University of St. Thomas Athletics
Concordia-Moorhead
Big plays fuel Tommies
10/21/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Senior tight end Ryan Jansen's 45-yard TD catch and run in the fourth quarter proved to be the winning margin as St. Thomas defeated Concordia 21-15 in MIAC football play Saturday in Moorhead. It was UST's first victory over the Cobbers since 2001.
Jansen, UST's starting quarterback until three weeks ago, has thrown 16 career TD passes, but his first scoring reception proved crucial for St. Thomas (5-2 overall, 4-1 MIAC).
Also huge was freshman Sam Moen's 63-yard punt return for a TD in the third quarter. It was the first Tommie punt return for a TD since September 2004. Moen's 19-yard return late in the first quarter also set up a UST touchdown.
Sophomore QB David Sauer threw for 171 yards and two TD passes to help St. Thomas stay in the MIAC title race and extend its win streak to three games. Sauer has 15 touchdown passes in six career starts and improved to 5-1 as a starter.
The Toms, who played without injured starters P.J. Theisen (WR) and Jake Casey (RB), secured no worse than a .500 finish with three games to play.
The Toms are now tied for second place in the MIAC at 4-1 with Bethel, which held off St. Olaf 35-29. Bethel's Phil Porta gained 236 yards, broke ex-Tommie Jake Barkley's conference career rushing record, and scored the go-ahead TD in the closing minutes. St. John's leads the conference at 6-0.
The Cobbers (2-5, 2-4) were hurt by four turnovers and never led in the game. They completed just 3-of-17 pass attempts against the Tommie defense and had two picked off in the second half in UST territory. Junior Matt Anderson had his fifth interception in six games played, and freshman Jeffrrey Hilliard also had a pickoff. Roger Casey had a forced fumble and 10 tackles; Pat Sommerstad had a fumble recovery and 10 tackles; Adam Johannsen had nine tackles and one sack; Mike Rouse had two sacks and two pass break-ups; Ross Petterson had nine tackles and a fumble recovery.
UST took a 7-0 lead in the second quarter on a 19-yard TD pass from Sauer to Ian Lewis on 2nd-and-goal from the Cobber 19. It was Lewis' team-best fifth TD of the season.
The Cobbers answered with an 11-play, 74-yard scoring drive for a touchdown but missed the PAT kick and it stayed 7-6.
Moen's 63-yard punt return to the end zone early in the third quarter extended UST's lead to 14-6. The Cobbers answered with a 13-play, 68-yard scoring drive and TD with 11:20 to play but were stopped on a two-point run to tie the score.
The Toms benefited from a 15-yard-penalty on the kickoff return and needed just three plays to answer. They moved ahead 21-12 on Sauer's TD pass to Jansen which included a nifty zig-zag run to the end zone.
Concordia drove the field and on 4th-and-1 popped a long run to give them had first-and-goal at the UST eight-yard-line. UST tightened and CC settled for a 22-yard field goal with 4:50 left. Concordia got the ball back on a fumble at its own 33 with 1:50 to play and one time out left, but two sacks and a Nick Navarro pass break-up killed the Cobbers' last scoring chance.
UST gave up a 34-yard run by Kevin Williamson -- the first gain or more than 30 yards (rush, reception or return) all season. The Tommies have 13 gains of 31 or more yards from their return men, receivers and runnign backs.
The Tommie starting defensive unit has allowed just 10 touchdowns in seven games and has picked off 14 passes. The Toms are holding opposing QBs under 50% for their completion rate and just 128 ypg in the air.
The Tommies' two defeats, both 17-7 scores, came at home vs. 7-0 Central and on the road vs. 6-1 Bethel.
St. Thomas is plus-eight in turnovers this season. The Toms were plus-3 last season in a 4-5 finish and plus-17 in 2004 in a 7-2 finish.
St. Thomas plays unbeaten St. John's next Saturday at home. There's no advance sale of tickets. Gates will open at 11 a.m. and no fans are expected to be turned away with the excess standing-room capacity.
