First-year running back Gabe Abel won Pioneer Football League Offensive Player of the Week after scoring three touchdowns in the St. Thomas football team’s 26-14 defeat of Drake on Oct. 15.

With sophomore running backs Hope Adebayo and Shawn Shipman largely sidelined due to injury, Abel stepped into the starting role for the Tommies’ homecoming game, racking up 18 carries for 100 yards.

“It feels good to step up – ‘next man up’ mentality,” Abel said on Oct. 15 in a postgame interview.

Abel barreled into the endzone twice in the first half, first from the six-yard line and again from one yard out. In the fourth quarter, Abel’s 33-yard sprint down the sideline set up his own five-yard dive for his third score of the game.

“Gabe is very capable,” coach Glenn Caruso said on Oct. 15 in a postgame interview. “It’s tough to play as a freshman at any college, let alone a Division I school.”

Derek Badger can be reached at badg7629@stthomas.edu.