Football rolls 38-7; Ridley breaks 35-year-old record

October 23, 2004

Peter Ridley Senior RB Peter Ridley of Mendota Heights broke a 35-year-old conference record with 314 rushing yards and also had three TD runs to lead St. Thomas to a 38-7 victory over visiting Carleton Saturday in MIAC football play in O'Shaughnessy Stadium. A Homecoming crowd watched the Tommies (5-1 overall, 4-1 MIAC) win their fourth in a row, beat the Knights for the 12th consecutive time, and stay in the conference championship race. Carleton (1-6, 0-5) had five turnovers, including two fumbles lost inside the UST five-yard line. The Knights also missed a 38-yard field-goal try that bounced off the left upright. They averted a shutout on Wade Thompson's seven-yard scoring run late in the third quarter. The Tommie defense had three sacks, three forced fumbles and two interceptions, and held the Knights to 249 yards of offense, just 88 in the air. They also held Carleton to 1-for-15 on third-down conversions. Ridley, making just his second career start, had first-half touchdown runs of 1, 88 and 79 yards and already had 244 yards on 18 carries as the Tommies broke to 31-0 halftime lead. Ridley finished with 28 carries for 314 yards. That broke a 35-year-old record set by Macalester's Terry Graff of 311 yards in 1969 vs. Augsburg. It also broke a 28-year-old UST record set by Dave Gervais with 279 yards vs. Macalester. Ridley's 88-yard scoring run was one yard off the 31-year-old school record of 89 yards set by both John Goebel and Jeff Boisen in separate games in 1973. In his last two games, Ridley has six touchdown runs and 470 rushing yards. UST rolled up 443 yards of offense. Sophomore QB Ryan Jansen improved to 4-0 as a starter and completed a five-yard scoring pass to Joel Korte. Jansen was 7-for-13 passing for 89 yards and no turnovers. UST closed the scoring in the fourth quarter as freshman RB John Azman bounced outside on an apparent no gain and it produced a 25-yard scoring run. Tommie freshman PK Adam Valenta kicked a 37-yard field goal to make it 17-0. The Knights' Rich Juelich returned the kickoff 55 yards to the Tommie 30, and on the first play QB Darren Caspers rushed to the one-yard line before he was stripped of the ball by UST senior CB Steve Groth. Tommie senior DB Matt Meunier recovered in the end zone for a touchback. UST quickly capitalized with a four-play, 80-yard scoring drive keyed by a 38-yard pass from Jansen to P.J. Theisen and Ridley's 38-yard run. Senior Joe Skaja had an interception and fumble recovery; senior Pat Sommerstad had a pickoff; and Dustin Peltier had a sack and a forced fumble. Junior DT Ben Kessler had one sack and now has had at least one sack for nine consecutive games. Senior Chris Husby had a 65-yard punt from his end zone and averaged 46.3 yards on four kicks. Carleton freshman R.J. Jackson rushed 19 times for 95 yards and caught five passes for 34 yards. Ben Olson had two sacks for the Knights' defense. Next Saturday, St. Thomas plays at Gustavus and Carleton is home to face Bethel. see box score here

University of St. Thomas Athletics

Football rolls 38-7; Ridley breaks 35-year-old record

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