St. John's 30, St. Olaf 29: Johnnies magically make deficit disappear

COLLEGEVILLE, MINN. — What transpires Saturday afternoons at St. John's Clemens Stadium often defies logic, happening with such frequency, that it is simply known by MIAC rivals as Johnnie Magic. St. Olaf coach Chris Meidt is the latest to experience the phenomena after watching his previously unbeaten team lose 30-29 to St. John's.

The Johnnies (6-0, 4-0 MIAC) trailed 26-17 after three quarters, rallying behind a wounded-duck touchdown pass and a sprained ankle that knocked St. Olaf's best defensive back, Deontae Hutchins, out of the game on the final play of the third quarter. The Oles (5-1, 3-1) also lost four points on bad snaps from center that wiped out a potential field goal and extra point, the first time all season Meidt said his team has experience a bad center snap.

"Probably the ugliest ball I've thrown in my life," St. John's senior quarterback Alex Kofoed said of his 35-yard touchdown pass to Brian Weber on the first play of the fourth quarter. Hutchins had limped off because of an ankle injury on the previous play after shutting down Weber for the previous three quarters.

It wasn't so much that Kofoed's ball wobbled after he was hit by an Ole lineman and took about 10 seconds to fall to earth. No, the pass was intended for Chace Pollock, only to have Weber race from midfield to the right sideline to pluck the ball out of a crowd.

"Just a fluke," Meidt said. "We had pressure on [Kofoed], he threw it up for grabs and all of a sudden a kid comes from nowhere. It's a play where, if we intercept, it turns the tide of the game. But they make the play and they score. That's kind of what they call Johnnie Magic up here."

That was only the beginning, although by then Meidt and the Oles should have known it was not going to be their day. The next time St. John's got the ball, Weber put on a move that left his defender on the ground, then made a leaping dive of a 38-yard completion to the St. Olaf 3-yard line. Mike Patnode covered the remaining distance on the next play and after a two-point conversion failed, the Johnnies led 30-26.

Kofoed and Weber acknowledged they had seen Hutchins limp off after three quarters and figured Weber might have an easier time in the final 15 minutes.

"Deontae is very, very good," Kofoed said. "He did a great job of covering Weber for three quarters and we all knew when he went out. But that's the kind of receiver that Weber is, he's made big catches for us all year long."

Said Meidt: "No question Deontae is a shut-down corner. No. 5 (Weber) hadn't caught anything all day. Then Deontae goes out and you saw what happened. But injuries are part of the game. We had plenty of chances -- that was just one factor."

The Oles closed within a point on Paul Fortman's 35-yard field goal with 5:29 left. But the Johnnies ran out the clock, aided by a key 29-yard, third-down pass to tight end Brett Saladin and a third-down face-mask penalty on the Oles with 1:55 remaining.

"Maybe it's not so lucky," said St. John's coach John Gaglairdi, who will go for career victory No. 450 next Saturday at Gustavus. "Someway, somehow, we pull out something. One thing about our guys is that they always expect something good to happen."

Something rival coaches routinely refer to as Johnnie Magic.

Dennis Brackin • dbrackin@startribune.com