The Sleeping Bear

Ah, Tommies v. Johnnies. One of the best rivalries in D3 sports. The city kids vs. the country hicksters. RIch white kids vs. well, rich white kids. So you’re guaranteed some rich white kids go home sad. What’s not to like about that proposition?

And this Tommies/Johnnies game actually meant a lot in terms of playoff positioning for both teams. Let’s face it, Tommie fans, your team hasn’t been a playoff contender for years. But entering this game 6-0 and with really only one more challenging opponent on the schedule (Bethel), a win in this game would put your plucky squad in the driver’s seat for a MIAC crown and playoff berth, something you haven’t sniffed since, what, Ronald Reagan was telling the Ruski’s to tear down walls and Miami Vice was a hit?’

Like the 15th ranked Tommies, the Johnnies entered the game as they usually did – undefeated. But this wasn’t your typical Johnnies team. This was a team that had become hooked on last second wins. It was their heroin. Their crack. Their meth. Instead of blowing out their opponents and pulling their starters in the third quarter, this was a team that instead was used to pulling off miraculous wins and moshing with the student body afterward.

Don’t believe? Against Wisconsin Eau Claire in their home opener, the Johnnies seemingly had the game wrapped up, only to have the cheesers score what appeared to be a game-tying TD with a couple minutes left. But a blocked extra point kept the J’s with a one-point lead. Game over, right? Nope, after a failed on-side kick, Eau Claire (smartly) played dead and the Johnnies (dumbly) took the bait, scoring a TD that only gave them an 8 point lead. Eau Claire then promptly drove inside the 10, where, on the last play of the game, a pass was just a tad high in the back of the end zone, and the Johnnies had a heart-stopping win.

A couple weeks later, the Johnnies trailed Bethel by 14 in the fourth. A couple gritty drives later and the Johnnies were an extra point away from tieing it up. OT, right? Nope, XP missed, Johnnies apparently a one-loss team. But not so fast, with three timeouts, the Johnnies managed to stop Bethel, get the ball back with a little time left, drove to the 32, and setup Russell Gliadon for what turned out to be “The Kick.” Johnnies win, crowd rushes field, pandemonium is in order. Get the paddles. Yell clear. Jump start your heart.

Flash forward to this Saturday and a clash of unbeaten rivals on a sunny Saturday afternoon at Clemens Stadium. In front of a crowd of nearly 13,000 (many who arrived late thanks to a traffic jam on I94 – not something you see everyday in Stearns County), the Johnnies and Tommies were ready to square off in the most important game in this storied rivalry in decades. Like the last time both teams were undefeated this deep in the season, Hitler and his ‘stache were hanging out in Berlin.

And what a clash it was. To call it a bruising defensive battle would be an understatement. The first quarter featured 4 punts and less than 70 yards of total offense. University of Minnesota transfer Tommy Becker, all 6’2″, 250 pounds of NFL-sized linebacker, was popping Johnnies all over the field. But the Johnnies bruising running back tandem of Kellen Blaser and Jakob Reding were returning the favor, pounding the Tommies interior.

The Johnnies struck first, putting together an impressive 13 play, 69 yard drive that chewed up more than 6 minutes and put them up 7-0 early in the second quarter. The Tommies fumbled the ensuing kickoff and it looked like the Johnnies may open up the game early. But the Tommies D held strong and turned the Johnnies over on downs. A turnover on fourth down stopped the T-bags’ ensuing drive, but the Johnnies were again unable to muster much of an offense and punted three plays later.

The Tommies then put together their best drive of the game, going nearly 60 yards, before missing a 31 yard FG on the last play of the half. Battered and bruised, both teams went into the lockerroom to regroup.

The Tommies started the third quarter with a bang, as little speedster Fritz Waldvogel scampered down the visitor’s sideline on a 59 yard kickoff return. With momentum on their side, it looked like the Tommies may rally to tie the game. But the Johnnies defense yielded just two yards and the Tommies were stopped on fourth down.

A couple of punts and a stalled drive, and the Tommies were facing another fourth down near their 40. In a move that may be second-guessed all over Tommie-country, the T’s tried a fake that was thwarted by the Johnnies. As usually happens after great special teams plays, the Johnnies capitalized on the momentum swing, driving 39 yards in 11 plays for a score to take a 14-0 lead with about 2 minutes left in the third. Given the Tommies inability to throw the ball, it seemed like an insurmountable lead.

And a couple plays later, when the Tommies rangy sophomore QB Greg Morse threw his second interception of the game to set the Johnnies up inside Tommie territory, it looked like the rout was on. But not so fast – again the Johnnies failed to capitalize and again they were forced to punt. The Tommies couldn’t move the ball and punter AJ Clouthier unloaded a 60 yard punt while running to his right that set the Johnnies back at their 10. They could only muster a single first down and lined up to punt themselves. The usually sure-footed Gliadon got off an ugly 11-yard punt and St. Thomas was deep inside Johnnie territory at the 32. The Tommies reached into their bag of tricks, faking a draw and going deep to WR Tony Margarit, who had the Johnnies defense beat by 5 yards and scored an easy 32-yard TD to cut the lead in half.

Suddenly, a game that seemed sewed up was now a one TD game with nine and a half minutes to play. The tension grew and the crowd quieted. The teams traded punts, and the Johnnies took over at their own 31 with about 6 minutes to play. Time to pound the Tommies into submission and put the game away, right? It certainly looked that way, as the Johnnies  Jakob Reding rumbled into the line 5 straight times, netting 16 yards and leaving a manageable third and four with just 2:59 to play. Another first down and the Johnnies could essentially seal the game.

And oh how close they came. Kellen Blaser took the ball to midfield, about 2 feet short of a first down. What to do, what do do? Go for it and seal the win, but possibly give St. Thomas great field possession with plenty of time left? Or play it safe, punt it, and rely on your defense to thwart St. Thomas yet again?

Sadly, St. John’s did neither. After the game, we found out that the Johnnies had called a fake punt that was to be audibled should the Tommies line up to defend it correctly. Well, the Tommies lined up correctly, the fake was called off, only no one told the center, who snapped the ball to an unprepared upback. The ball squirted around, eventually coming to a halt at the Johnnies 21 yard line, where the Tommies were in position to tie it up. Cue crazy Tommie crowd and stunned Johnnie faithful.

I’d love to say the Johnnies defense made a rousing defensive stand to win the game and the student body tumbled onto the field in celebratory flesh pressing. They came close, as the Tommies faced third and goal at the four with less than 10 seconds left. Only, the Tommies snuck a TE out the backside of the defense, Morse lofted a beautiful pass across the field and the Tommies fans and sidelines erupted. There were no extra point shenanigans to save the Johnnies and the game headed to OT tied at 14.

And momentum was surely on the Tommies side. They’d overcome a 14 point deficit. They’d overcome a raucous crowd. They’d overcome an inferiority complex borne from 11 straight defeats at the hands of St. John’s. They’d even overcome the feeling of inadequacy instilled in them when they realized that, once graduated, they’d be working for intellectually superior Johnnies for the rest of their lives. You could almost hear them thinking “Can’t we beat the Johnnies just this once before a life of servitude?”

But fate, lady-luck, Jesus, whatever you want to call it, was on the Johnnies side. They won the toss. They elected to take the ball last. The Tommies smartly decided to go into the endzone opposite the Johnnies rabid student section. The Tommies went to their star running back, Ben Wartman, who finished the day with 80 yards on 24 carries, nearly half the YPC he’d averaged in his previous 6 games, giving him a couple carries on which he picked up 10 yards and moved the ball to the 15. But the Johnnies defense once again stiffened (new team nickname: Ron Jeremy), forcing the Tommies into a 4th and 8 at the 11 and making their only choice a 28 yard FG which split the uprights giving the Tommies a 17-14 lead.

So this was it. The ball at the 25. A TD wins it. A FG forces a second OT. Anything less and you have to scratch and claw and pray for a playoff berth.

And as they have done all season, the Johnnies rose to the occasion. Jakob Reding blasted for 8 on first down, 7 on second, and the Johnnies were first and goal at the 10. Reding again plied the middle for two yards. Second and goal from the 8. The Johnnies then went to the play they use when they need a play – option. Boyle held the defensive end, pitched to Blaser, who went 8 yards for the score, diving for the pylon and scoring to sew up 12 straight over the hated Tommies. The crowd erupted, the students stormed the field and the Johnnies were 7-0 and three wins away from yet another MIAC crown, another playoff berth, and probably another first round game at venerable Clemens Stadium.

So how’d the Johnnies do it? The old fashioned way – three yards and a cloud of dust. Eschewing their smaller backs like Steven Johnson, Harry Awe and Jimmy Loonan, the Johnnies relied almost exclusively on their bruisers, 6’2, 220 pound Kellen Blaser and 6’1, 225 pound Jakob Reding. Reding finished with 34 carries for 122 yards and a score while Blaser went for 74 yards on 15 carries. It was old-school football perhaps inspired by offensive line coach Jim Mader’s work at Albany. Run. Run. Run some more. As the old Albany T-shirts used to say: Smashmouth Football.

But they also did it by stopping the Tommies stars. Fritz Waldvogel, who came into the game with 30+ catches, finished with 4 for just 24 yards. RB Ben Wartman had just 80 yards on 24 carries and the Tommies, who entered the game averaging over 250 yards on the ground per game, netted just 107. In typically Johnnie fashion, they imposed their will on their opponent, forced them out of their element and took home yet another win.