Syverson sets three QB records in SJU football's win over Concordia

COLLEGEVILLE – With just under two minutes left in the first half of a tie game against Concordia-Moorhead on Saturday, St. John’s quarterback Aaron Syverson completed 9 of 10 passes, including a 10-yard touchdown to Nick VanErp to put the Johnnies ahead for good.

In the 42-23 win, Syverson connected with his receivers on 44 of 60 passes for 498 yards and no interceptions, setting SJU records in completions, attempts and passing yards. As a team, the No. 7 Johnnies (4-1) also set a record of 607 total offensive yards.

The win preserves SJU’s perfect Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference record and its tie atop the Northwoods division with Carleton (5-0, 3-0 MIAC).

“With the weapons we have, I mean if I was a defensive coordinator I wouldn’t know where to start,” SJU coach Gary Fasching said.

That second-quarter two-minute drill came immediately after the Cobbers blocked a punt and picked up the ball for a scoop and score.

“That makes a big difference when you can score right after a big turnover like that,” Fasching said, calling it a “momentum builder” for SJU and a “downer” for Concordia.

Another special moment came with 1:20 left in the game: running back Caden Wheeler scored the team’s first rushing touchdown of the season. Though Fasching’s style has often favored the run, he complimented Syverson’s release and called him one of the better quarterbacks in SJU history.

On his current pace, Syverson is likely to also take season and career records away from the likes of Jackson Erdmann, Alex Kofoed and Ryan Keating, who previously held the records for single-game passing yardage (496 from Erdmann in 2019), attempts (57 from Kofoed in 2007) and completions (34 from Keating in 2003).

“I think a lot of our shorter pass game we kind of just view as an extension of the run game,” Syverson said. “It might not look like we can run the ball, but for all intents and purposes, we just need to get the ball to our playmakers.”

Still missing senior Jimmy Buck to a knee injury sustained in early September, the Johnnie receiving corps has flexed its depth and talent all season, especially so against Concordia. Not sacked all game, Syverson was able to spread out the ball to eight receivers and got double digit targets to Nick VanErp, Dylan Wheeler and tight end Alex Larson. Marselio Mendez and VanErp both had two touchdowns including 40-yard scoring receptions in the third and fouth quarter respectively. Larson caught the other TD.

“All of our guys I feel really confident they’re going to make plays for us,” Syverson said. “I mean, we can throw slants all the way down the field and our guys are going to be able to get 10, 15 – Marselio 30 or 40 yards. It makes it pretty easy.”

He chalked the impressive performances this season to extra reps that grew to a special comfortability on the field with his receivers and his linemen blocking a clean pocket. Buck was cleared on Wednesday for football activities and Fasching is hoping the talented senior wide out is available next week against Carleton.

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Cobber quarterback Cooper Mattern – who transferred from SJU after his freshman season in 2021 – passed for 254 yards against his former team and led Concordia in rushing, as he has throughout the season. His 49 yards on the ground contributed to the team’s 256 total offensive yards.

Mattern was brought down behind the line of scrimmage 12 times, with senior DB Cayden Saxon leading the Johnnies with three sacks. Linebacker Aiden McMahon also had a sack and a forced fumble. He led the team in total tackles with 10. In all, 26 Johnnies had a tackle, with 12 having multiple. Noah Arneson also had an interception.

Fasching was disappointed with the Johnnies’ 13 penalties that cost them 113 yards.

“Penalties, I’m at a loss with because all week long we talked about – last week we had 10 penalties and we talked about playing a clean game where there aren’t offsides, interference penalties, late hits and then we get 13 of them,” Fasching said. “We have to fix that.”

He was concerned that in the Johnnies’ Oct. 14 Homecoming, the undefeated Knights will better take advantage of their mistakes.

“This is not the old Carleton of years past,” Fasching said. “This is a really good football team. They can throw the football and they’ve got some players who can play so we have to be ready. And it’s a divisional game so it counts more than any other game we’ve played up to this point.

This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: St. John's football beats Concordia-Moorhead with record-breaking play