Coach Glenn Caruso and the St. Thomas football team sing the victory song in front of the Tommie fan section after an 84-0 shutout of Hamline. This was the single largest margin of victory in Caruso’s tenure. (TommieMedia/Carolyn Meyer)
Running back Josh Parks races past Hamline defenders for a 60-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Parks scored three total touchdowns; one passing, one rushing and one receiving. (TommieMedia/Carolyn Meyer)
Tight end Jack Foley runs through the middle of the defense for a short gain. Foley rushed for 42 yards on eight carries. (TommieMedia/Carolyn Meyer)
Running back Tucker Trettel shakes a tackle en route to a 55-yard touchdown run in the first half. Trettel contributed 120 rushing yards to St. Thomas’ 452 total rushing yards. (TommieMedia/Carolyn Meyer)
The Tommie special teams unit congratulates wide receiver Tom Loeffler on his 75-yard punt return in the second quarter. This was Loeffler’s first touchdown of his Tommie career. (TommieMedia/Carolyn Meyer)
Tight end Jackson Hull signals for a touchdown after Vinny Pallini’s 88-yard punt return in the third quarter. Pallini’s return along with receiver Tom Loeffler’s 75-yard return in the second quarter were the first two special team’s scores of the season. (TommieMedia/Carolyn Meyer)
Quarterback Ronnie Jones and and tight end Jack Foley listen to Caruso during a timeout. The Tommies recorded 669 yards of total offense, a season high. (TommieMedia/Carolyn Meyer)
Quarterback Jacques Perra passes to one of his receivers before taking a hit from a Piper defender. Perra passed for 181 yards with 13 completions on 19 attempts and ran for one touchdown. (TommieMedia/Carolyn Meyer)
Running back Stephen Wagner rumbles through two Piper defenders for the first down. Wagner rushed for 75 yards on 12 carries. (TommieMedia/Carolyn Meyer)
Running back Stephen Wagner and tight end Jackson Finn celebrate in the end zone after a touchdown in the third quarter. (TommieMedia/Carolyn Meyer)
Ten Tommies found themselves in the end zone Saturday at Klas Field as fourth-ranked St. Thomas rolled by the Hamline Pipers 84-0.
Tommie running back Josh Parks led the St. Thomas (5-0 MIAC, 6-1 overall) scoring effort against Hamline (1-4 MIAC, 2-5 overall), finding the end zone three times in his best outing of the season: once on the ground with a 60-yard run, once on the receiving end of a 16-yard pass and once on a halfback option with an 18-yard touchdown pass.
“We’re versatile; we have a lot of different aspects to our offense,” Parks said. “I didn’t come into this knowing that would happen … but it was fun.”
Parks’ effort was the first time in his career in which he scored three different ways. Coach Glenn Caruso said the sophomore running back’s efforts were a testament to how versatile his players are.
“We were able to have the same group of (players) on the field,” Caruso said. “We were able to be in about 15 different formations with that same (offensive) group on the field, and that did show a nice level of versatility.”
Led by Parks’ career day, the Tommie offense put up its best performance of the season. The unit amassed 669 total yards and found the end zone nine times. The ground game in particular was in peak condition, with eight ball carriers rumbling through the Piper defense for 452 yards and six touchdowns.
Parks was quick to credit the production to his blockers up front.
“It starts with the offensive line and getting them to play as a unit, and then us trusting them,” he said. “When they play well, it allows us to play well.”
For the first time this season, the defense contributed to the scoring. Safety Isaac Seering intercepted Piper quarterback Justice Spriggs late in the first quarter and returned it for a 25-yard pick six.
“It means a lot (to score), but it’s a team effort,” Seering said. “(The pick) was off of a tipped ball, so if it weren’t for the corner playing really good defense, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to take it and run it back for a touchdown.”
Rounding out the full-team effort were punt returners Tom Loeffler and Vinny Pallini, who both scored on punt returns of 75 and 88 yards.
“I felt that the heroes of the day … were the guys blocking in front of them,” Caruso said. “You have guys like Jack Doomer and … (Chris Fondakowski) who … are boxing their guys out and allowing (the returners) to go the distance.”
Behind their dominant running game and best special teams performance of the season, the Tommies put up the most points in a single game during Caruso’s 10 years with St. Thomas.
Despite the team surpassing 80 points for only the second time in the past decade, Parks said the achievement wasn’t one to be heavily celebrated.
“We don’t really look at it as how much we scored but how well we executed,” he said. “As much as we scored, which is a good thing, we’ll go back tomorrow and see how we executed. There’s going to be things that we can do better, and that’s what we’ve got to focus on.”
Caruso emphasized that the team still needs to shake its penchant for drawing penalties and committing turnovers. The Tommies were flagged nine times for a total of 80 yards, and they fumbled the ball away twice.
“I have seen the high side (of this team), but they have to stay consistent all the way through,” he said.
St. Thomas will have a two-week home stretch against against Bethel and Gustavus before closing out its season on the road at St. Olaf. The Tommies have a 24-3 record against the three teams in the past decade.
Noah Brown can be reached at brow7736@stthomas.edu.