Sat. Football: Toms fall 17-7 to Central

September 02, 2006

Jake Casey (32) surpassed 100 yards in total offense but the Toms fell to No. 17-ranked Central 17-7. (Photo by Mike Ekern)

Mike Hara (96) chases a Central receiver in Saturday's 17-7 Tommie loss.

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For more game photos from Ryan Coleman of d3sports.com, click here after 10 p.m. Saturday:

see d3photo link here

see box score here

Sat. Sept. 2, 2006

Non-Conference Football/at St. PaulCentral (Iowa) 17, St. Thomas 7 No. 17-ranked Central (1-0) overcame two key absences and used a balanced offense and pressure defense en route to Saturday's 17-7 non-conference football victory over host St. Thomas (0-1) at UST's O'Shaughnessy Stadium. The Dutch had six sacks and two interceptions and held the Tommies to 3-of-14 on third-down conversions. Central posted a 311-294 edge in total offense. The Tommies had six drives that penetrated the Central 45-yard line on the day but scored on only one of those possessions. The Tommies trailed 3-0 at halftime and fell behind 10-0 before scoring on a 41-yard pass from Ryan Jansen to fellow senior P.J. Theisen. That made it 10-7 with 56 seconds left in the third quarter. Central's special teams set up what proved to be a clinching touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Leading just 10-7, Central's Trenton Blythe sacked Jansen on 3rd-and-3 to force a punt. Guy Dierikx' 28-yard punt return to the Tommie 43-yard line gave the Dutch a short field, and three plays later QB Tim Connell hit Cody Huisman with a 27-yard scoring pass. Central senior Brant VerMeer averaged 44.0 yards on six punts, including one that died at the UST 5-yard line. The Toms' six second-half drives started at their own 21-, 19-, 35-, 16-, 5- and 20 -yard lines. Jansen completed 19-of-33 passes for 211 yards. Theisen caught six for 86 yards and the touchdown. UST soph running back Jake Casey rushed 15 times for 68 yards and caught four passes for 36 yards. Two true freshmen led the Tommies in tackles -- Ross Petterson (eight) and Adam Johannsen (six). Senior Luke Rezac, playing his first game in 14 months, had five solos and a break-up. Senior Justin Nwadiashi had two break-ups and a big first-half interception and return. Late in the first quarter, a long Central drive was dashed on Nwadiashi's interception and 50-yard return to the Central 46-yard-line. After a key 15-yard roughing penalty on a punt prolonged the drive, the Toms eventually had a 1st-and-10 at the Dutch 12 before a third-down sack spoiled the opportunity. The Dutch are now 7-1 on the road since 2005. In last fall's NCAA playoff season, they played seven road games in a 9-2 finish. They made the five-hour trek to the Twin Cities Friday without all-conference CB-return man Brett Doud, who was ill. Central ace running back Vance Schuring rushed 13 times for 75 yards in the first half, then missed the second half with an injury. Backup Dustin Veldhuizen replaced Schuring and rushed 11 times for 80 yards -- all in the second half -- including a 23-yard TD run on a 4th-and-4 that built a 10-0 lead late in the third quarter. Brandon O'Neall's 19-yard field goal with 2:39 left in the first half gave Central a 3-0 lead. O'Neall added both PAT kicks on the second-half scores. Connell completed just 8-of-23 passes for 87 yards but added 59 rushing yards on 10 carries and made few mistakes on the day. His eight completions went to seven different receivers. For the Dutch defense, Greg Altmaier had three sacks among his 11 tackles; Ben Bollard intercepted a tipped pass and had six tackles; and Marc Badeaux added an pickoff in the final 30 seconds. The Tommies stay home next Saturday to face Loras (Iowa), a 17-15 loser at home to St. Ambrose. Central is home to face Hope (Mich.).

University of St. Thomas Athletics

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