The St. Thomas football team rode the strong right arm of quarterback John Gould and a stout defense to a 14-7 lead over No. 18-ranked Concordia-Moorhead at halftime Saturday at O’Shaughnessy Stadium.

Gould threw for 168 yards and two touchdowns, including a 4-yard score to tight end Charlie Dowdle – his team-leading sixth receiving touchdown of the season – that broke a 7-7 tie late in the second quarter.

Concordia received the opening kickoff but was quickly forced to punt. St. Thomas opened the scoring on its first drive when Gould directed a quick, five-play scoring drive punctuated with a touchdown pass to wide receiver Jack Gilliland. Gilliland caught the ball around the 10-yard line, fought through a tackle and reached across the pylon for the 37-yard score that put the Tommies up 7-0 with 10:53 left in the first quarter.

Later in the first quarter, Gould looked deep to Gilliland again, but his pass was intercepted by Cobber safety Matt Ahrndt in the end zone. Both players leapt into the air and wrestled for possession on the way to the ground before Ahrndt came up with the ball.

Concordia tied the game at 7-7 with 7:55 left in the second quarter on quarterback Griffin Neal’s 3-yard touchdown sneak. The score capped off a 15-play, 80-yard drive that chewed up more than nine minutes.

St. Thomas finished off a 14-play, 74-yard drive just before half when Gould threw across the field and connected with Dowdle in the front of the end zone to put the Tommies ahead by a touchdown for the second time in the half.

St. Thomas held Concordia’s leading rusher, fullback Alex McLean, to just 30 rushing yards, while Neal managed only 76 yards passing.

Tom Pitzen can be reached at pitz2014@stthomas.edu.