St. John's scored 11 points in the final eight minutes to take the lead and then made a goal-line stand as time expired to rally for a 39-33 season-opening victory over Aurora (Ill.) on Saturday in Collegeville, Minn.
Trailing 39-33, Aurora, ranked No. 23 in the d3football.com poll, drove to a first-and-goal at the 7-yard line with 40 seconds remaining. On fourth down from the 1, Seth Morem recovered a Spartans fumble to seal the victory for the Johnnies, ranked No. 6.
The Johnnies, who trailed 20-14 at halftime, led 28-27 going into the fourth quarter. Gavin Zimbelman's fifth TD pass of the game gave the Spartans a 33-28 lead with 12:53 remaining.
The Johnnies got within 33-31 on a 25-yard field goal by Conor Pavelko with 7:41 remaining. Devin Vouk's 9-yard TD run and Aaron Syverson's rush for a two-point conversion gave the Johnnies a 39-33 lead with 3:12 remaining.
Syverson passed for 284 yards and two touchdowns and Henry Trost rushed for 148 yards and two touchdowns for the Johnnies.
Bethel 59, North Park 7: Jaran Roste passed for 169 yards and three touchdowns and Sid Boros rushed for two touchdowns and caught a touchdown pass as the Royals, ranked No. 16, coasted to a victory in Chicago. Nate Farm returned a fumble 99 yards for a touchdown for the Royals.
Central (Iowa) 46, St. Olaf 27: Blaine Hawkins passed for 408 yards and three touchdowns and Jason Hopp rushed for 156 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Dutch, ranked No. 14, past the Oles in Northfield, Minn. Lars Prestemon passed for 309 yards and two touchdowns for the Oles.
Concordia (Wis.) 28, Martin Luther 21: The host Falcons rallied from a 14-point first-half deficit for the victory over the Knights in Mequon, Wis. Carson Oestreich rushed for 130 yards and Elliott Butler rushed for 95 and a touchdown for the Knights, who gained 327 yards on the ground.
Gustavus 80, Buena Vista 58: The Gusties set a school single-game scoring record in the victory over the host Beavers in Storm Lake, Iowa. Michael Veldman passed for 292 yards and five touchdowns and David Peal rushed for 168 yards and three touchdowns for the Gusties, who had 608 yards in offense.
Hamline 54, Crown 38: Connor Leavens passed for 229 yards and five touchdowns and Triston Thomas had 13 receptions for 137 yards and two touchdowns to lead the host Pipers to the victory.
Macalester 38, Minn.-Morris 32: Josh Bulski's 88-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and the ensuing two-point conversion lifted the host Scots past the Cougars.
Ripon 46, Augsburg 38: Connor Ramage rushed for 226 yards and six touchdowns to lead the host Red Hawks past the Auggies in Ripon, Wis. Cade Sheehan passed for 393 yards and five touchdowns for the Auggies.
Valley City State 35, Concordia (Moorhead) 32: The Vikings scored 10 points in the final minute to rally past the host Cobbers. Nico Magana kicked a 40-yard field as time expired to complete the comeback. Colton Taylor's interception with 20 seconds remaining gave the Vikings the ball at the Cobbers' 47-yard line. The Vikings had tied the game with 43 seconds remaining. Tanner DuBois passed for 400 yards and a TD for the Cobbers.
Wheaton 56, Northwestern (St. Paul) 0: The Thunder, ranked No. 5, took control early with two touchdowns in a 13-second span in the game's first minutes en route to the victory over the visiting Eagles in Wheaton, Ill. The Thunder limited the Eagles to 113 yards in offense and nine first downs.
