Carleton Football Impressive in Season Opener

The "Brain Bowl" was played under very muggy conditions at Laird Stadium on Saturday and the Carleton Knights got back the Book of Knowledge trophy with a 27-12 win.

Last season Macalester won the opener in St. Paul 17-14 and went on to have a terrific year, winning the Midwest Conference and earning a berth into the NCAA Division III football playoffs.

Carleton would love to have a similar springboard to a successful season. Head coach Bob Pagel is in his fourth year for the Knights and has had back-to-back good recruiting years to build depth in his team, and it showed Saturday.

The Knights started four freshmen on defense, and Pagel told me before the game they earned the starts because they were the best players at those positions. One of those freshmen, linebacker Kwaku Bodom of Brooklyn Park, Minn., led the team in tackles with eight.

Carleton set the tone early after getting the ball to start the game they put together an 11-play 77-yard drive capped off with a two-yard touchdown run by sophomore Tyler O'Keefe of Woodville, Wis. Junior kicker Brandt Davis of La Verne, Calif., connected on the first of three extra points on the day. The drive ate up 4:57.

Macalester answered two possessions later with an eight-yard TD run by Jeremy Stephan of Duluth, Minn., but the extra point was missed and Carleton would head to halftime with a 7-6 lead.

The second-half Carleton's offensive line dominated. Sophomore guard Acer Pahukoa of Wailuku, Hawaii, particularly stood out and senior co-captain Henrik Byrlev of Inver Grove Heights, Minn., was also on the right side of the line. Sophmore center Tyler Rolland of Burnsville, Minn., did a nice job firing off the ball, using his 6-foot-3, 338 pound-frame. Other starters on the offensive front included sophomore Nick Fredrickson of Winthrop Harbor, Ill., and junior Hunter Brown of Hingham, Mass.

The balanced offensive attack (222 yards rushing and 246 passing) was impressive as the Knights rolled up 23 first downs to the Scots' 11. The Knights' defense stuffed the Macalester passing game, holding them to seven completions and 97 yards. The Scots ran for 150 yards.

Carleton scored on their first two possessions of the second half. An O'Keefe two-yard dive into the end zone and a 16-yard run by senior Andy Gustafson of Inver Grove Heights helped the Knights take a 21-6 lead.

With 9:56 to go in the game, Macalester got their second block of a punt of the day and Miles Keys-McKay scooped it up and ran five yards for a score. The two-point conversion was unsuccessful.

Gustafson tallied the final score on a beautiful 33-yard screen pass from sophomore quarterback Zach Creighton of Lakeville, Minn., with 5:04 to go in the game.

Creighton was 14 of 21 for 246 yards with no picks and the one score. His longest pass of the day was a 42-yarder to senior tight end Matt Mensinger of Hermantown, Minn.

Creighton also led the running attack with 95 yards on 17 rushes, and Gustafson added 90 yards on 16 carries. O'Keefe carried the ball 13 times for 44 yards.

Junior receiver Chris Madden of Kenosha, Wis., had five catches for 57 yards, and junior Pete Dehkes of Clinton, N.J., added four for 67 yards.

The Knights were seven of 12 in third-down conversions and held Macalester to four of 15.

The Knights travel to Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., next week. The Prairie Fire fell 32-21 in their opener Saturday to Eureka College. It will be the longest road trip of the season for Carleton.

Knights fans will get to experience Stisser Field at the Knosher Bowl. It features banked bowl-shaped sides and opened in 1967. The field was outfitted with artificial turf in 2008 during a $1.8 million upgrade. The Knosher Bowl seats 6,000.

Coverage on Power 96 Radio 95.9FM begins at 12:30PM with the Carleton Coaches show. Kick-off is at 1PM.