NORTHFIELD, Minn. — Fifth-year senior running back Josh Parks scored four touchdowns to break St. Thomas’ career touchdown mark, leading the Tommies to a 63-15 victory over Carleton in Saturday’s game at Laird Stadium.
Parks tied the school record of 50 career touchdowns on his second score of the game early in the second half, and by game’s end, he had pushed that total to 52.
Parks scored three of his four touchdowns after halftime, which ultimately ignited the Tommies who had struggled to score and defend in the first half.
“I was fairly disgusted with how we played in the first half,” coach Glenn Caruso said. “You also need to credit Carleton. They came out, just hair on fire and ready to go.”
The Knights (4-3 overall, 2-3 MIAC) scored first on a 14-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jonathan Singleton to wide receiver Bert Bean in the first quarter, giving the Knights a 6-0 lead.
The Tommies (4-2 overall, 3-1 MIAC) responded on their next offensive drive with running back Josh Parks scoring his first TD on a 3-yard run. St. Thomas led by one point 7-6 at the end of the first quarter.
St. Thomas quarterback Tommy Dolan threw a 52-yard pass to tight end Grant Slavik in the second quarter, which helped set up the Tommies second score.
Dolan handed the ball to running back Stephen Wagner for a 2-yard score with 6:27 remaining in the second quarter, which put the Tommies up 14-6.
The Knights recovered two Tommie fumbles in the first half with the second recovery leading to a 48-yard field goal by Knights’ kicker Trent Ramirez with one second remaining in the half.
Carleton only trailed by 5 points at the half, and the St. Thomas players recognized the urgency to respond.
“We didn’t come out like we wanted to,” Slavik said. “We went in the locker room, made some adjustments with the players and the coaches, and I think we finished the game the way we should have started it.”
Basic core principles such as running and blocking were lacking in the first half, according to Caruso, but those improved in the second half, allowing the Tommies to take over.
The Tommies came out strong in the second half with Parks scoring three times on runs of 75, 5 and 19 yards, putting St. Thomas up 35-9.
Although Parks dominated the run game against the Knights and broke the school record in career touchdowns, his mentality remains on his team.
“We’re 5-2 right now, so my focus is getting to the playoffs and playing good football,” Parks said.
Caruso praised what Parks has done for the team.
“When you watch the great quarterbacks and the great linebackers, they’re great because the people around them want to work harder for them,” Caruso said. “And that’s what (Parks) evokes for this team.”
Knights wide receiver Emanual Williams scored a 2-yard touchdown with 4:16 remaining in the third quarter, which made the score 35-15.
An 11-yard pitch-and-run from Dolan to wide receiver Vinny Pallini extended the Tommies’ lead to 42-15 at the end of the third quarter.
The scoring surge continued for the Tommies in the fourth quarter. Running backs Nick Rice and Josh Komis rushed the ball for two Tommie scores, pushing the score to 56-15.
Tommie backup quarterback Ronnie Jones rushed 6 yards and scored to cap off the Tommie win, making the final score 63-15.
The second half surge reflected a week’s worth of practice that focused on building trust.
“Trust was built in a big way this week,” Caruso said.
The Tommies travel to St. Olaf next Saturday with a kickoff time of 1:10 p.m.
Carly Noble can be reached at nobl1781@stthomas.edu.