Senior running back Colin Tobin ground out 206 rushing yards and three touchdowns as third-ranked St. Thomas ran away with a 48-2 win over St. Scholastica in a first-round NCAA Division III playoff game Saturday.

The Saints’ potent offense struggled to find traction on a snow-covered Palmer Field. The Tommies knocked the Saints out of their first-ever NCAA tournament and advance to play Monmouth (Ill.) next Saturday. Monmouth defeated Illinois Wesleyan in three overtimes, 33-27. Tobin and coach Glenn Caruso said the snow gave them an advantage.

“It brings me back to playing with friends on Thanksgiving,” Tobin said. “We were just trying to get good footing and dig in out there as best as we could.”

The Tommies shut down the Saints’ offense that averaged 45 points per game this season holding them to 73 yards of total offense while sacking quarterback Alex Thiry four times and picking off two passes.

“I’m not going to say our defense is playing the best that we’ve every played,” Caruso said. “I am going to say that I feel entirely comfortable with how well we are playing, and the fact that we’re getting better and better.”

Beneath waves of wet snow and sleet, Scholastica’s short opening kick slipped through Tommie sophomore receiver Kyle Whitley’s hands. Whitley ran into his own end zone to scoop the ball and was stopped for a safety. St. Scholastica’s offense took over with a 2-0 lead.

Twelve seconds into the game, the Tommies (11-0) trailed for the first time since they were down to 3-0 to Wisconsin-River Falls in the second game of the season.

“It was certainly part of the adversity that we had to fight through,” Caruso said. “Even though the stats show no turnovers, that is absolutely a turnover because it gives them an extra possession.”

Tobin and the Tommie offense did some damage control, putting together an 11-play, 86-yard scoring drive. Tobin went more than 1,000 total rushing yards on the drive capped it with a two-yard touchdown run putting the Tommies ahead 6-2 with 8:50 left in the first.

A battle of field position ensued, with the Saints offense stalling on six straight drives. After scoring on its first drive, St. Thomas punted on its next three possessions.

“I think it was good for us to have a little adversity there,” senior wide receiver Fritz Waldvogel said. “Even though we started slow, we were able to build off that and get better throughout the game.”

The Tommie defense dug in against a Saints’ offense that averages 45 points per game and held them 24 total yards in the first half. The Saints’ defense held on early, holding the powerful Tommie offense to six points in the first quarter.

Midway through the second quarter the Tommies faced a fourth and eight on the St. Scholastica 23-yard line and took a shot to Waldvogel in the corner of the end zone. Senior quarterback Dakota Tracy’s pass fell incomplete, but a defensive pass interference flag bailed the Tommies out with a first and goal.

“I just went up aggressively to the ball and hoped good things would happen,” Waldvogel said. “We got a pass interference call on fourth and nine, so we’ll take that.”

The Saints’ defense held Tobin out of the end zone on three carries, but on fourth down from the two-yard-line Tracy faked to Tobin and rolled into the end zone diving past the pursuit. Tracy’s score put the Tommies up 13-2 with 5:29 left in the first half.

Sophomore linebacker Tremayne Williams ended the Saints’ next drive with a sack, and the Tommie’s offense took over with just over three minutes to work with.

“It was very important for us to get some heat on (Thiry),” Williams said. “I don’t think you can just give me the credit, but I really do like getting those sacks.”

The Tommies featured Tobin, who had 36 yards on the drive including an eight-yard touchdown, to put the Tommies up 20-2 at the end of the first half.

The snow and the Tommie offense continued to pour on Palmer Field in the second half. A 15-yard Waldvogel touchdown run on a reverse made it 27-2 with 10:28 left in the third quarter. Tobin had four carries on the eight play, 44-yard scoring drive.

The game slipped further out of St. Scholastica’s reach when Tobin went untouched for a 42-yard touchdown run on the next Tommie drive to put the Tommies ahead 34-2.

“Tobin runs hard every play,” Saints’ senior linebacker Sean Grasky said. “He’s going to run to the whistle with guys at his feet. He doesn’t stop.”

Grasky had 10.5 tackles Saturday in his final game as a Saint.

A 15-yard late hit penalty gave Thiry and the Saints’ offense some positive yards, but Williams’ sack iced the Saints once again. The Tommies gave up 109 yards on nine penalties; 36 more yards than they allowed on defense. Junior defensive lineman Ayo Idowu said emotions were “definitely high” for the playoff game.

“We have to make sure we keep our emotions in check,” Caruso said. “Having nine penalties in one game is one of the things that we have to clean up going into next week.”

Waldvogel made a diving, one-handed catch for 40 yards on the first play of the ensuing drive, and Aaron Terrell-Byrd found the end zone on an eight-yard run. The score made it 41-2 with 4:17 left in the third.

Even in the playoffs the Tommies found playing time for freshman backups. Matt O’Connell took over at quarterback and Ryan Toney was carrying the ball by the end of the third quarter.

Toney burst to the edge and tumbled across the goal line for an eight yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Toney had six carries for 34 yards on the drive that put the Tommies up 48-2.

Saints passer Thiry threw only one interception all season, but threw his second of the game to Tommie defensive back Will Hersman early in the fourth quarter. Senior safety Tyler Erstad pick off a Thiry deep ball in the first half.

Thiry and the St. Scholastica (10-1) seniors entered a program in its first year in 2008 and brought it to the NCAA tournament, but Thiry’s career ended with two straight sacks and 52 yards passing for the game.

St. Scholastica coach Greg Carlson had tears in his eyes after the game as he told his seniors how proud he was of them.

“I can’t tell you how much I admire this football team,” Carlson said. “I love them dearly.”

While Carlson and the Saints look forward to next year, Caruso and the Tommies look to next week’s match-up against Monmouth, who needed three overtimes to win its first round game. St. Thomas will face another experienced quarterback in Monmouth’s fifth year senior Alex Tanney.

“Monmouth has a good quarterback; a very good quarterback,” senior cornerback Chinni Oji said. “It will be fun for me and my guys back there.”

“The ball comes off (Tanney’s) hand and you’re like, ‘there’s no way a human just did that.’ It’s absurd,” Caruso said.

Alex Keil can be reached at amkeil@stthomas.edu.