ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Macalester College football team ended the 2023 season with a 40-20 victory over St. Scholastica Saturday afternoon at Macalester Stadium. The win, which came on MIAC Championship Week, avenged a loss to the Saints earlier in the season. The Scots end 2023 with a 3-7 record, while St. Scholastica drops to 2-8.
Defense ruled early in the game, as the teams combined for four punts on the first four possessions. With St. Scholastica on its own 17-yard line, Saints quarterback Donald West was intercepted by junior defensive back
Justin Potts (Bloomington, Ill./Normal Community), who returned it for a touchdown and a 7-0 Macalester lead. After the Scots forced another St. Scholastica punt, senior running back
Logan Pampel (Johnson Creek, Wis./Lakeside Lutheran School) capped a six-play, 60-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown run.
On the Saints' first play of their next drive, West scampered for a 56-yard run that put the ball on the Macalester 19-yard line. But a sack by senior defensive back
Joshua Strickler (Chesapeake, Va./Grassfield) made it 4th-and-11, and Potts blocked the field goal attempt to keep St. Scholastica scoreless. Later in the second quarter, the Scots put together a 14-play, 68-yard drive that ended with senior quarterback
Michael Nadeau (Garden Grove, Calif./La Quinta) hitting Pampel with a 14-yard touchdown pass on 4th-and-4 for a 20-0 advantage. The drive included a fake punt, with Pampel throwing to senior defensive back
Will Brazgel (Hartland, Wis./Lake Country Lutheran) for a 26-yard gain on 4th-and-15.
Brazgel made his presence known on the Saints' next possession, as he intercepted West to give the Scots the ball on the Macalester 42-yard line. On 4th-and-4 at the St. Scholastica 8-yard line, Nadeau again connected with Pampel for an 8-yard touchdown pass and a 26-0 lead just before halftime.
Midway through the third quarter, Nadeau and Pampel linked up once more on fourth down with a 38-yard touchdown pass on 4th-and-11 for a 33-0 lead. The Saints finally broke through near the end of the third quarter, with Nick Schlender scoring on a 79-yard run to make the score 33-7. Macalester quickly answered with an 83-yard drive punctuated by a 41-yard touchdown pass from Nadeau to senior receiver
Nathan Wu (Walnut Creek, Calif./Northgate) for a 40-7 lead. West threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Wyatt Lahr for a touchdown with under seven minutes to play, then connected with Dayne Evanson on a 55-yard touchdown pass to make the score 40-20 with five minutes left.
Nadeau competed 36-of-55 for 409 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. The performance was the seventh game with at least 400 yards passing in his career, giving him a school-record 9,936 passing yards in four stellar years as a Scot. Nadeau also holds program records for career touchdown passes (84), completions (847) and attempts (1,402).
Pampel caught 10 passes for 106 yards and three touchdowns while also running for another touchdown. Senior receiver
Nick Bice (Fort Dodge, Iowa/Fort Dodge) had six receptions for 100 yards, Wu caught six passes for 86 yards and a touchdown, and junior receiver
Gabe Kasper (Shoreview, Minn./Irondale) also had six catches for 66 yards. The defense was led by Strickler with four tackles and two sacks, and junior defensive lineman
Xavier Pittman (Spring, Texas/Spring) with five tackles. Junior defensive lineman
Max Menache (Beverly Hills, Calif./Beverly Hills) and first year lineman
Gavin Estes (Herrin, Ill./Herrin) also had sacks.
Schlender rushed 19 times for 135 yards and a touchdown, while West threw for 192 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Before the game, Macalester honored its 11 seniors Bice, Brazgel, Nadeau, Pampel, Strickler, Wu,
Troy Barksdale (Bolton, Mass./Nashoba Regional),
Marshall Lastes (Boxford, Mass./Masconomet Regional),
Shomrik Mondal (Sartoga, Calif./The Harker School),
Michael Poker (Brookfield, Wis./Brookfield East), and
Jordan Vellon (Orlando, Fla./The Masters Academy).
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