Macalester vs. Crown statistics

The Scots gave Tony Jennison his first collegiate head coaching victory as Macalester toppled visiting Crown 17-7 Saturday night to improve to an even 1-1 on the season.

When these two teams hooked up a year ago in St. Bonafacius, the Scots won a 62-42 slugfest by setting a school record for total yardage. This year's game, however, was a different story as the hard-hitting Mac defense held the Storm in check in a contest which took just two hours and 10 minutes to complete.

Macalester out-gained its guests 383-193 in total yards behind a balanced attack. A 68-41 lead in plays from scrimmage helped the Scots earn a dominant 40:11 to 19:49 advantage in time-of-possession. Mac's defense held Crown to a 1-for-10 success rate on third- and fourth-down conversions.

"I am very pleased with our effort tonight," said Coach Jennison.  "It was a very physical game out there and our team kept competing play after play after play.  Our team understands that when you play hard and play together good things are going to happen."

Running back T. Joe Loiselle (Fy., Chippewa Falls, Wis.) led the attack with a big rushing game, carrying the ball 26 times for 154 yards (5.9 yards per carry). Quarterback Trevor Miehe (So., Holmen, Wis.) helped give balance to Loiselle's big game by going 13-for-19 for 177 yards and two touchdowns. Through the season's first two games, Miehe has completed 68.3% of his passes. Loiselle gained 107 of his yards in the second half.

The first half was nearly scoreless, but Mac got on the board with :46 left in the second quarter, capping a nine-play drive on a 10-yard Miehe to Matt Mitchell (So., Chippewa Falls, Wis.) pass. Kevin Finnegan (So., Oak Park, Ill. / Oak Park-River Forest) scored on a 50-yard TD catch, pulling in a Miehe pass at the Crown 40, breaking a tackle, and sprinting in to give Mac an important 14-0 cushion.

Nate Juergens (So., St. Paul, Minn. / Como Park) booted a 31-yard field goal midway through the fourth quarter to finish off a decisive 14 play, nine-minute drive and give the Scots a 17-0 lead. Juergens, a starting defender for Macalester's soccer team, played a soccer game earlier in the afternoon at Wartburg (Ia.), then rushed back and arrived at the stadium in the second quarter, just moments before kicking the first of his two extra points.

Ed Fitzpatrick (Sr., Honolulu, Hi. / Iolani) led a very strong Macalester defensive effort by making five solo tackles and assisting on five others, while also breaking up a Storm pass and getting a tackle for loss. Gavin Keisling (Sr., Page, Ariz.) recovered a fumble, which he also forced in the second half. Graham Brown (Fy., Annandale, Minn.) registered four solo tackles and broke up a Storm pass.

Crown was led by Lemone Johnson, who ran 20 times for 82 yards. Luke Urbaniak made eight solo tackles and Derick Howell was in on 10 stops. Crown's touchdown came with 4:30 to go in the game on a 25-yard pass from Adam Hayes to Drew Milner.

The Scots play host next Saturday (Sept. 20) to Maranatha Baptist at 1 p.m.