University of St. Thomas Athletics
8-0 , 6-0
Bethel
6-1 , 5-1
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BU | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Univ. of St. Thomas | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
Football outlasts Bethel in defensive battle, 10-6
10/23/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
By DOUG HENNES
On a day when the defenses dominated play, Saturday's showdown between unbeatens St. Thomas and Bethel hinged on a pair of gutsy plays in the last two minutes and preserved a 10-6 win for the Tommies before an overflow Homecoming crowd of 6,000.
Linebacker Tommy Becker intercepted a Bethel pass near midfield after cornerback Kirk Baglien twice tipped the football, and a minute later Colin Tobin plunged for a first down on fourth-and-1 at the Royals' 40 to salt away the win.
The plays were symbolic of a tensely fought game as No. 4 St. Thomas ran its record to 8-0 (6-0 MIAC) for the first time since 1956 and won its first home game with 10 or less points since 1987 (7-2 over St. John's).
The No. 20 Royals fell to 6-1 and 4-1 in losing to St. Thomas for the third straight season.
Coach Glenn Caruso said he wasn't shocked that the Tommies scored only 10 points, crediting Bethel for continuing to play the hard-nosed defense that has characterized its season. He liked the way his defense played, too.
"It's a tribute to how well our kids hung together," Caruso said. "The defense hung in long enough until the offense hit its stride."
Big-play defense
Perhaps no play better reflected the defense's opportunism than the Becker interception. The Royals had taken over at their 13-yard line with 3:13 remaining in the game and picked up a first down before quarterback Josh Aakre threw to star running back Logan Flannery near the right sideline.
"I tipped it twice, and he (Flannery) may have had his hand on the ball, too," said Baglien, a junior from Minneapolis Washburn. "Then I saw Tommy come in at the last second for the interception."
"I was just trying to get into position," said Becker, the Wayzata senior who also finished with 14 tackles and blocked an extra point. "I got both hands on the ball, and then I had to get both feet down inbounds. I was tiptoeing it there."
Caruso marveled at the Baglien-Becker effort, but it didn't surprise him. He pointed out that Tommie defenders tipped several other passes during the game.
"I kept telling them, 'Keep it in the air, somebody will get it,' " he said. "Tommy has been on me all year to get him some offensive touches. I told him he'd have to get his touches on defense, and he did today."
Even after the interception, Bethel wasn't through. The Royals stopped Tobin a yard short of a first down at their 42 with less than a minute to go, and Caruso had to decide whether to punt or go for the first down and clinch the win. He chose the latter, and Tobin picked up the first down. The Royals were out of timeouts, and one play later the game was over.
Tobin sparks "O'
It was fitting the Tobin carried the ball on all four plays of the final drive. The junior running back from Chicago Fenwick had six yards on one run in the first half but came off the bench to rush for 80 yards in the second half, including 57 in the third quarter, and went over 1,600 yards in his career.
Tobin earlier sparked the Tommies' only touchdown drive. After Bethel went ahead 6-3 six minutes into the third quarter on a 52-yard run by Kevin Lindh, St. Thomas drove 57 yards in nine plays to retake the lead 10-6. Tobin rushed for 30 yards on five carries, including the five-yard run for the touchdown at the 5:24 mark. It was only the second rushing touchdown surrendered this year by Bethel and the 20th touchdown of Tobin's career.
The Tommies picked up nearly as many rushing yards (40) on that drive as they did in the first half (42), thanks to blocking adjustments that Tobin said the coaching staff made at halftime.
"I could feel a fire coming from offensive line," Tobin said. "When they get that look in their eyes, you have to love it."
Aside from the Lindh touchdown run for Bethel, the St. Thomas defense also controlled the line of scrimmage in the second half. On their subsequent four drives, the Royals picked up only 4, 26, 44 and 12 yards, with two drives ending in punts, one on an incomplete fourth-down pass in St. Thomas territory and the final one on the Becker interception.
The Tommies also had a stronger kicking game. They opened the scoring with a 36-yard Tim Albright field goal midway through the first quarter, exactly 80 seconds after Bethel kicker Matt Wetherell missed a 36-yarder. Albright converted his one PAT, but Becker blocked Wetherell's kick. St. Thomas also had an edge in punting, with Garrett Maloney averaging 42.3 yards on six punts, including two fourth-quarter punts inside the Bethel 15 and one that covered 61 yards.
Both quarterbacks struggled to make plays against solid defenses. Dakota Tracy completed only 8 passes in 25 attempts for 122 yards, including a 60-yard bomb to Fritz Waldvogel on the Tommies' first play of the game, and threw two interceptions. Aakre finished 9-of- 20 for l77 yards and two interceptions - by Becker and Brady Ervin, who picked off his fifth pass of the year and 15th of his career.
Flannery, who has rushed for more than 4,200 yards in his career, led the Royals with 141 yards on 26 carries and gave them a 244-133 edge on the ground. Bethel finished with 321 yards to St. Thomas' 253 - 176 under its average of 429 - and led 33:50-26:10 in time of possession.
St. Thomas goes on the road Saturday to St. Peter for a 1 p.m. game against Gustavus Adolphus, which lost 33-13 to St. John's in Collegeville. The Gusties are 3-4 overall and 2-3 in the MIAC.
Click here for box score:
http://www.tommiesports.com/ftbl/stats/10-23-fb.htm
Fun in the student section (Mike Ekern photo)
Fritz Waldovogel just missed a big play (Mike Ekern photo)
Tommy Becker had 14 tackles, a blocked PAT and hustled over to snare a pivotal interception late in the game. (Mike Ekern photo
The Tommie march onto the field (Mike Ekern photo)
Team Stats
BU 0, UST-FB 3
UST-FB - Tim Albright 36 yd field goal 5 plays, 61 yards, TOP 1:20
BU 6, UST-FB 3
BU - K. Lindh 52 yd run (M. Wetherell kickblocked), 8 plays, 79 yards, TOP 4:21
BU 6, UST-FB 10
UST-FB - Colin Tobin 5 yd run (Tim Albright kick), 9 plays, 57 yards, TOP 3:30
