COLLEGEVILLE, MINN. The snow held off on Saturday afternoon at Clemens Stadium. However, thanks to St. John's there was a flurry.
The Johnnies exploded for 17 points in the final minute and 49 seconds of the first half to break open a tight game, defeating Redlands 41-13 in the opening round of the Division III playoffs. St. John's will play at Central (Iowa) next Saturday.
St. John's (10-1) led 7-6 before the offense and defense combined for some big plays to roll to victory and set up next weekend's game against the top seed in the West Region.
"We struggled early with some mistakes and some penalties," St. John's quarterback Alex Kofoed said. "A lot of mistakes were on my part. But this team does a good job of not being too concerned when things aren't going well. You just have to stay with it and find answers to the problems."
Kofoed threw for 244 yards and four touchdowns to go with two interceptions. Running back Mike Patnode rushed for 125 yards, and wide receiver Brian Weber had five catches for 102 yards.
The Bulldogs (8-2) entered the game averaging 38.1 points per game (the same as the Johnnies) but never got untracked against the St. John's defense. Quarterback Dan Selway was limited by an injured throwing shoulder and had to be replaced in the second half.
"Our first goal was to not let them run the ball," St. John's safety John Cloeter said. "Our defensive line put on a lot of pressure [on passing plays], and that was huge because they like to run a lot of deep patterns and crossing patterns."
Both teams turned interceptions into touchdowns for their first scores of the game. Cloeter set the Johnnies up at the Redlands 20-yard line with the first of his two interceptions. Kofoed ran the ball in from 4 yards for a 7-0 St. Johns lead less than two minutes into the game.
A Redlands interception on a halfback pass out of the St. John's end zone gave the Bulldogs a first down at the Johnnies 13. Redlands moved to the 4, where on fourth-and-1 Zack Schafer ran in for a touchdown. The Bulldogs failed on a two-point conversion attempt.
Kofoed's 61-yard touchdown pass to Weber gave the Johnnies a 14-6 with 1:49 remaining in the first half. A fumble recovery by Mitch Everson gave the ball back to St. John's at the Redlands 29.
Kofoed connected with Patnode on a 14-yard touchdown pass with 55 seconds to play in the half for a 21-6 St. John's lead. Cloeter's second interception led to a 26-yard field goal by Russell Gliadon with 21 seconds remaining in the half.
"Things avalanched on us," Redlands coach Mike Maynard said. "When we made a mistake they made sure we paid."
Dean Spiros • dspiros@startribune.com
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