by Eric C. Paulsen
Editor in Chief
With the glow of winning two straight Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference crowns gone for now, the Leo football team prepares for its Division III playoff match-up against St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minn., tomorrow afternoon.
“Sure, we haven’t gone into any game not thinking we can win and this isn’t an exception. I think they are a very good football team. They look, on film, like they would be a typical Division II team out here, but not a great one,” said Head Coach Rex Huigens, “They are certainly capable of scoring a lot of points and it is going to be a big challenge for us, but we think we can win the football game.”
The Johnnies come into the game with an overall record of 9-1, and 8-1 in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The St. John’s loss came from conference foe Hamline, losing by only one point.
As a team, St. John’s is a machine, scoring on average 47.1 points per game and allowing only 16.2 ppg defensively.
On defense the Leos will be challenged by the Johnnies. St. John’s has a balanced offensive attack that employs four wide receivers at times.
Huigens also feels that they adjust their offense to best suit the athletic abilities of the players and to get the best match-ups for them.
“We have our game plan and their offense is similar to Claremont‘s, but they do it better and have better players running it. So we have faced the offense before and we face our offense every day in practice,” said Huigens.
“I don’t think they are going to fool us with what they do. They might be able to run it better than any other team we have faced. I don’t think there are going to be a lot of surprises,” said Huigens.
The defense will have to keep an eye on St. John quarterback Kurt Ramler, who threw for 1,560 yards and 22 touchdowns during the season.
“It doesn’t surprise me with their offense [that] they can put up big numbers. They are scoring alot of points. It is definitely going to be a challenge for us,” said Huigens.
At running back for the Johnnies is another solid player in Matt Malmberg.
“He is a very solid strong runner—not blazing speed, but runs well. One of the reasons they run so well is because of the passing threat, they aren’t having to block eight guys up front,” said Huigens, who also commented that the wide receivers have good speed.
Huigens’ worries include keeping his team’s focus directed at the game, because of all the outside distractions which are involved.
“What we have really tried to hit home to our players is we have to concentrate on our jobs and focus in on winning the ball game. If we do that, we will be very successful in the game,” said Huigens.
The weather does not bother Huigens either. He stated that if the conditions stay the same, the players should be able to play comfortably in the 45-degree weather.
“But if the weather drops down to 20 to 25, you have to worry about the field freezing. One of the nice things this year for us is we have been running the ball and you can do that no matter what the weather is,” said Huigens.
Offensively, the Leos will stick to what has been working all season. During the season ULV has found success running and passing the ball with equal effectiveness.
Leading the charge for the Leos will be senior running back Darren MacLellan, whose 1,379 yards is tops in the SCIAC. MacLellan has a nose for the endzone, scoring 16 touchdowns this season. Another player the Leos will be counting on is sophomore Anthony Rice, who will also be taking over the kickoff-return chores.
“It’s not a time to save people for next week. If you don’t win there is no next week. So we are going to shoot all our bullets and hopefully reload for next week,” said Huigens, who also said that senior Bill Zernickow is doing a great job, but Rice has the good breakaway speed to take one all the way.
“Speed also plays a part in the game with the faster team having the advantage. I don’t know if we are faster or they are. We have some guys who run well that we will be using,” said Huigens.
Huigens has tried to keep this week’s preparations for the playoff game like any other week.
“We will be ready to play.”
Eric C. Paulsen
