Finished offensive drives helped the St. Thomas football team bounce back in week five to defeat Concordia-Moorhead 51-6 in Saturday’s homecoming game at O’Shaughnessy Stadium.
St. Thomas quarterback Tommy Dolan completed two long passes to wide receiver Gabe Green which sparked the Tommies’ offensive surge.
“We were stopped early on in the game, so it kind of looked like the same game as last week,” Green said. “But as the game went on we were able to finish drives and really get our run game and passing game going.”
St. Thomas wide receiver Gabe Green catches a 53 yard touchdown pass. (Owen Landrud/TommieMedia)
The Tommies (1-0, 2-1 overall) scored three touchdowns in the second quarter to lead the Cobbers (2-0, 2-2 overall) 23-0 at halftime after a scoreless first quarter.
Green scored the first 53-yard touchdown of the game while running back Stephen Wagner ran 42 yards for another Tommie touchdown to bring the score to 14-0.
“It’s not really the score or the win necessarily, but I think we grew by a ton throughout the game,” coach Glenn Caruso said.
Shortly after, Tommie linebacker Sam Herriges recovered a fumble at the Cobber 30-yard line to give the Tommies a scoring opportunity near their endzone.
Following the fumble recovery, St. Thomas quarterback Tommy Dolan ran the ball in for the third score of the quarter.
St. Thomas quarterback Tommy Dolan for a 9 yard touchdown run. (Owen Landrud/TommieMedia)
A 25-yard field goal attempt and finish by Tommie kicker Tyler Knutson gave the Tommies a 23-0 lead heading into the half.
Both the St. Thomas offense and defense led the team into halftime, but Caruso mentioned his stalwart defense holding the Cobbers to 18 rushes for 19 yards at half with no passing yards in the first half.
On the other side of the line of scrimmage, he said, “Our biggest improvement offensively was finishing once you got close to the goal line and being able to run a complimentary package that allowed us to put the ball in.”
Dolan continued the offensive domination well into the third quarter, completing a 40-yard touchdown pass to Green and running in a 9-yard touchdown.
“Tommy’s improving every single day,” Green said. “It’s really nice to see.”
Tommie running back Nick Rice scored twice in the second half to increase the Tommies’ lead 51-0.
St. Thomas running back Nick Rice for a 25 yard touchdown run. (Owen Landrud/TommieMedia)
Dolan, who struggled in last week’s game against UW-Eau Claire, threw for 196 yards completing 13 of 21 passes today.
“I thought it was a good bounce back from last week,” Dolan said. “We just came together, and it was a good win for us.”
The game was nearly a shutout for the Tommies until Cobber quarterback Blake Kragnes scored a last second touchdown.
St. Thomas dropped in the national rankings from No. 6 to No. 17 this week, but the team plans to work its way back to the top.
“We don’t control or pretend like we can control the other team whomever it is,” Caruso said. “Our focus has to remain on how good are we playing and how we should be playing. More so turning the focus inward is always what we do.”
Prior to Saturday’s game, St. Thomas received a Division I offer from the nine-member Summit League.
The move to the Summit League requires an NCAA waiver from its current rules, which state that Division III schools can only reclassify to Division II.
While the wait continues, one thing is for certain for Caruso.
“I’m a big believer in it’s not where you go, it’s who you go with,” Caruso said. “As long as I get to go with the University of St. Thomas, this football team and that administration, I’m a pretty happy camper.”
St. Thomas continues MIAC play taking on Augsburg (0-2, 1-3 overall) next Saturday with a kickoff time 1:10 p.m. at Edor Nelson Field and Dome.
Carly Noble can be reached at nobl1781@stthomas.edu.