Senior quarterback Cade Sexauer threw two touchdown passes and senior running back Tom Loeffler ran for two more scores, propelling St. Thomas to a 36-0 shutout of Butler on Saturday at O’Shaughnessy Stadium.
The matchup marked the first Division I home game and first home game in 95 weeks for the Tommies. One week after suffering a 44-3 rout at the hands of Northern Iowa, St. Thomas (2-1, 1-0 Pioneer League) rolled up 424 total yards of offense in the game compared with 278 by Butler (2-2, 0-1).
Butler, coming off a 77-point performance against NAIA foe Taylor a week earlier, was no match for the Tommies’ defense. The Bulldogs had their best scoring chance when they drove to the Tommies’ 10-yard line midway through the fourth quarter before senior defensive lineman Seth Bickett forced a fumble.
After taking a 22-0 lead into halftime, the Tommies scored on their opening possession of the third quarter on a 9-yard pass from Sexauer to senior tight end Max Zimmerman.
The Bulldogs then drove to the St. Thomas 32-yard line but were stuffed on fourth-and-1 by the strong Tommie defense. Before the fourth quarter fumble, this was the deepest Butler had made it into Tommie territory during the game.
Sophomore running back Hope Adebayo added the fourth touchdown of the day and the Tommies’ longest touchdown of the season when he broke two tackles during a 34-yard sprint to the endzone, making it 36-0 early in the fourth quarter.
In the first half, Loeffler and Joshua Komis combined for three rushing touchdowns for the Tommies.
Loeffler scored the first and third touchdowns of the game for the Tommies on 2-yard and 5-yard runs. Komis notched the second on a 9-yard pass-and-run play from Sexauer.
After Komis’ run, a two-point conversion by sophomore punter Kolby Gaertner widened the Tommies’ lead, making it 15-0.
The Tommies had only one touchdown this season before the Butler game but produced three in the first half Saturday.
St. Thomas extended its home-field regular-season win streak to 28 games Saturday.
The Tommies are set to face University of San Diego in a Pioneer League road match at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 2.
Cam Kauffman can be reached at kauf8536@stthomas.edu.