NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College football team's defense held Hamline University scoreless until the final six minutes of the game, as the Oles defeated the Pipers, 29-2, for their fifth-straight victory on Saturday afternoon on Homecoming at Klein Field at Manitou.
Sophomore Lars Prestemon threw two touchdowns and ran for another to lead St. Olaf (5-0, 3-0 MIAC) offensively, while the defense came within six minutes of its first shutout in 76 games dating back to 2011. The win over Hamline (1-4, 0-3 MIAC) gave the Oles their second-straight 5-0 start to a season.
The Pipers' lone score of the game came on a botched punt that turned into a safety with 5:58 to go. St. Olaf's last shutout was a 40-0 victory over Hamline on Oct. 29, 2011 in Northfield.
The St. Olaf defense held Hamline to 27 yards on 23 rushing attempts and got a pick-six from sophomore Brandon Foster in the second quarter to help the Oles overcome five turnovers. Foster also had one of St. Olaf's four sacks in the game.
Prestemon was 12-for-19 for 190 yards and two touchdowns and two interceptions, while also running for 41 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore Isaac Coutier caught four passes for 92 yards and a touchdown, with first year Siegel Howard III also hauling in a touchdown from Prestemon.
On just the fourth play from scrimmage, St. Olaf got on the board as Prestemon hit Coutier over the top up the right sideline for a 57-yard touchdown just 2:08 into the game. The strike was the third touchdown connection between Prestemon and Coutier in the last two weeks.
St. Olaf's defense forced Hamline to punt from its own 48-yard line on the Pipers' first possession. Hamline's punter Connor Leavens booted the ball off the helmet of junior Jordan Bartholomew and the ball rolled all the way back towards the Pipers' end zone, where the punter kicked it out of the side of the end zone for a safety to make it a 9-0 game.
First year Payton Schott picked up his first-career interception later in the first quarter as the teams combined for three turnovers in the final nine minutes of the quarter. The Oles kept their shutout intact three plays into the fourth quarter when Foster and classmate Jordan King combined to stop Hamline on a fourth-and-one at the St. Olaf three-yard line.
The score remained 9-0 until Foster's interception return for a touchdown with 10:40 to go in the second quarter. Hamline set up a swing pass that senior Max Karpinske got a hand to to deflect the ball right into the arms of Foster, who ran it back untouched for a 45-yard touchdown to extend the St. Olaf lead to 16-0.
After a stop, the Oles got the ball back and marched 76 yards in 10 plays, capped by Prestemon's eight-yard touchdown pass to Howard III to push the lead to 23-0 with 2:43 to go in the first half. The touchdown reception was the first of Howard III's young career and his third touchdown in the past two games.
Neither team scored in the third quarter, but St. Olaf finished off a 17-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that covered 10:58 of game time early in the fourth when Prestemon barreled into the end zone for a 19-yard touchdown run. Embry had 14 carries for 72 yards on the drive.
With 5:58 remaining, an errant snap on a St. Olaf punt forced sophomore punter Noah Johnson back towards his own end zone. Similarly to the play involving Leavens in the first quarter, Johnson ran out of the side of the end zone to allow just two points, the lone points of the afternoon for the Pipers.
Leavens was 23-for-40 through the air for 255 yards for Hamline in the loss. Triston Thomas had 13 receptions for 134 yards, while Tanner Lunceford caught seven passes for 84 yards. The Pipers were just 4-for-14 on third down, 1-for-7 on fourth down and 0-for-3 in the red zone on the afternoon.
St. Olaf has its bye next week before returning to action at Bethel on Saturday, Oct. 19 at 1 p.m.
Defense leads St. Olaf past Hamline on Homecoming for fifth-straight win
/seasons/2019/boxscores/20191005_wd7f.xml
2019
Hamline
2
St. Olaf
29
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hamline (1-4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| St. Olaf (5-0) | 9 | 14 | 0 | 6 | 29 |
Oct 05, 2019