EAU CLAIRE, Wisconsin — A last-second fourth-quarter touchdown catch by wide receiver Gabe Green wasn’t enough, as No. 6 St. Thomas lost to unranked Wisconsin-Eau Claire, 21-19, Saturday at Carson Park.
Quarterback Tommy Dolan hit Green with a 30-yard scoring strike with 7 seconds left, but Dolan’s two-point conversion pass to tie the score fell incomplete.
“I think the challenge today meant that as a team we had to come together and face adversity,” Dolan said. “Unfortunately we lost, but there’s a lot of things we can grow on, and if any team can learn from it, it’s this team.”
Eau Claire jumped out to a 21-7 halftime lead in the non-conference game during a first half that featured four Tommie turnovers.
The Tommies (2-1) fell behind 14-0 with less than 90 seconds played. The Blugolds (2-1) scored on the second play of the game on a 24-yard run by Austin Belot after a 77-yard kickoff return by Keshaun Story.
Coach Glenn Caruso knew going into the game that Eau Claire would be a good football team under new head coach Wesley Beschorner.
“I think they (Eau Claire) did a really good job, and Wesley put his guys in the situation of if we didn’t play well they were gonna be in good shape,” Caruso said. “We just did not play anywhere near what we’re capable of playing.”
Unfinished drives, turnovers and missed field goal attempts ultimately hurt the Tommies.
On Eau Claire’s fourth play, after a Josh Parks fumble, Blugold quarterback Jonathan Malueg threw a touchdown pass to Antwan Moore that covered 29 yards. Only 1:25 had elapsed, and Eau Claire led 14-0.
On fourth-and-one, Parks ran for a 5-yard score with 10:00 remaining in the first quarter to claw St. Thomas back to 14-7. On St. Thomas’ next possession, Tyler Knutson missed on a 33-yard field goal try. He missed a 40-yarder later in the second quarter.
“It was the inability to get anything going on punt return and kick return,” Caruso said. “The glaring thing was the inability to make field goals when we needed to, and it’s not just the point differential of the field goals if you make those…the first half is different and the whole game changes.”
The Blugolds opened up the second quarter with an interception in the end zone by Cam Swanson off of Dolan, the first of two interceptions he threw in the half.
Belot rushed for a 77-yard touchdown for the Blugolds with 4:31 left in the second quarter for a 21-7 lead.
“We started out flat for the second week in a row and that’s something we just can’t do,” running back Tom Loeffler said. “We’ve got a big game next weekend. We have to watch this film and prepare ourselves because we can’t do that again.”
Neither team scored in the third quarter, but the Tommies worked toward a comeback in the fourth.
With 9:05 remaining in the game, Josh Parks rushed for a 1-yard touchdown, but a failed two-point conversion by Green made the score 21-13.
Green went on to catch a 30-yard pass from Dolan for the Tommie’s final touchdown of the game, but another failed two-point conversion by Dolan ended the Tommies scoring chances making the final score 21-19.
“Everybody’s going to be up to play St. Thomas,” Caruso said. “If they play well, then that’s what’s going to happen, you’re going to see the other team celebrating on the field. I credit our guys a lot for staying the course and staying in it.”
St. Thomas had never lost to Wisconsin-Eau Claire, winning all seven games.
The Tommies return home next week for MIAC play to face Concordia-Moorhead with a 1:10 p.m. kickoff.
Carly Noble can be reached at nobl1781@stthomas.edu.