Senior tight end Grant Slavik caught three touchdown passes in the first quarter to propel the No. 7 St. Thomas football team to a 69-3 win over Trinity International (Ill.) Saturday at O’Shaughnessy Stadium.
St. Thomas (1-0 overall) opened the season with its 24th straight regular-season win at Palmer Field. Coach Glen Caruso is 12-0 in season openers.
“We have a lot of weapons on offense, and I think I am one of those,” Slavik said. “There’s definitely a lot of ways that we can score, so it’s exciting to see how we are going to do it this season.”
Slavik scored on touchdown catches of 29, 17 and 31 yards.
Tommie running backs Tom Loeffler and Josh Parks scored two touchdowns each, combining for 203 yards.
Junior quarterback Tommy Dolan, a first-time starter, connected with multiple teammates on 10 of 12 passes for 147 yards.
“I think I played efficiently,” Dolan said. “The biggest thing was just getting out there, making plays and scoring.”
Perhaps the only thing more dominant than the Tommie offense against the Trojans (1-1) was the St. Thomas defense, which recovered two fumbles and had three interceptions.
Most major plays happened in the first half, including Malik Johnson’s blocked punt and score, helping UST cruise to a 49-0 halftime lead. Caruso pulled his starters halfway through the third quarter.
Tommie sophomore running back Wyatt Draper scored off a three-yard-run early in the fourth quarter. Shortly after, freshman linebacker Matthew Brodeur intercepted Trinity’s ball at the 12-yard line and ran it in for the final touchdown.
Heading into a bye week, the Tommies have time to focus on improving.
“We just have to get better every day,” Slavik said. “We messed up on a couple run plays trying recognize runs and whatnot, but the rest of the season is going to be exciting and I’m looking forward to it.”
St. Thomas begins conference play Saturday, Sept. 21, at Klas Field against the Hamline Pipers. Hamline (0-1) lost its opener to Buena Vista (Iowa), 51-7, Thursday night.
Carly Noble can be reached at nobl1781@stthomas.edu
A great (?) victory over a school with 900 undergrads.
A failure, however, in that we failed to cover the 98 point spread Vegas oddsmakers placed on the game.