Undefeated Carleton aims to break 40-year losing streak vs. St. John's

Before the Twins season came to a disappointing end with a loss to Houston on Wednesday, they did manage to end an 18-game postseason losing streak dating to 2004.

On Saturday in Collegeville, Minn., Carleton will try to end a losing streak against St. John's, which began more than 20 years before that infamous Twins streak started.

Carleton has never beaten the Johnnies in football in 39 meetings. The series began in 1983 when Carleton rejoined the MIAC.

The Knights have won one conference football title in that time — 1992. The Knights' only loss that season was 70-7 to the Johnnies in the next-to-last game. That left the Knights and Johnnies tied for first with 7-1 records going into the final week of the season. The Knights earned the title outright with a 21-20 victory over Gustavus Adolphus after the Johnnies tied Concordia (Moorhead) in their season-finale.

The Johnnies have won the last three meetings with Carleton by scores of 45-16, 38-10 and 56-10.

Carleton (5-0, 1-0 MIAC Northwoods Division) brings a five-game winning streak into this one. The Knights rallied for a 33-31 victory over St. Olaf last week on a field goal with 23 seconds remaining.

The Johnnies (4-1, 0-0) defeated Concordia 42-23 last Saturday as Aaron Syverson broke three school single-game passing records. Syverson, a senior from Minnetonka, completed 44 of 60 passes for 498 yards (all records) and threw five TD passes.

Here are four other things to watch this week:

MIAC Skyline matchup

Bethel will make the 10-mile trip from Arden Hills to Minneapolis to take on Augsburg on Saturday. Both teams are 1-0 in the MIAC's Skyline Division.

Bethel (3-2 overall) defeated Macalester 49-14 last Saturday, while Augsburg defeated Hamline 41-7 to improve to 4-1. The Auggies are off to their best season start since 2012, when they also started 4-1.

Tommies hit the road

The Tommies (4-2, 3-0 Pioneer) made defensive stops at the goal line in the closing seconds in each of their last two victories.

Last week, the Tommies stopped Butler three times from the 1-yard line in the final minute to hold on for a 17-10 Pioneer League victory in St. Paul. Two weeks ago, the Tommies held on for a 20-14 victory at Dayton with a pass breakup in the end zone as time expired.

The Bulldogs (2-3, 2-0) have won back-to-back games over Morehead State (16-9) and Valparaiso (20-14) after opening the season with three losses.

Nonconference detour

Minnesota State Mankato will play its first regular-season nonconference game since 2011, when it plays host to Western Oregon on Saturday.

Western Oregon, located in Monmouth, is 3-3 overall and has a two-game winning streak. The Wolves defeated Western New Mexico 31-10 at home last week.

Crown QB among D-III leaders

Crown sophomore Diego Narezo is second in Division III in passing yards (1,928) and completions (176) while leading in pass attempts (310).

Narezo, from San Antonio, has completed at least 37 passes three times and has thrown 14 TD passes in six games. Last week, in a 47-23 loss at Northwestern (St. Paul), he was 37 of 64 for 327 yards.