Quarterback John Gould tallied four touchdowns and 171 yards in No. 9-ranked St. Thomas’ 54-0 dismantling of St. Olaf Saturday afternoon at O’Shaughnessy Stadium.
Gould chalked up three touchdowns in the first half, including scores of 37 and 25 yards, and added another in the second half. He eclipsed the 100-yard passing mark in the beginning of the second quarter. Coach Glenn Caruso said Gould was able to escape the big hits.
“In a game like this that’s big, we don’t want him to take a lot of big hits … he’s going to get hit, he’s a football player,” Caruso said.
The Tommies (4-0 overall, 2-0 MIAC) wasted no time scoring when running back Jordan Roberts tallied a 2-yard touchdown on the third play of the contest. Gould and wide receiver Nick Waldvogel connected for a 25-yard touchdown on St. Thomas’ second offensive possession. A successful extra point from kicker Paul Graupner made it 13-0 with 10:21 left in the first quarter.
Following an unsuccessful onside kick by Graupner, St. Olaf’s (1-4 overall, 0-3 MIAC) first possession in St. Thomas territory ended in disappointment. On fourth down, linebacker Jesse Addo forced quarterback Nate Penz to fumble while linebacker Tim McClanahan recovered on St. Thomas’ 45-yard line. This led to Gould’s second touchdown, a 4-yard pass to tight end Charlie Dowdle. Gould gave a lot of credit to the offensive line.
“I don’t think I really got hit or pressured all day, so they played really well and the receivers got open … it was an all-around effort,” Gould said.
Roberts’ 3-yard rushing touchdown with 1:55 left in the second quarter gave St. Thomas a 27-0 lead. Roberts finished the day with 126 yards and two scores.
Gould tallied his third touchdown of the game with a 36-yard pass to wide receiver Ryan Bradley to put the Tommies up 33-0 with 11:57 in the third quarter. Alex Fenske replaced Gould under center after this possession. Caruso said it was “crucial” for the backups to get game experience.
“It was kind of the tale of two different sides of the ball, because when the defense went in there I was very happy on how they performed,” Caruso said. “The 2’s, 3’s, 4’s and 5’s went in and kept that shutout. When the offense went in we sputtered tremendously; we didn’t score for 15 straight minutes of football.”
Defensive back Tyler Vajdic’s interception in the second quarter was St. Olaf’s lone bright spot, but just like every other possession, it resulted in a punt. St. Olaf recorded its first first down at the 10-minute mark of the third quarter and was held to 47 total yards, including just five rushing yards. Defensive back Mozus Ikuenobe said the Tommie defense fulfilled its responsibility.
“We did step up to the challenge and shut them out,” Ikuenobe said. “There’s elements of them not being prepared and us just being really, really good. Overall it’s just a boost of confidence for us and that’s the way we like to look at it.”
The Oles appeared to catch a break when they recovered a fumble and returned it for a touchdown. The celebration was short-lived, however. The score was called back following an illegal block penalty and the Tommie defense stuffed the Oles, forcing them to punt.
St. Thomas increased its lead to 47-0 when backup running back Tucker Trettel chalked up a 4-yard rushing touchdown with 3:26 left in the third quarter. Trettel finished the game with 79 yards along with the touchdown. Caruso said he was one Tommie who took advantage of playing time.
“Trettel did a really, really nice job as our fourth running back in the game, and there’s some other guys that got their time and made the most of it today,” Caruso said.
Penz, an All-MIAC honorable mention last season, was replaced by Jack Goldstein in the fourth quarter. St. Thomas’ own backup, third-string quarterback Dylan Andrew, scrambled for a 6-yard run with 6:41 left in the fourth quarter to widen the Tommies’ lead to 54-0.
On St. Olaf’s first play of the following possession, linebacker Bryan Tierney recovered a fumble by Goldstein, which didn’t result in any points. The Tommies recovered two fumbles, caused one interception and sacked the quarterback three times.
St. Thomas travels to Augsburg next week to face an explosive Auggie team led by reigning All-MIAC quarterback Ayrton Scott. He threw for 181 yards, three touchdowns and one interception in last year’s matchup. Caruso said his defense’s momentum will be crucial in stopping Scott.
“The momentum of how our defense is playing athletically, running to the ball and doing their responsibilities is something to build on and we’re going to need that next week,” Caruso said.
Jesse Krull can be reached at krul7386@stthomas.edu.