From St. John's University Sports Information:

MOORHEAD, Minn. – Lightning seldom strikes twice in the same spot.Game-winning touchdown passes, though … that's a different story. At least it was for junior wide receiver Dylan Wheeler (St. Paul, Minn./Mounds View) and the Saint John's University football team Saturday afternoon.Wheeler's 76-yard touchdown catch down the far sideline with 1:46 to play gave his team its first lead of the game, and SJU - ranked as high as No. 3 nationally by D3football.com - held on to escape with a wild 38-31 victory over Concordia at Jake Christiansen Stadium.The catch came not far from the same spot on the same field where Kyle Gearman '06 hauled in a 74-yard touchdown reception from Alex Kofoed '07 with 13 seconds remaining that lifted the Johnnies to a 20-16 victory over the Cobbers just shy of 19 years ago (Oct. 15, 2005) - a catch that stands as one of the more memorable plays in program history.Wheeler's grab won't be forgotten anytime soon either as it kept SJU (5-0, 3-0 MIAC) unbeaten and capped an afternoon when the Johnnies offense piled up 538 yards - including a 399-yard, five-touchdown performance from senior quarterback Aaron Syverson (Minnetonka, Minn.), who has now thrown for 1,995 yards and 24 touchdowns in five career matchups against Concordia.SJU needed every one of those yards on an afternoon in which the Cobbers (3-2, 2-1 MIAC) compiled 515 yards of offense of their own. Concordia quarterback Cooper Mattern, who started his collegiate career in Collegeville, threw for 396 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 78 yards.But despite an up-and-down performance, the Johnnie defense did come up with stops when they were needed most.The Cobbers took the lead on five different occasions Saturday, the final time coming when Mattern connected with Owen Miller on a 15-yard touchdown pass that put the Cobbers in front 31-24 with 9:22 to play in the third quarter.As was the case all afternoon, though, the SJU offense held serve - tying the score on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Syverson to senior wide receiver Marselio Mendez (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) with 11:29 remaining in the game. The Cobbers then marched 72 yards in nine plays before electing to go for it on 4th-and-1 at the Johnnies' 3-yard line. Mattern was stopped for no gain by sophomore linebacker Aiden McMahon (Maple Grove, Minn.), giving SJU the ball back. McMahon led the SJU defense with 13 tackles (six solo), including one of the team's three sacks.But after forcing the Johnnies to punt, Concordia got as far as the SJU 45 before the defense forced a third-down incompletion, bringing on the Cobbers' punting unit. Three plays later, Syverson spied Wheeler deep down the SJU sideline. The 6-foot-2, 190-pounder went up for the ball over a defender, made the catch and then was off to the races.Yet the upset-minded Cobbers were far from finished, moving the ball all the way to the SJU 20 where they faced fourth down with three seconds left on the clock. Mattern went to the end zone, but the pass was well-defended by SJU and fell incomplete, sealing the victory.An interception on the game's opening drive set up a 31-yard field goal by Damien Silus that put Concordia in front for the first time at 3-0. But the Johnnies countered with a 24-yard field goal from senior Conor Murphy (Sioux Falls, S.D./O'Gorman) and the score was tied at the end of the first quarter.The Cobbers jumped back on top early in the second when Jordan Summers capped a 10-play, 53-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run before SJU answered with a 4-yard scoring strike from Syverson to junior running back Caden Wheeler (Andover, Minn.) to tie the score 10-10. Wheeler ended the day with 128 rushing yards on 21 attempts (6.1 avg.).That established a pattern for the rest of the first half. Concordia scored on an 80-yard pass from Mattern to Jed Klang and the Johnnies parried with a 3-yard touchdown pass from Syverson to freshman Charlie King (Faribault, Minn./Bethlehem Academy), a defensive lineman making an appearance on offense.Then, after a 7-yard pass from Mattern to Klang put the Cobbers back in front with 40 seconds left before halftime, SJU drove 82 yards in five plays to tie the score 24-24 on a 4-yard pass from Syverson to Dylan Wheeler, who finished with eight catches for 159 yards and two scores. Wheeler has 45 receptions for 612 yards - a 13.6 average per catch and 122.4 average per game - and 10 touchdowns through the season's first five games.The two teams combined for 540 yards of offense in the first half, and the 24 points was more than the Johnnies surrendered in any of their first four games this season.But the SJU defense stiffened from there, allowing just one more score - Miller's third-quarter touchdown catch - and holding Concordia to just one successful third-down conversion on its final five attempts. The Cobbers were 0-for-3 on fourth down in the game.Mendez led SJU with nine catches on the afternoon, which he turned into 132 yards. Junior tight end Joey Gendreau (Shorewood, Minn./Minnetonka) fell one yard shy of 100 on eight receptions.Concordia entered the game third in NCAA Division III in scoring defense (7.5 ppg.) and 15th in total defense (225.2 ypg.), and had not allowed a touchdown since 2:04 remained in the Sept. 7 season opener.The Johnnies are back on action next Saturday when they open Northwoods Division play by traveling to Northfield to face Carleton. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Laird Stadium.