EDITOR’S NOTE: the final game story with a photo slideshow and interviews is available here.
NORTHFIELD, Minn. — Fifth-year senior running back Josh Parks scored four touchdowns to break St. Thomas’ career touchdown mark, leading the Tommies to a 63-15 victory over Carleton in Saturday’s game at Laird Stadium.
Parks tied the school record of 50 career touchdowns with his second score of the game early in the second half, and by game’s end, he had pushed that total to 52.. His career total is now 52 touchdowns.
The Knights (4-3 overall, 2-3 MIAC) scored first on a 14-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jonathan Singleton to wide receiver Bert Bean in the first quarter, giving the Knights a 6-0 lead.
The Tommies (4-2 overall, 3-1 MIAC) responded on their next offensive drive with running back Josh Parks scoring on a 3-yard run. St. Thomas led by one point 7-6 at the end of the first quarter.
St. Thomas quarterback Tommy Dolan threw a 52-yard pass to tight end Grant Slavik in the second quarter, which advanced the Tommies down the field.
Dolan handed the ball off to running back Stephen Wagner for a 2-yard rush and score with 6:27 remaining in the second quarter, which put the Tommies up 14-6.
The Knights recovered two Tommie fumbles in the first half with the second recovery leading to a 48-yard field goal by Knights’ kicker Trent Ramirez with one second remaining in the half, closing the score gap to 5 points.
The Tommies came out strong in the second half with Parks scoring three times on runs of 75, 5 and 19 yards; the last score put the Tommies up 35-9.
Knights wide receiver Emanual Williams scored a 2-yard touchdown with 4:16 remaining in the second quarter, which made the score 35-15.
An 11-yard pitch-and-run from Dolan to wide receiver Vinny Pallini extended the Tommies’ lead to 42-15 at the end of the third quarter.
The scoring surge continued for the Tommies in the fourth quarter. Running backs Nick Rice and Josh Komis rushed the ball for two Tommie scores, bringing the score to 56-15.
Tommie backup quarterback Ronnie Jones rushed 6 yards and scored to cap off the Tommie win, making the final score 63-15.
The Tommies travel to St. Olaf next Saturday with a kick off time of 1:10 p.m.
Carly Noble can be reached at nobl1781@stthomas.edu.