Joey Mertlich. "It’s a totally different team from last year. We lost of lot of guys at key positions and a lot of young players had to step in. At the beginning of the year, we were really trying to find that identity."
By game three, each team was trying to take the season one game at a time.
"You have question what’s your motivation to play," said Mertlich. "Is it to play in the playoffs? If that’s it, our season [was] over. If it’s getting better and being together with the team, then we still had a lot to play for."
Though the picture looked bleak, two teams who have reached the Stagg Bowl from the lowest seed and made a living from winning close games never gave up on being successful. Or making the playoffs.
"I think we always believed it, said Keating, "but it was never talked about."
Each roster is filled with players who cherish their first trip to Salem, Va., and would love to have another.
"The best thing is," says Keating, "we know what it takes to get there."
One of these teams won’t get there. It’s unusual that two programs have become so close by ending each others’ seasons. Of course, these are the type of players who will hold their heads high win or lose.
"There aren’t too many people who have the opportunity to be doing what we’re doing, to still be going out to practice and playing," Mertlich said. "You almost feel lucky, but at the same time you don’t want to take it for granted."
During Gaglardi and Westering’s phone conversation a few months ago, the fourth meeting certainly wasn’t assumed. On Saturday, you can bet it will be enjoyed.
