Running back Josh Parks rushed for 143 yards with two touchdowns to lead fourth-ranked St. Thomas to a 62-10 victory over Carleton in its MIAC opener Saturday afternoon at O’Shaughnessy Stadium.
“The only difference really is that I had to understand what my role was this game,” Parks said. “In the previous games, I had to take a backseat, per se, but now I was able to help the team out in a more active way, so besides that it was all the same preparation by the way.”
The Tommies earned a total of 614 offensive yards handily surpassing Carleton’s 161.
Quarterback Jacques Perra replaced Alex Fenske in the first half with a 34-0 lead. He completed one touchdown to wide receiver Tanner Vik and had his hand in other scoring plays for the Tommies. The Golden Gopher transfer passed for 135 yards on 6 completions in 7 attempts.
MIAC SCOREBOARD
- St. Thomas 62, Carleton 10
- Concordia-Moorhead 21, Bethel 13
- Gustavus 35, Augsburg 13
- St. John’s 44, St. Olaf 0
“We didn’t want to take any lapses,” Perra said. “So we just wanted to keep moving the ball, keep putting yards up and keep getting points up on the board.”
Carleton proved to be no competition for St. Thomas, which remains the defending MIAC champion. The Knights lone scores came from a field goal and a single touchdown from running back Logan Emholtz in the third quarter.
Running backs Tucker Trettel and Emitt Peisert and fullbacks Jeremy Molina and Mike Coldagelli also contributed touchdowns for the Tommies.
Coach Glenn Caruso said it’s nice to know he can rely on all of this players to execute plays, bring great energy and hold themselves to high standards.
“Today, we were able to play with a lot of guys,” Caruso said. “It’s real important that no matter who goes in the standards stay exactly the same.
St. Thomas (3-0) will face longtime rival St. John’s (3-0) next Saturday at 1 p.m. in Collegeville. St. Thomas defeated the Johnnies twice last season and look to continue its winning streak.
Caruso said the preparation for next weekend’s game remains the same as every week.
“I understand that it’s going to be a great crowd and a great atmosphere, but at the end of the day we control none of those things,” Caruso said. “What we control is the standards to which we hold ourselves accountable.”
Carolyn Meyer can be reached at cameyer@stthomas.edu.