The St. Thomas football team broke through in the second half and beat the Morehead State Eagles 35-28 on Saturday in St. Paul, for the team’s first Pioneer Football League game of the 2023 season.
It was the Tommies’ (2-2, 1-0 PFL) first home game of the season, extending St. Thomas’ home win streak first set on Dec. 3, 2016.
This was the third game in a row where the Tommies were unable to score in the first half. However, the win ended the team’s two-game losing streak after losing to South Dakota and Harvard in nonconference games.
Morehead State (1-2, 0-1 PFL) gained a lead late in the first half when senior wide receiver Kyle Daly scored a 24-yard touchdown with a minute left in the second quarter. The Tommies answered with a 61-yard touchdown by junior running back Shawn Shipman in the third quarter.
Shipman and sophomore tight end Matthew Rink added a combined three touchdowns to the Tommies’ score in the third quarter. Those points were followed by two more touchdowns in the final quarter, the first scored by sophomore tight end Patrick Wagner.
After the Eagles tied the game 28-28 in the final quarter with a 16-yard touchdown by junior running back Caleb Ramseur, St. Thomas’ senior wide receiver Jacob Wildermuth pulled through and scored a 26-yard touchdown with only 9 seconds left in the game, securing another home win for the Tommies.
Senior linebacker Nick Flaskamp walked off the field with an injury in the second period.
St. Thomas football will play next at 12 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 30, against Dayton (2-1) in Dayton, Ohio.
Owen Larson can be reached at lars6521@stthomas.edu.