University of St. Thomas Athletics
St. Olaf
Football can't hold lead, falls late to Oles 35-31
11/11/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Junior Matt Penz' 17-yard touchdown pass to junior Andrew Schmeising with 1:06 to play gave St. Olaf a 35-31 comeback win over host St. Thomas in MIAC football play Saturday at UST's O'Shaughnessy Stadium.
That catch capped a late 51-yard scoring march and marked the first lead of the game for the Oles (8-2 overall, 6-2 MIAC). St. Olaf trailed 28-13 at halftime and 31-20 into the fourth quarter.
St. Thomas (6-4, 5-3) lost despite an 85-yard fumble return for a touchdown by senior Justin Nwadiashi, and two TD catches and 181 yards of offense by sophomore tailback Scott Brink.
The Tommies led 28-13 and were on the verge of breaking open the game at Ole 4-yard line late in the third quarter. But Deontae Huggins' 98-yard interception return for a touchdown pulled St. Olaf within 28-20 and gave the Oles a jolt of momentum.
Eric Taylor's 30-yard field goal with 47 seconds left in the third quarter put the Tommies ahead 31-20.
The Oles came back with a five-play, 36-yard scoring drive capped by Evan Endsley's three-yard TD run. Schmeising's PAT reception cut the lead to 31-28 with 10:30 left.
The Tommie offense stalled and punted, but the defense forced an Ole punt with 5:04 left. UST gained one first down but punted back to St. Olaf at the Ole 49-yard-line with 2:43 to play.
The Oles got in field-goal range, and on 3rd-and-3 used a nine-yard pass from Penz to Horace Gant for first down at the Tommie 17. After an Incompletion, Schmeising leaped high to pull away the TD catch in the corner of the end zone.
St. Olaf outgained UST a mere 360-355 yards in total offense. Gant caught eight passes for 99 yards and Endsley rushed 19 times for 107 yards. Penz had no interceptions and completed 18-of-39 for 186 yards. Schmeising finished with TD catches of 25 and 17 yards and a two-point PAT catch. Kicker Paul Fortman made field goals of 37 and 27 yards and averaged 46 yards on four punts.
Brink rushed 18 times for 127 yards, including a 63-yard run that set up the Tommies' second TD. He also caught short passes and turned them into TD passes of 18 and 20 yards. Sophomore QB David Sauer completed 17-of-34 passes for 199 yards. Freshman Sam Moen caught four passes for 75 yards, and Tony Margarit had four catches for 60 yards.
On defense, Hutchins finished with two pickoffs as he intercepted a desperation throw on the game's final play. The Oles had four sacks and got nine tackles from Nick Rydberg. Tommie freshman linebacker Joe Pyka had 11 tackles in his first career start.
St. Thomas' four season losses came to teams with a combined 36-4 record, and all were still in doubt in the fourth quarter. Three of those teams made the Division III playoffs.
