Saints Pre-Season Favorites

NSO-NEWS RELEASE

ST. PAUL – 2013 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) football champion, the College of St. Scholastica, is predicted to again claim the league title in 2014 according to a poll of the UMAC coaches. The Saints earned a total of five first place votes (74 points) to take the top spot overall while Greenville College (70 points) and the University of Northwestern (69 points) each received two first place nods and finished in second and third place respectively with just one point separating the two teams. Eureka College, who finished in fourth place overall (55 points), also received a first place vote in the annual coaches’ preseason poll.

1. College of St. Scholastica Saints
2013 Overall Record: 9-1
2013 UMAC Record: 9-0
2013 UMAC Finish: 1st
Starters Returning: 12
Starters Lost: 10

In only six years, the St. Scholastica football program has made three straight NCAA Division III Playoff appearances and has a conference record of 25-1 in the last three seasons. The 2014 season will see a new era as Kurt Ramler was hired as the school’s second-ever head coach in March after the retirement of Greg Carlson. Ramler says not much change is needed this season due to the past success of the program, but look for a more aggressive Saints squad in 2014.

CSS lost some key cogs from last year’s squad, including UMAC Defensive Player of the Year Alec French (Isanti, Minn./St. Francis HS) and UMAC Lineman of the Year Chris Lambach (South St. Paul, Minn./South St. Paul HS). Also gone offensively are running back Jake Jensen (South St. Paul, Minn./South St. Paul HS) and wide receiver Cory Gebhard (St. Croix Falls, Wis./St. Croix Falls HS). Jensen finished as the all-time leading rusher in program history, while Gebhard was fourth in career all-purpose yards. The two combined for 24 of the team’s 51 touchdowns last season.

The CSS offense does see the return of two-year starting quarterback Tyler Harper (Minneapolis, Minn./DeLaSalle HS). Harper had his best game in the biggest contest of the year in 2013 when he threw for 274 yards and two touchdowns, while also running for 48 yards and a score in a 27-21 conference-clinching win at Greenville in the regular season finale. Harper sees four out of five starters return on the offensive line, including preseason All-American Pete Stanley (Rogers, Minn./Rogers HS), but loses his top four wide receivers. The top returning receiver for the Saints will be H-back Mitch O’Neil (Otsego, Minn./Rogers HS), who had 14 catches. Other returnees Spencer Specht (Ramsey, Minn./Anoka HS) and Nick Murphy (Glendale, Ariz./Brophy College Prep ) each had 11 catches last season. At running back, Chris Gassert (Moose Lake, Minn./Moose Lake HS) will look for more touches out of the backfield after averaging 7.7 yards per carry in 88 attempts last season.

Defensively, the Saints will be coached up by new Defensive Coordinator George Penree, after Allen Smith took the linebackers job at Division I-FCS Drake University (Iowa). The defensive line remains intact with All-UMAC performers Blake Cedarleaf (Mahtomedi, Minn./Mahtomedi HS) and Joe Geiselman (Virginia, Minn./Virginia HS) at the ends and Aaron Tody (Superior, Wis./Superior HS (Itasca CC)) in the middle. Cedarleaf was named a second team preseason All-American by USA Football. In the back two levels of the defense, the Saints lost six of eight starters. Paul Olson (Minneapolis, Minn./DeLaSalle HS) is the lone returning starter at linebacker, while Xavier Rhodes (South St. Paul, Minn./South St. Paul HS) is the lone returning starter in the secondary. Olson and Rhodes finished in the top four on the team in tackles last season.