ST. PAUL, Minn. — With three scoring tosses on the day, Jonathan Singleton tied and then broke the Carleton College football team record for career touchdown passes as he helped the Knights to a 45-12 triumph at Hamline University in the MIAC opener for both squads. This is the second straight season that Carleton has started the year 3-0.
"Great team win," said Carleton head coach Tom Journell. "All phases performed at a high level. Road wins, especially away MIAC openers, are always big wins. I continue to love our team. We are demonstrating an unselfishness and love for each other that are the ingredients of championship teams."
Singleton entered the contest with 50 career touchdown passes, tied with Ted Kluender '94 for second in team annals and only one behind Shane Henfling '09. By days end, Singleton's name stood alone atop the record book with 53 career TD tosses.
The Carleton (3-0, 1-0 MIAC) defense forced Hamline (2-1, 0-1 MIAC) to punt on the game's opening possession, and the Knights marched right down the field. Singleton found Ntense Obono on three consecutive passes to start the drive followed by completions to Beau Nelson and Will Irons that moved the ball into the red zone. Successive 6-yard rushes from Aiden Chang resulted in the Knights' first touchdown of the day.
The next Carleton possession ended in a rare Singleton interception, only the third that he has thrown since the 2019 season finale. Over the last 13 games, he's totaled 34 touchdown passes and only the three picks.
Carleton's second scoring play came on 4th-and-1 from the 1-yard line. Oryon Hamlin, who totaled a career-best 66 rushing yards, powered in and the PAT gave the Knights a 14-0 lead with 3:31 remaining in the opening quarter.
The Pipers cashed in a turnover with a six-yard touchdown pass from Alejandro Villanueva to Charlie Wilson, but the missed point after left the hosts trailing 14-6.
Singleton's 51st career touchdown pass came with 3:33 remaining in the second quarter as he found Irons in the back of the end zone from 11 yards out. That capped a 7-play, 61-yard drive.
The Knights' final points of the half came after Hamline fumbled a punt return opportunity. Ryan Flanagan corralled the loose ball, and Trent Ramirez hit a 17-yard field goal as the second quarter expired to give Carleton a 24-6 lead at intermission.
The third quarter saw Carleton reach the end zone three more times. Chang's second touchdown run of the day, this one from 11 yards out, came with 9:00 left in the period. He now has two touchdown carries in each game this season.
A defensive stand gave the Knights back the ball in Hamline territory. After a defensive penalty moved the ball to the Hamline 19-yard line, the next play made Carleton football history as Singleton hurled his 52nd career touchdown pass, finding Tyler Dimond behind the Piper cornerback. This one came with 6:54 still to go in the third stanza.
This was Singleton's second school record in as many weeks after he established the new standard for career pass completions last Saturday. He has now completed 507 of 855 passes over his 21 career games. He also currently owns the program mark of 244.2 passing yards per game.
Another three-and-out by Hamline gave the ball right back to Singleton and the Knights. He completed all four passes on the subsequent scoring drive, which was capped by a 41-yard toss-and-catch to Garrett Siff.
Hamline's other touchdown—a four-yard run by Charlie Wilson—came on the next Piper drive and concluded the scoring on the day.
Singleton did not play during the fourth quarter and finished the day 27-for-39 for 308 yards and the three scores. This was his fourth career game with at least 300 passing yards and moved him past Henfling and Kluender and into third place in team history (see chart below).
Chang finished the day with a game-high 86 rushing yards plus the two scores. Hamlin and Nick Toole also surpassed 60 yards on the day. Obono had six catches for 51 yards, and Siff had a team-high 84 receiving yards on five grabs.
The Carleton defensive effort came up with sacks by Henry Detmer, Skyler Kessenich, and Connor Richards. Ryan McGregor had a team-best seven tackles.