Football holds on, beats Pipers 17-14

Mike Ludwig
October 23, 2004

First year Jay Higgins (Lakeland, Minn.) had 189 yards of total offense on six receptions and 17 carries, and Deonte Hutchins (FY, Pensacola, Fla.) intercepted Hamline's Noah Rassmussen with 1:22 to play to secure St. Olaf's 17-14 win over Hamline Saturday afternoon in Northfield, Minn.

Higgins had 113 yards receiving on six catches, including a touchdown, and added 76 yards rushing on six carries to propel the Ole offense.

The win marks three straight for St. Olaf, the most wins in a row under three-year head coach Chris Meidt since the Oles opened in 2002 with a 3-0 start.

Hamline had a chance late in the game after Nick Keane recovered a St. Olaf fumble at the Piper 24. On the seventh play of the drive, Hutchins dove and picked off Rassmussen's pass.

The muddy conditions led to ten turnovers. St. Olaf had six - four interceptions and two fumbles and Hamline had four - three picks and one lost fumble.

Dan Ryks led the Hamline offense with 11 catches for 124 yards.

The Oles out gained the Pipers 451-307 and had 27 first downs to Hamline's 17.

Hamline led 7-0 after a nine-yard scamper by Andy Gagnon. St. Olaf responded with a ten-point second quarter on Higgin's 21-yard TD catch on fourth down and a Paul Fortman (FY, Stillwater, Minn.) 27-yard field goal to make it 10-7 at the half.

The Pipers took a brief lead again, 14-10, on another Gagnon TD run, but the Oles struck back with a 29-yard TD catch by Kyle Fritze (Sr., Apple Valley, Minn.) two minutes later.

St. Olaf hosts Saint John's next Saturday at 1 p.m. The game can be heard on 920 AM, KDHL, or via the St. Olaf Athletics Website at http://www.stolaf.edu/athletics/Webcasts.

Contact media relations specialist Mike Ludwig at (507) 786-3834 or ludwigm@stolaf.edu.