JOLIET, Ill. --- Connor Engstrom scored a pair of touchdowns – one acrobatic – and Carl Bew did the same – one a record – to put the University of St. Francis football team in the win column for the first time in 2025 with its 42-28 Mid-States Football Association crossover victory against Lawrence Technological University (Mich.) on Saturday afternoon at Joliet Memorial Stadium.

The Saints (1-2) put up 14 points in each of the first three quarters to build a 42-14 lead before Lawrence Tech (0-3) doubled its point total in the final quarter.  Engstrom did the majority of his work early, while Bew got the scoring started before providing a quick momentum swing later on.

Bew's first touchdown came on an end-around sweep from 26 yards out on the Saints' third play from scrimmage.  Engstrom delivered one drive later when a fourth-down pass play was tipped by an LTU defender, then tipped by Engstrom before he caught the 26-yard pass while lying on the ground in the end zone.

Nearly 15 minutes later, Engstrom was back in the scoring column, this time from 21 yards out to wrap up a six-play, 70-yard drive.

Lawrence Tech looked to get back in the game midway through the third quarter when it scored 14 of the next 21 points to make it 28-14 at the 7:02 mark.  Enter Bew, who would return the ensuing kickoff a school-record 100 yards to get the Saints ' lead back up to 21 points at 35-14.

USF's other two scores came from Larry Stringham (two-yard run) and Ryan Little (39-yard reception).  Stringham carried the ball six times in succession to get to the end zone, compiling 36 of the drive's 65 yards.  Little, who had two big catches on Engstrom's second touchdown, gained his own reward with ten seconds left in the third quarter
when he caught a pass over the middle and went untouched 39 yards into the end zone.

Little would finish with a team-high 90 yards on four catches, while Engstrom caught a club-high six passes for 87 yards.  Quarterback Nathan Maul was an efficient 13-for-20 for 251 yards with the three touchdowns. 

Stringham led USF's 199-yard ground attack with 54 on nine rushes.  Seven different Saints carried the ball on the day, including Bew, who finished with 178 all-purpose yards between his carries (37 yards), receptions (nine yards) and kickoff returns (132).

All of Lawrence Tech's yards came through the air with quarterback Ryan Schuster throwing for 369 yards with four touchdowns and a 28-of-46 completion ratio.  He found a pair of receivers for over 100 yards in Jaylen Johnson (6 catches, 121 yards) and Tyler Garrett (8-112). 

The Blue Devils, however, struggled to get their ground game going, finishing with a minus-three yards on 19 carries with three being sacks.  Karsen Hansen led that charge defensively for the Saints with 10 tackles, one sack and another half-tackle for loss.

Despite having five less offensive plays, the Saints outgained Lawrence Tech 458-366.  USF split its 22 first downs evenly between rushing and passing, while 20 of LTU's 22 came through the air.

Notes: St. Francis improved to 4-0 against Lawrence Tech all-time with the Saints scoring at least 40 points in three of the affairs … USF continued its trend of being the first team to score having done so in each of the first three games this season … Stringham's touchdown was the first of his collegiate career … Jonny Sorensen made his debut as a Saint, taking over quarterback duties in the fourth quarter.  He ran the ball four times for 16 yards, while completing one of his two pass attempts for eight yards … The Saints have gained 400-plus yards in two of their first three games … The previous longest kickoff return was 93 yards by Eli Spann against St. Ambrose in 2015.

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