ST. PETER, Minn. – The Macalester College football team finished its season today at Gustavus Adolphus College, where it fell to the Gusties, 38-14. Mac concludes its season at 3-7 overall and 2-7 in the MIAC, good for seventh place in the conference, while Gustavus concludes at 5-5 overall and 5-4 in the MIAC, good for fifth.
Both teams went scoreless for most of the first quarter. The Scots' offense struggled to notch first downs, but their defense went to work getting the ball back time and again. With 30 seconds left in the quarter, though, the Gusties got on the board with a 14-play drive that ended in a short touchdown run.
After another Gustie touchdown early in the second quarter, Gustavus got the ball back again and pushed into the red zone. Though the Gusties got the ball all the way down to Mac's 4-yard line, a false start penalty followed by a tackle for loss from Zach Troeger (Edgerton, Wis./Edgerton) and William Matlack (San Jose, Calif./Bellarmine College Preparatory) pushed Gustavus to third-and-10. With the Gusties forced to throw, sophomores Dylan Jeppe (Glencoe, Ill./New Trier) and Jake Ray (Houston, Texas/Tompkins) hurried the pass to force an incompletion and the field goal.
On the next drive, the Scots got into the red zone for the first time, thanks in large part to a 33-yard connection between sophomore quarterback Jack Scully (Menlo Park, Calif./Sacred Heart Prep) and senior receiver Christian Jones (St. Paul, Minn./Johnson). Mac couldn't get into the endzone and its field goal attempt got blocked, so the Scots went into the half down 17-0.
After junior Jason Weaver (Roselle Park, N.J./Pingry) broke up a pass at third-and-7 to force a Gustie punt to start the second half, the Scots charged down the field on a nearly nine-minute, 16-play drive mostly off carries and catches from senior running back Vasco Sierra (Chicago, Ill./DePaul College Prep), capped with a throw from Scully to Sierra to make the game 17-6 after the missed extra point.
Gustavus wasted no time getting down the field to go up 24-6, a lead it carried into the fourth quarter. Early in the final frame, Scully used his arm to push Mac all the way down the field, including a 29-yard missile to sophomore receiver Paxton Boyd (Newton, Mass./Newton South). At third-and-2, Scully found Boyd again for another six points. This time, the Scots went for the two-point conversion. Scully flipped the ball back to first-year running back Brennan Litchford (Milwaukee, Wis./Ronald Reagan) who reversed it to Boyd who muscled it in to make it a 24-14 game.
Gustavus scored at lightning speed and with the game out of reach, tacked on another at the end to make it 38-14. Scully ended the day 24-of-46 for 291 yards, two touchdowns, one interception and one sack. Sierra netted 61 rushing yards on 14 carries. First-year Kelly Storms (San Anselmo, Calif./Marin Catholic) notched 116 receiving yards on seven catches, while Boyd notched 93 on eight catches. Jeppe finished with eight tackles, including one-and-a-half for loss and a quarterback hurry. Addison Stirling (Los Angeles, Calif./Brentwood) logged six tackles and a pass breakup.
This game marked the final contest for 19 Macalester seniors.
