By NICK BRILOWSKI
Special to The Gazette
Come playoff time in football, it is vital to take advantage of every scoring opportunity that a team comes across.
Saturday, Nov. 24, on a cold, rainy afternoon in Collegeville, Minn., the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point let too many scoring chances pass them by as host St. John's found just enough offense when it counted to defeat the Pointers, 9-7.
With the victory, the Johnnies move on to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division III playoffs where it will take on Pacific Lutheran.
"It was an outstanding college football game," Pointer head coach John Miech said. "Basically it had everything.
"It's too bad that on that given day the weather conditions were so poor."
UW-SP reached the "red zone" three times in the first half but came away with zero points. Ricardo Vega had a 32-yard field goal attempt blocked, quarterback Scott Krause threw an interception in the end zone and also mishandled a snap on a 27- yard field goal attempt in the waning seconds of the opening half.
Despite dominating the majority of the game and holding a 267-144 advantage in total offense, the Pointers were unable to get on the scoreboard until senior Lance Gast plunged across the goalline from nine yards out with 13:47 remaining in the fourth quarter to give Stevens Point a 7-6 lead.
A stellar Pointer defensive effort allowed St. John's to manage just 47 yards of offense in the first three quarters combined.
The Johnnies embarked on their game-winning drive with 7:01 left in the fourth.
St. John's reached the Pointer two-yard line, but was pushed back to the UW-SP 25 following a false start penalty, a rush for minus-two yards and a sack by Matt Raduechel.
However, on third and 25, quarterback Ryan Keating hit Josh Nelson for an 18-yard pass play down to the seven-yard line.
That set up Brandon Keller, who had earlier missed an extra point and a 23-yard field goal attempt, for the game-winning 25-yard field goal with 1:01 remaining.
St. John's only other points in the game came on an 89-yard punt return for touchdown by Blake Elliott in the third quarter.
"We were the underdog," Miech stated, "and to force a team like that to hit a field goal with a minute left is a great tribute to our team and how they battled.
"It hurts to lose a football game like that when the defense plays so well."
UW-SP had one final opportunity to win the game, but Jason Pflipsen intercepted Krause for the second time on the afternoon with 13 seconds remaining.
The poor weather conditions hampered the Pointers' passing game as Krause completed just 3 of 14 attempts for 28 yards and two interceptions on the afternoon.
"When you have poor weather, it really hinders the run game and that's really helped us to get where we were at," Miech stated. "Then when you have to pass, you deal with 30-mile per hour winds and rain."
The loss ended UW-SP's season with an 8-3 record while St. John's improved to 10-2.