The St. Thomas football team returned to the gridiron for Saturday’s spring game to showcase next year’s team.
The Tommie offense and defense got the chance to square off against one another and compete for bragging rights.
“It was great. It’s something that we haven’t really had in a while, but it felt really good to put the pads on and be able to be live again,” running back Nick Waldvogel said. “When we were going offense-defense, it was full-go, so it was good to get that tempo back and that intensity.”
Waldvogel was just one of many Tommies to get in on the scoring action, as the running back found his way into the end zone two times on the day.
While Waldvogel and the rest of the St. Thomas starters got their reps in, the backups were also getting time on the field to prove themselves, something coach Glenn Caruso said is key moving toward next season.
“It’s crucial. Not just for the simple fact that they work just as hard as anybody else and they might not see those reps in the fall, but also just because there’s a lot of guys that are right on the cusp of a three going to become a two,” Caruso said. “There’s some battles. We still have to find out our number one spots, and you really can’t do that properly unless you can evaluate live reps, and that’s what we got today.”
Caruso will have his hands full trying to get everyone on the field on the defensive side based on the unit’s performance Saturday. The defense shut down the Tommie offense for a long stretch in the second quarter and racked up two forced fumbles, two interceptions (one of which was returned for a touchdown) and a blocked extra point.
Fortunately, Caruso and the Tommies will have more time to practice and decide these battles on their upcoming trip to Italy.
“We’ll be practicing with a couple different teams over in Italy and doing some walkthroughs and then a couple practices. I think we’re just excited to explore the entire country,” Waldvogel said. “I just think it’s a great trip for us, as a team, to grow together and spend more time together. I think it’ll be a great opportunity for us to get better as a team and get better camaraderie-wise.”
With the extended spring practices the team is getting this season due to the trip, Caruso believes it will really help the team next season, just as it has in previous years when the Tommies traveled to Canada as part of their spring practices.
“I think the two seasons that we had the most growth between the year before and that year were the two that we came off of our spring practices, and I think there’s a lot of reasons,” Caruso said. “Certainly the schematic ones and the personnel placement for coaches – you can kind of tell who your guys are earlier so you’re not spending time in camp doing that – but also the camaraderie and being together. The more work you put in and the more invested you become in anything, the more cohesive that unit is going to be.”
The first chance for fans to see just how cohesive the Tommies will be will come Saturday, Sept. 5, as St. Thomas travels east to take on Wisconsin-Eau Claire in the first game of the season.
Scott Sikich can be reached at siki3549@stthomas.edu.