NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Thomas football team totaled 621 yards of total offense en route to an 83-7 walloping of Carleton Saturday at Laird Field.
The massive victory allowed 10 different Tommies to find their way into the end zone.
“We have so many guys in our program, and they all work tremendously hard, but the ones that you usually see on game days are the 22 starters,” coach Glenn Caruso said. “I am happy with the cleanliness, with how the offense, defense and special teams played coming out.”
The Tommie starters were exactly that, clean, putting up four touchdowns on their four first-quarter drives, including three passing scores from quarterback John Gould.
Playing only one and a half quarters, Gould racked up 176 pass yards and three touchdowns before handing the reins over to quarterback Matt O’Connell.
The St. Thomas running backs took over in the second quarter. Nick Waldvogel scored on a 45-yard run to start the quarter, and Brenton Braddock scored on two consecutive drives to give the Tommies 49 points going into halftime.
“We were consistent all the way through, from the starters to the second string to the third string. We all went out there and worked our butts off, hustled every single play and were able to go out there and produce,” Braddock said.
The Tommie offense wasn’t the only group to make a statement Saturday, as the defense made a statement by forcing and recovering four fumbles, three in the first half.
The defense’s biggest stand was just before halftime. Carleton managed to work its way down to the St. Thomas goal line where the Tommies were able to force and recover a fumble, keeping the Knights out the end zone in the first half.
“That’s just mental toughness,” linebacker Anthony King-Foreman said. “You can’t let the scoreboard determine how amped you are or anything; you have to bring it every play.”
Despite the team’s 49-0 halftime lead, there was no letup as the Tommies continued to have their way with the demoralized Carleton squad.
Freshman running back Tanner Bedard carried the load for the Tommies in the second half, recording 51 yards on eight carries and finding the end zone twice, a performance that made more than just the coaches happy.
“(Bedard) has been watching us older guys and learning. To see him score, I take a lot of pride in that because he’s a kid I’ve been mentoring and teaching,” Braddock said of the freshman. “I get even happier watching him score than watching myself score. That was the coolest thing for me, watching him go out there and do well.”
Bedard wasn’t the only freshman making contributions Saturday, as quarterback Thomas O’Neil threw for 62 yards and a touchdown. Freshman wide receiver Tanner Vik led the Tommies with 66 receiving yards and was one of four St. Thomas receivers to find the end zone.
“We had so many freshmen get experience today,” Caruso said. “One of the ways we can get into a situation where we can play the backups – most of our twos and threes were in before halftime – is because your ones come out and do what they should do. And that’s exactly what happened today.”
After St. Thomas put up 69 unanswered points, Carleton broke through and scored on a 13-yard run by quarterback Zach Creighton midway through the fourth quarter.
The Tommies did not let that affect their play as they found their way into the end zone two more times to seal the 83-7 victory.
St. Thomas will play its final game of the regular season next Saturday at home against Gustavus.
Scott Sikich can be reached at siki3549@stthomas.edu.