St. Bonifacius, Minn. – For the second straight season, Crown football couldn't solve the Gustavus offense on opening day.  The Gusties jumped out to a 35-0 lead and never looked back, winning by a final score of 56-13.

The game couldn't have started any better for the Storm as senior Elliot Wiens came free on a blitz on the opening play of the game, hurrying Gustavus quarterback Mitch Hendricks into a poor throw that was intercepted by Chris Strange.

Things would take a turn for the worse almost immediately.

After a three and out on their first drive, Gustavus drove 91 yards on 12 plays to open the scoring and wouldn't slow down until halftime.

Three straight touchdown passes by Hendricks opened the game up in the first quarter, and a DaiVon Poole touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter had the game almost out of reach.

Crown would answer back with a 10 play, 75 yard drive, culminating in a Trey Peace two yard touchdown reception.  The junior receiver led the way with six catches for 62 yards and the touchdown.

GAC would score twice more to finish out the second quarter and took a commanding 49-6 lead into the locker room.

The second half would see both teams manage the clock with neither side landing any more big punches.  After a scoreless third quarter, a Josh Edlund four yard touchdown run would get Crown back on the board after a six play, 65 yard drive.

Gustavus would score once more on a short touchdown run near the end of the game to make the final score 56-13.

Brandon McCormick settled in after a tough first half to go 16-31 for 177 yards and score, with a tough luck interception.

The senior signal caller also rushed 15 times, gaining 54 yards, but was sacked 3 times and took a big loss on a fumbled snap to grind his net total down to 12.

Edlund's 59 yards on the ground led the team, while Jacob Pardee chipped in with five carries for 37 yards.

Defensively, freshman defensive back Cody Rickets led the team with 11 tackles and added an interception, while senior Eli Dahl also hit double-digits with ten stops.

Freshman Tate Pringle averaged 40.5 yards per punt, including a 56 yarder, and had two kicks downed inside the 20, while Keng Xiong's 32 yard kick return was the big play in the return game.

Crown will open up UMAC play next weekend as they travel to Northwestern for a 7 p.m. kickoff.