NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College football team maintained possession of the Goat Trophy for the sixth-straight season with a 36-19 victory over crosstown rival Carleton College in the 100th all-time meeting between the two programs on Saturday afternoon at Klein Field at Manitou.
First year Jordan Embry and senior Khayleb Willis each ran for over 100 yards and a touchdown for St. Olaf (3-0, 1-0 MIAC), which racked up 501 yards of offense in the win. After trailing 24-6 midway through the third quarter, Carleton (2-1, 0-1 MIAC) threatened to make it a one-score game, but senior Max Karpinske returned a blocked extra point 98 yards for two points to keep the Oles ahead by two scores.
Embry carried the ball a career-high 25 times for a career-best 151 yards and a touchdown, while Willis, the reigning MIAC Offensive Player of the Week, rushed for 134 yards and a score on 25 carries. The Oles have ran for 621 yards in the past two weeks and 831 yards through three games this season.
Sophomore Lars Prestemon hit classmate Gabe Alada for a pair of lengthy touchdowns in the second quarter to help the Oles built a 17-6 halftime cushion. Alada finished the day with five receptions for 107 yards and two touchdowns, while Prestemon was 12-for-21 for 174 yards and the two scores.
Defensively, the Oles blocked two extra points and one field goal in the win, with first year Payton Schott blocking two kicks. Senior Leandro Ferreira blocked the other kick while adding a sack and a forced fumble.
The only scoring for the first quarter came on a 30-yard field goal by sophomore Ethan March at the end of the opening possession of the game. March's field goal capped a 13-play, 69-yard march that ate up half of the opening quarter.
On the first play of the second quarter, Schott blocked a 27-yard field goal attempt by Carleton to preserve the 3-0 lead. On the ensuing drive, the Oles held the ball for eight minutes but came away with nothing after the Knights blocked a field goal of their own.
The score remained 3-0 until Prestemon found Alada up the right seam for a 33-yard touchdown on the first of two scoring strikes for the pair with 2:36 left until halftime. Just 19 seconds later, Carleton got the touchdown back on a 78-yard touchdown pass from Jonathan Singleton to Emanual Williams, but the extra point was blocked to keep the score 10-6.
St. Olaf made it three combined touchdowns in the final three minutes of the half when Alada outjumped a Carleton defensive back to snare a 35-yard touchdown from Prestemon with 55 seconds remaining in the first half.
After St. Olaf's defense forced a punt to open the second half, Embry finished off a nine-play, 66-yard drive with a five-yard touchdown plunge with 8:06 to go in the third quarter to extend the Oles' lead to 24-6. Three minutes later, Carleton responded with a nine-play, 72-yard drive that ended with a 24-yard touchdown from Singleton to Fletcher Metz to get the Knights within 24-13.
A 25-yard field goal from March with 12:31 left in the fourth pushed St. Olaf's lead to 27-13, but Singleton found Metz in the back of the end zone on the next possession to get Carleton within eight. On the ensuing extra point, Schott blocked his second kick of the game and Karpinske scooped it up and took it back for two points.
On the next drive, Embry broke loose for a 49-yard run on fourth and one near midfield to set up a three-yard touchdown run by Willis that put the game out of reach and capped the scoring.
Singleton finished 21-for-34 for 245 yards and three touchdowns in his first collegiate start for the Knights and also ran 14 times for 97 yards. Williams had seven receptions for 121 yards and a touchdown, while Metz hauled in five passes for 47 yards and two sores. St. Olaf limited Carleton wideout Mack Journell, who entered the game with 250 receiving yards and three touchdowns through two games, to one reception for five yards.
The Oles travel to Augsburg on Saturday, Sept. 28 for a 1 p.m. matchup with the Auggies in Minneapolis.
St. Olaf maintains control of Goat with sixth-straight win over Carleton
/seasons/2019/boxscores/20190921_185v.xml
2019
Carleton
19
St. Olaf
36
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carleton (2-1) | 0 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 19 |
| St. Olaf (3-0) | 3 | 14 | 7 | 12 | 36 |
Sep 21, 2019