University of St. Thomas Athletics
Hamline
Football falls short in 2 OT, 41-34
11/3/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sat. Nov. 3, 2007
MIAC Football/St. Paul, UST
Hamline 41, St. Thomas 34 (2 OT)
Junior QB James Leary had three TD runs and converted two fourth-down plays in overtime to lead the visiting Pipers (3-6 overall, 1-6 MIAC) to a 41-34 comeback win over St. Thomas in MIAC football play Saturday at O¹Shaughnessy Stadium.
The Pipers ended an 11-game losing streak to the Tommies and won their first conference game under first-year head coach Jim Good.
They overcame another big day by UST senior wideout P.J. Theisen, who surpassed 200 career catches and caught 11 for 123 yards and two TDs.
The hard-fought game between St. Paul neighbors included a combined nine turnovers; a blocked punt run in for a Pipers TD; 20 penalties assessed; and four key errors on extra-point or field-goal tries.
The Tommies (2-7, 2-5) lost their sixth home game in a row dating back to 2006.
Led by backup QB Kris Kopp, the Tommies scored 20 unanswered points to take a 27-21 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Trailing by six, Hamline converted a 3rd-and-15 near midfield with 3:00 left, and scored two plays later on Leary¹s 16-yard run to tie the game. But Tommie Ross Pettersen blocked the extra point to keep the score tied with 1:58 left.
The Tommies drove from their own 29 to the Piper 16 as time was running down. The drive stalled, and a go-ahead 37-yard field goal with 13 seconds left had the distance but was wide left.
Hamline fell behind 34-27 after the Tommies scored first in overtime.
Facing 4th-and-10 and down to their final play, Leary threw a 20-yard pass to freshman Alex House for a first down. Leary ran into the end zone two plays later, and Derek Johnson kicked the tying extra point.
The Pipers came back to convert a 3rd-and-3 for a first down and a 4th-and-1 for a TD to regain the lead at 41-34. The Tommies had a five-yard penalty and four incompletions in their second OT possession.
The Tommies outgained Hamline 421-299 yards and had a 29-14 advantage in first downs. But they lost fumbles at their own 16- and six yard-lines that turned into HU touchdowns, and had a punt blocked returned for a third TD.
Kopp came off the bench to complete 28-of-41 passes for 288 yards and ran for an overtime TD.
The Pipers had five sacks, three pickoffs and recovered two fumbles.
Mike LaBore had 15 tackles and Brady Lorenzen had a fumble recovery and two interceptions. Freshmen Sean Traynor (91 yards) and Mark Musso (63) combined for 154 rushing yards.
UST's Pat Sommerstad had an interception and 10 tackles and Scott Saehr had two forced fumbles.
