Quarterback Matt O’Connell threw for 305 yards, including two touchdowns, and ran for a touchdown to lead the St. Thomas football team to a 62-24 thrashing of Hamline Saturday at Klas Field.

For the second straight week, St. Thomas’ signal-caller completed a pass to six different receivers, while the Tommies (5-1 overall, 3-1 MIAC) had five different players record rushing touchdowns. In the past three weeks the Tommies have scored 176 points, and O’Connell said the offense is performing well.

“I think we’re being productive,” O’Connell said. “I think we’re getting points on the board and guys are doing a great job when they come in the game.”

St. Thomas surpassed 440 yards for the fifth straight game, finishing the day with 526 total yards – its largest offensive output since it racked up 685 yards in an Oct. 4 win over St. Olaf.

To start the game, the Tommies received the opening kickoff and scored quickly. After a 56-yard completion from O’Connell to wide receiver Pete Fitzsimmons, running back Nick Waldvogel capped off a four-play, 72-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown plunge. Waldvogel now leads the team with seven rushing touchdowns this season. Kicker Paul Graupner added the extra point to make the score 7-0 in favor of the Tommies 51 seconds into the game.

Linebacker Rutger Heffelfinger recovered a fumble on the ensuing Hamline drive, and the St. Thomas offense capitalized. Running back Jack Kaiser finished off a five-play, 56-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown run.

The Pipers (2-4 overall, 0-4 MIAC) got on the scoreboard later in the first quarter thanks to a Tommie miscue. Hamline defensive back Jack Swanberg intercepted O’Connell and returned it 40 yards to the St. Thomas 33-yard line. The Pipers took advantage of the mistake and scored on an 8-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Tim Bona to tight end Ray Culp, which cut the St. Thomas lead to 14-7 with 5:14 left in the first quarter.

Defensive back Jesse Addo said that although Hamline wasn’t the toughest opponent St. Thomas would face this year, the Pipers managed to play a tough game against the Tommies.

“Hamline’s not one of our strongest opponents … but they definitely came out today, played tough, and they played like they can play with us,” Addo said.

The Tommies answered with a touchdown just one minute later when O’Connell hit tight end Charlie Dowdle over the middle for a 36-yard touchdown to put St. Thomas up 21-7.

Dowdle finished the game with seven receptions for 117 yards, his second game this season with more than 100 receiving yards. Coach Glenn Caruso said St. Thomas’ success in the running game has allowed Dowdle to become a consistent target for O’Connell this year

“The way that we utilize the run game really allows us to use Charlie in what we call the mini-field,” Caruso said. “Whether it’s the pocket setting or the bootleg, Matt’s just finding him right now.”

However, O’Connell said Dowdle’s contributions to the team can’t be measured simply on the statistics sheet.

“(Dowdle’s) going to play well for us in any game, and whether that shows up with his statistics … he’s a big player for us,” O’Connell said. “He’s a great guy to have throwing the ball, and he’s an awesome guy inside blocking.”

After the Tommie touchdown, Hamline answered right back when running back Austin Duncan bulldozed through St. Thomas’ defense for a 7-yard touchdown to cap off a six-play, 76-yard drive to cut the St. Thomas lead to seven with 1:57 remaining in the first quarter.

Duncan managed to rack up 102 yards rushing against the Tommie defense but found the end zone only once in the game. Addo said that Hamline’s star back is a tough opponent to bring down but added that the defense recognized its shortcomings and adjusted.

“We weren’t driving our feet, and coach made it a point all week to drive our feet,” Addo said. “I think after a while we sort of managed to listen to coach and … drive our feet and wrap up.”

St. Thomas opened the second-quarter scoring on a 5-yard touchdown scamper from Waldvogel for his second touchdown of the first half to put the Tommies back up by 14 points with 11:59 remaining in the first half.

Fullback Dominic Truoccolo became the third Tommie to record a rushing touchdown in the first half when he reached over the pile and into the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown with just over seven minutes left before halftime.

O’Connell added to the St. Thomas lead with a 14-yard touchdown scramble with 3:25 remaining in the half, but Graupner missed the extra point to keep the Tommie lead at 41-14.

St. Thomas pushed the game further out of reach just before halftime when defensive back Kyle Coyne picked off a pass along the sideline and returned it 28 yards for a touchdown. Graupner nailed the extra point to extend the Tommies’ lead to 48-14 at halftime.

Despite the halftime lead, Caruso said he wasn’t satisfied with the way the team played.

“I don’t know what the halftime score was exactly, but it didn’t feel clean,” Caruso said. “In the second half, I love that we came back out with our first string and we were able to shut them down and score.”

Hamline struck first in the second half when Bona hit running back Hoyfal Adam with a pass inside the 5-yard line. Adam fought through a tackle at the goal line and dove into the end zone for the score. Coughlin split the upright for the extra point to make the score 48-21 with 6:14 left in the third quarter.

The Tommies answered just over a minute later when O’Connell threw his second touchdown of the day, this time connecting with Fitzsimmons from 43 yards out.

Hamline scored its final points with 6:09 left in the game when Coughlin kicked a 20-yard field goal to make the score 55-24.

Fullback Jeremy Molina scored the last touchdown of the game when he capped off a 12-play, 80-yard drive with his first rushing touchdown of the season, a 2-yard run to put St. Thomas up 62-24 with just over a minute remaining.

Caruso said it’s not uncommon for St. Thomas to get contributions from a variety of players on the ground, but added he that the team’s fullbacks received some well-deserved praise.

“Everyone who follows the program knows about the three tailbacks. For the first time ever I think, we had two fullbacks that got touchdowns in the same game,” Caruso said. “Those guys get very little credit, I mean, that’s the role of a fullback … they don’t have all the stats that the other guys do, they just block a lot.”

St. Thomas has won six straight games against Hamline and is 9-1 in its past 10 matchups with the Pipers. The Tommies have now scored more than 40 points in their last five meetings with MIAC rivals, and topped 50 in two of the past three.

St. Thomas heads to Arden Hills next Saturday to face Bethel, pitting the Royals’ MIAC-best scoring defense against the Tommies’ offense, which leads the conference in average points-per-game.

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