University of St. Thomas Athletics
Bethel
Freshmen make plays in Football's comeback win
11/8/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
On a big day for St. Thomas freshmen, quarterback Greg Morse came off the bench to lead five consecutive touchdown drives and rally the host Tommies (6-3 overall, 5-3 MIAC) to a 36-20 victory over Bethel (4-5, 3-4) in MIAC football play Saturday at UST's O'Shaughnessy Stadium.
St. Thomas, which closes its season next Saturday at Northwestern in non-conference play, saw its slim MIAC title hopes end with wins by Carleton and St. John's. But the Toms is guaranteed a three-way tie for second-place in the conference -- a nice jump from a seven-place league finish in 2007.
St. Thomas' defense held the Royals to just 39 passing yards and had three interceptions and a fumble recovery, all in the second half. On offense, UST had a pair of 100-yard rushers with freshman running back Colin Tobin (137 yards) and sophomore Ben Wartman (125 yards).
But it was Morse's poise and passing that led the Tommies back from an early 13-0 deficit. St. Thomas fell behind on the game's first possession 6-0 on a 76-yard interception return by BU's Tim Cornish. A deflected pass was picked off in the red zone on UST's second drive, and a fumbled pitch on UST's third possession was covered by the Toms but forced a punt.
Morse, a freshman from St. Paul Como Park High, had only played a few snaps until seeing some duty off the bench last week at Augsburg. He came on with UST trailing 13-0. On his second drive he led UST near the goal and UST settled for a 26-yard Eric Taylor field goal. Morse then guided St. Thomas to touchdowns on its next five drives. On a tough day to throw north, into a frosty 25-mile wind, Morse completed 11 of 16 passes for 130 yards, two TDs with no interceptions.
Morse threw a pair of second-quarter TD passes, the latter a 19-yarder with :05 left in the first half on a one-handed grab by freshman Fritz Waldvogel in the corner of the end zone. That let UST take a 17-13 halftime lead.
The Tommies fell behind 20-17 early in the third quarter, but Tobin's 72-yard scoring run put St. Thomas ahead to stay. UST would score three third-quarter TDs in a 6:30 span. Backup RB Michael Duncombe threw a 10-yard TD pass to Waldvogel, and Wartman's eight-yard run pushed the margin to 16 points.
St. Thomas outgained BU 398-179 yards in total offense. Tobin came into the game with 41 rushing yards on 14 carries but Saturday ran 12 times for 137 yards. Wartman rushed 30 times for 125 yards -- his sixth 100-plus yard rushing day of the season. Waldvogel had seven catches for 75 yards and two TDs.
Junior linebacker Tommy Becker caught a five-yard TD pass on offense and had three tackles for loss among his 10 tackles on defense. Brady Ervin had a diving interception -- his sixth pickoff of the season. Kirk Baglien and Kris Kopp had interceptions and Jacob Lewis had a fumble recovery.
Coach Glenn Caruso's team has already tripled the overall win total from UST's 2-8 finish in 2007. the Tommies have also secured the program's 20th six-win football season in the last 28 years.
St. Thomas, playing its latest Homecoing game in school history, went 3-0 this season in Homecoming games, including wins that spoiled Homecoming at Gustavus and at Concordia.
Logan Flannery rushed 20 times for 95 yards for the Royals. BU's defense got a forced and recovered fumble and eight tackles by Brent Vavra; a sack and an interception with nine tackles by Trent Pearson; and Aaron Mills' blocked punt. Bethel plays Augsburg next Thursday in the Metrodome needing a win to finish .500 on the season.
Click here for box score:
http://www.tommiesports.com/ftbl/stats/11-8-fb.htm
Freshman Colin Tobin had a breakout game in rushing. (Mike Ekern photo)
Brady Ervin (21) helped a defense that held Bethel under 200 yards of offense. (Mike Ekern photo)
The Tommies sang in victory after its Homecoming game. (Mike Ekern photo)
