ST. PETER, MINN. – St. John's and Bethel were playing Saturday on the Johnnies' home field in Collegeville. Most in attendance probably figured this would be the first of two games, with the teams meeting again as division winners in the MIAC's "championship week" on Nov. 11.
The division format started in 2021 after the departure of St. Thomas and the addition of Macalester and new league member St. Scholastica to the football competition.
There's a chance that a repeat of the first two title games — St. John's vs. Bethel — is not guaranteed this time.
Two strong teams that could be division challengers were playing Saturday at Lloyd Hollingsworth Field, the fine Division III football yard that Gustavus Adolphus opened in 2007.
The Gusties are located in the Northwoods Division with St. John's, and Augsburg in the Skyline Division with Bethel.
Carleton (Northwoods) and Concordia (Skyline) could disagree, but the résumés from 2022 — Gustavus 6-2 in the conference, Augsburg almost knocking off Bethel to reach the title game — suggested these were the main challengers as conference play opened Saturday.
And that turned into more than a suggestion on this gray afternoon, as the Auggies and the Gusties put on a football show that was puzzling and tremendous.
Augsburg 33, Gustavus 31. Somehow.