The St. Thomas football team rode the strong right arm of quarterback John Gould and a big day from tight end Charlie Dowdle to a back-and-forth 35-32 win over No. 18-ranked Concordia-Moorhead Saturday at O’Shaughnessy Stadium.
Gould threw for 298 yards and four touchdowns, including a 59-yard score to Dowdle with 4:21 left in the game – his third touchdown of the day – that put the Tommies up for good.
“We ran that bubble play to (Waldvogel) a couple times that kind of set up that deep pass off that,” Gould said. “(Dowdle) ran a good route and was open. It was a switch wheel route, and they just had no one for him.”
Gould has seen playing time in several games this season, including the entire second half in last weekend’s loss to Bethel, and coach Glenn Caruso said he was impressed with the junior quarterback’s play.
“Hats off to a guy like (Gould),” Caruso said. “Here’s a guy who made his first start towards the end of his junior year, and he’s just patiently waited and worked, and when given the opportunity, he made the most out of it.”
Concordia received the opening kickoff but was quickly forced to punt. St. Thomas opened the scoring on its first drive when Gould directed a quick, five-play scoring drive punctuated with a touchdown pass to wide receiver Jack Gilliland. Gilliland caught the ball around the 10-yard line, fought through a tackle and reached across the pylon for the 37-yard score that put the Tommies up 7-0 with 10:53 left in the first quarter.
“Jack ran a really good route, and I just knew if I put it on him, he’d make them miss,” Gould said.
Later in the first quarter, Gould looked deep to Gilliland again, but this time his pass was intercepted by Cobber safety Matt Ahrndt in the end zone. Both players leapt into the air and wrestled for possession on the way to the ground before Ahrndt came up with the ball.
Concordia tied the game at 7-7 with 7:55 left in the second quarter on quarterback Griffin Neal’s 3-yard touchdown sneak. The score capped off a 15-play, 80-yard drive that chewed up more than nine minutes.
St. Thomas finished off a 14-play, 74-yard drive just before half when Gould threw across the field and connected with Dowdle in the front of the end zone to put the Tommies ahead by a touchdown for the second time in the half. It was Dowdle’s team-leading eighth receiving touchdown and fifth in the last three games.
While St. Thomas held Concordia’s leading rusher, fullback Alex McLean, to just 83 rushing yards, the Cobbers were still able to rack up over 300 yards rushing in the game. Caruso said he admired Concordia’s commitment to running the ball.
“Hats off to them for staying with their game plan as long as they did,” Caruso said. “I think that shows tremendous confidence and mental toughness in what they do and what they do well.”
Defensive back Sean Hamlin said Caruso preached all week that the game was going to “be a dogfight all 60 minutes.”
“Concordia’s probably the best team in the MIAC at always sticking in the games,” Hamlin said. “They don’t give up; they’re a tough, good-coached team, and we knew that coming in.”
While the first half contained limited offense, the second half provided plenty of excitement and lead changes.
The Tommies came out swinging to start the second half. Wide receiver Jordan Millis returned the second-half kickoff 49 yards to the Cobber 49; and on the first play of the drive, running back Jack Kaiser rumbled down the sideline for a 43-yard gain. Three plays later, Gould finished off the St. Thomas possession with a 2-yard touchdown run that put the Tommies ahead 21-7.
On the ensuing possession, Concordia marched down the field and had a first-and-goal opportunity from the 5-yard line. The Tommie defense held for three straight plays, and the Cobbers were forced to settle for kicker Benjamin Wagner’s 19-yard field goal that cut the St. Thomas lead to 21-10.
The Cobbers cut the deficit on Neal’s 36-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Brandon Zylstra. Concordia made the score 21-18 on a questionable two-point conversion. McLean’s knee appeared to be down before the ball was across the goal line, but officials ruled it a successful conversion.
The Cobbers added a second touchdown just 1:28 later after running back Nick Waldvogel fumbled along the sideline. After a 43-yard rush by McLean, Neal found the end zone on a 12-yard touchdown run. The score gave the Cobbers a 25-21 lead with 12:51 remaining in the game.
“The last two weeks, we’ve allowed the two highest point totals we ever have in seven years, so there’s plenty of work to be done,” Caruso said. “But (I’m) happy with the intensity and how we sustained that intensity from the first quarter to the very last play.”
St. Thomas regained the lead about four minutes later. Starting from their own 27-yard line, the Tommies moved the ball down the field until the drive stalled at the Cobbers’ 10. Faced with a fourth-and-one, Gould faked the handoff and connected with Dowdle in the corner of the end zone for the score to make it 28-25. Caruso said the throwback pass has resulted in plenty of touchdowns over his tenure at St. Thomas.
“That play’s been really good. Over the last seven years I think that play’s provided us with 32, now 33, touchdowns,” Caruso said. “It works because we run the ball very, very effectively.”
The Cobbers regained the lead minutes later on fullback Domenic Fraboni’s 61-yard touchdown run. Their lead didn’t last long though.
On the first play after the kick return, Gould connected with Dowdle for the game-winning score, the fourth and final lead change of the fourth quarter. Caruso said that although the Tommies ended up needing a final defensive stop to secure the win, he felt the offense “did a really good job of taking it away.”
Concordia threatened to get on top once more on its final possession of the game. After leading the Cobbers into Tommie territory, Neal threw deep down the sideline, but Hamlin sealed the win for the Tommies with a leaping, one-handed interception with 2:19 remaining in the game.
Hamlin’s interception was his second game-saving takeaway this season and he said the defensive line forced Neal to make the off-target throw.
“We knew it was a two-minute situation. They were driving down the field, and we knew we needed a stop to save the game … I guess I was just in the right place at the right time,” Hamlin said.
Tom Pitzen can be reached at pitz2014@stthomas.edu.