Two touchdowns and 310 passing yards from quarterback John Gould helped lead the No. 4-ranked St. Thomas football team to a 57-14 triumph over La Verne (California) in the first round of the NCAA playoffs Saturday afternoon at O’Shaughnessy Stadium.
Gould accumulated the bulk of his yards through the air in the first half, throwing for 219 yards with two touchdowns. With a narrow 8-0 lead early in the second quarter, Gould chalked up both passing touchdowns on back-to-back drives. He found running back Jordan Roberts down the middle of the field for a 36-yard score, and tight end Charlie Dowdle for a 67-yard touchdown.
“We had a slow start, but everybody kind of sticking together and not getting too down or too nervous about it and everyone just doing their job … makes it a lot easier for me,” Gould said.
The Tommies were held scoreless in the first quarter for the third time this season, but it was La Verne’s offense that started the game on the wrong foot. Leopards’ (8-2 overall, 7-0 conference) quarterback William Livingston needed help off the field after the Tommie (11-0 overall, 8-0 conference) defense’s heavy pressure brought him down. Backup Zachary Tomlinson replaced Livingston on the next drive and remained under center until third-string quarterback Josh Evans replaced him late in the half. Evans finished the rest of the game, throwing for 76 yards in his first playing time of the season.
Early in the third quarter, Evans not only chalked up La Verne’s first score, but his first collegiate touchdown. The freshman connected with wide receiver Ezra Broadus, who completed a grab in the right corner of the end zone and managed to get a foot in-bounds. Leopards’ coach Chris Krich called Evans a “good understudy,” and Evans felt he settled in well.
“Obviously you’re always a little nervous getting first reps, but as the game goes on, you get a good feel about it,” Evans said. “We could’ve played a little bit better, but we’re all family, and we’re all going to re-group. I’m going to miss the seniors; we wouldn’t be here without them right now.”
La Verne had quality chances to compete with St. Thomas, but squandered the opportunity when the end zone was within striking distance. The Leopards lost two fumbles, including a costly turnover late in the second quarter by running back Travis Sparks-Jackson.
Sparks-Jackson wasn’t the only running back who had some hiccups on the ground. Roberts snapped his streak of eight straight games with more than 100 rushing yards. The junior tallied two touchdowns, but was held to 77 yards on the ground on 19 carries.
The spotlight fell on the passing offense in the presence of the Leopards’ tough run defense. Along with Gould’s output, Dowdle rolled up 113 receiving yards on six catches. Wide receiver Nick Waldvogel also hauled in 110 yards on four receptions. Dowdle said the plethora of offensive weapons makes the Tommies dangerous.
“There’s a lot of guys that teams have to prepare for … we have Roberts and this (offensive line),” Dowdle said. “People have to stack the box and prepare for the run game; it opens up the passing game for us.”
With a 51-7 victory over Dubuque, St. John’s (10-1 overall, 7-1 conference) will travel to St. Paul next Saturday for the second round of the national playoffs. This is the first time in Tommie-Johnnie history that both teams have met in the postseason.
In the initial meeting this season, St. Thomas seized its first win over St. John’s in two years. Gould said the Tommies have to adjust before squaring off with their longtime rivals.
“We have to work each day this week to get better and clean up some things, but we’re really excited,” Gould said.
After surrendering 155 yards to Sparks-Jackson this week, St. Thomas moves on to face another stalwart back. Johnnie back Sam Sura registered 84 yards and zero touchdowns on 15 attempts against Dubuque. St. Thomas held Sura to 74 yards and two touchdowns on 25 touches in earlier this year. In the regular season, Sura was seventh in the nation in rushing yards (1476) and fourth in rushing scores (23). Coach Glenn Caruso said it’ll be different preparation from this past weeks.
“It’s two completely different animals,” Caruso said. “You have one who you have zero familiarity with, and that’s playoff football. And you have one that you have intimate knowledge of, and they have intimate knowledge of us, which makes it pretty exciting.”
Jesse Krull can be reached at krul7386@stthomas.edu.