Four passing touchdowns and 293 passing yards for quarterback John Gould and a stout defense lifted the No. 9-ranked St. Thomas football team to a 78-7 thumping over Hamline in the Tommies’ homecoming game Saturday afternoon at O’Shaughnessy Stadium.
Gould’s first and longest touchdown came on the second play of the game, a 52-yard strike to deep threat option Jack Gilliland. The senior snagged 24 catches for 427 yards and two touchdowns last season but had been watching from the sidelines the whole season due to an injury he suffered in the offseason during practice.
“Words can’t describe how happy I was; the moment was pretty unbelievable,” Gilliland said. “It just feels great to be out with the guys again.”
Gilliland finished his own homecoming with that one catch, but it sparked the Tommie (6-0 overall, 4-0 MIAC) offense that finished with 595 yards of total offense, including 332 passing yards. Coach Glenn Caruso said Gilliland brings a rare combination of speed and football IQ.
“He has a speed and a savvy that is a tough combination to find. Most times you get a fast guy who might not have the route-running savvy,” Caruso said.
Along with Gilliland, Gould connected with wide receivers Nick Waldvogel and Austin Harrington for two 20-yard touchdowns in the first quarter. He tallied his fourth passing score on a toss to tight end Matt Christenson with 53 seconds remaining in the first half. Saturday’s performance tied Gould with Augsburg dual threat quarterback Ayrton Scott for second in the MIAC with 14 passing touchdowns.
On top of Gould’s performance, the running game contributed four touchdowns. Running back Jordan Roberts hung on to a share of the MIAC rushing touchdown lead with two 2-yard rushing scores. Roberts is tied with St. John’s running back Sam Sura for the lead spot with 14 tallies. Fullback Jeremy Molina’s 1-yard touchdown in the third quarter and running back Tucker Trettel’s 46-yard score in the fourth capped of the Tommies’ scoring on the ground.
Even Saint Thomas’ special teams took a turn crossing the goal line. In the middle of the second quarter, tight end Wolfgang Dvorak blocked a Hamline (2-4 overall, 0-4 MIAC) punt around the Pipers 2-yard line that Tommie linebacker Adam Brant recovered in the end zone. Defensive back Joe Reed returned a 85-yard kickoff for a touchdown in the middle of the third quarter. Ten Tommies scored in the resounding victory and Caruso said he was impressed with his team’s efficiency.
“When we played St. Olaf, when the (starters) were done after the first quarter, we didn’t have a very clean game on all three phases of the entire game,” Caruso said. “This was about as clean as it gets for all three phases.”
The stubborn Tommie defense held Hamline’s offense to 219 total yards, recorded two sacks and recovered one fumble.
This victory keeps Caruso undefeated in eight homecoming games during his tenure at St. Thomas. Defensive lineman Eric Sutton stressed the importance of putting on a show in front of Tommies past and present
“You just want to show them the growth of the program, because you know that they put just as much work in as you did,” Sutton said. “You just want to make them proud and just be indebted to them.”
St. Thomas will try to avenge a loss to conference rival Bethel (4-2 overall, 3-1 MIAC) next weekend at O’Shaughnessy Stadium. The Royals defeated the Tommies 35-24 in Arden Hills last year.
Jesse Krull can be reached at krul7386@stthomas.edu.