First win is a bittersweet one

As Macalester embarks on its new experiment in building competitive football, we bring you a weekly look inside the program from one of the 37 student-athletes in uniform.

By Adam Johnson 
(posted Sept. 16, 2002)

The scoreboard read "MAC 51, TRIN 6." As we huddled around Coach Czech after the game on Saturday night, I looked up at it and couldn't help but wonder when the last time Macalester had scored over 50 points in a game. I clearly remembered the last time a team put 50 on us as it happened three times last season.

Our 50-point performance was three hours of fun — returning punts (Marshall Mullenbach's 88-yard return was a school record), rushing the ball (Matt Munson went for a career-high 175 yards) and catching passes (my first collegiate touchdown). Quarterback Adam Denny bounced back from a dismal performance the week before to throw nine of 12 for 227 yards. The defense picked off four passes and sacked their quarterback five times. There was a hop in our step and excitement in the air as our fans cheered loudly throughout the game.

For years, we've been the team that hasn't had fun. We've suffered some of the worst defeats in MIAC conference history at the hands of teams with rosters that doubled and tripled ours. That was one of the reasons why we were lowered to the independent schedule back in November.

Saturday night was different. We were the team, for the first time in four years, with more players on our roster than our opponent. We were the team that dominated, that put points on the board (as many as our last three games combined) and that had a lot of fun in the process. After the news we received earlier in the week, this night of fun couldn't have come at a better time.

Photo by Mike Ekern Austin McCartney-Melstad on the sideline in Week 1.

After practice last Thursday, Coach Czech informed us that freshman defensive lineman Austin McCartney-Melstad's mother had passed away after a long battle with cancer. We all just stood there not knowing what to say, but knowing we would be playing on Saturday without a key member of our defense. Coach Czech told us the funeral would be on Monday and that car pools would be available for those who wanted to attend.

Austin is a soft-spoken kid who loves the game of football. You have to love it to make it through a winless senior year at Monticello High School only to come to a collegiate program that has won three games in three years. Austin will be one of the many new players responsible for turning this program around over the next four years in hopes of returning to the MIAC. He excelled through two-a-days and the first week of the season even though football was probably the last thing on his mind.

As I prepared for Trinity on Saturday night, Austin was definitely on my mind. I wrote his number 90 on the back of my spats just as a reminder that no matter how this game ended up, there were more important things in life than football. I told the team to remember what Austin was going through and to go out there and have some fun.

I know Austin would've loved to play against Trinity. After 10 straight defeats he would have devoured the chance to sack their quarterback and contribute to the victory. I know he'll come back when he is ready and experience the same thrill of victory that we felt on Saturday night. But for now, it is our responsibility as teammates to be there for him and help him through this tough time.

After the game, we rang the victory bell to the roar of the crowd, a tradition that has been in hibernation since our last home win in the 2000 season opener. As parents and friends streamed onto the field I spotted my mother and gave her a big hug, I thought of Austin and I hugged her tighter.

I now know what it feels like to be Saint John's, to effortlessly put up 50 points on an opponent without trying to show them up; or to be Bethel and score on the ground, through the air, and on special teams.

Speaking of Bethel, it was 59-6 against the Royals in 1969, the last time Macalester scored 50 points — I bet that team had some fun too.

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