University of St. Thomas Athletics
11-0
Benedictine (Ill.)
8-3
Football starts playoffs with 57-10 victory, five records
11/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
By DOUG HENNES
In two words, Dakota Tracy may have summed up his team's performance better than anyone else after St. Thomas pounded Benedictine 57-10 Saturday in the opening round of the NCAA Division III playoffs in O'Shaughnessy Stadium:
Rhythm and efficiency.
"The offense thrives on getting into a rhythm," said the junior quarterback from Geneva, Minn. "We approached this game on being efficient, especially in the first half."
Efficient, and then some. The No. 4 Tommies (11-0) scored touchdowns the first five times they touched the ball, exploding to a 36-10 halftime lead and tacking on three more touchdowns to open the second half. They set five school records on offense, had no turnovers, and never punted in running their Palmer Field winning streak to 14.
With wind-chill readings in the teens and a 25-degree temperature at kickoff, the UST brought a toughness to the game. The Tommie defense matched the efficiency of the offense, holding 8-3 Benedictine 27 points and 166 yards under its season averages. The Eagles were able to mount only three drives of 10 or more plays, all in the first half, and got into the Tommie red zone only once.
Linfield next
The win advances St. Thomas to the second round and a Nov. 27 rematch with Linfield College, which ended the Tommies' season last year at 11-2 with a 31-20 NCAA quarterfinal win in Oregon. Linfield defeated California Lutheran 42-26 on Saturday.
The O'Shaughnessy gates will open at 10:30 a.m. for the noon game against Linfield. St. Thomas students can receive a free ticket beginning at 10 a.m. Monday in the Box Office in Murray-Herrick Campus Center. Only 500 free tickets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.
After a two-week layoff, Coach Glenn Caruso had hardly any issues with the Tommies' showing against Benedictine. He marveled at their big-play output -- 21 plays of 10 yards or more, including touchdown runs of 91 and 44 yards and a scoring pass of 61 yards -- and praised the defense and special teams for creating "short fields" for the offense. Seven touchdown drives started between the St. Thomas 39 and the Benedictine 44, and the average drive consumed only 2:34 on the game clock.
"Short fields are a byproduct of two things," Caruso said. "The special teams put us in good situations and they (the Eagles) didn't want to kick ball deep to our returners. They also are a byproduct of how well our defense played."
Five school records were broken as a result of the splurge:
• The offense racked up 644 yards (386 rushing and 258 passing) to break the record of 634 set against Bethel in 1993 and Augsburg in 2002.
• St. Thomas' 57 points exceeded by 14 the school playoff record in last year's 43-21 win over Monmouth in the opening round.
• Senior running back Ben Wartman set a school career record of 4,035 rushing yards and became only the third MIAC runner to eclipse 4,000 yards. He rushed 14 times for 149 yards -- his 21st 100-yard performance -- to break Jake Barkley's record of 3,969 yards (1999-2002). Wartman also extended his school touchdown career record to 50 with scores from 14, 3 and 44 yards.
• Colin Tobin broke a 37-year-old school record for the longest run from scrimmage with a 91-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, and totaled 154 yards on the day. John Goebel and Jeff Boisen shared the old record with 89-yard runs in 1973.
• Tracy set a school and NCAA Division III playoff record for single-game passing efficiency as he improved to 14-0 as a starter. He completed 15 of 16 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns -- a .938 completion rate that broke Chris Esterly's 1995 record of .913 and an NCAA mark of .917 set last postseason. Tracy's only incompletion was a "Hail Mary" bomb from midfield with less than 15 seconds left in the first half.
As dominant as the Tommies were for most of the game, Benedictine showed some early muscle with an opening drive that ended with a 38-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead.
Fast start
St. Thomas wasted little time in jumping ahead, with Tobin capping an eight-play, 57-yard drive on a 10-yard touchdown run for a 7-3 lead. Big touchdown plays -- a 61-yard Tracy pass to Ricky Margarit and Tobin's 91-yard run -- increased the margin to 22-3 on the next two drives.
Tobin gave credit to his offensive line for creating the huge holes that allowed the Tommies to average nearly 10 yards per rush on the day. "I had to make the first guy miss," he said when asked to describe his record run. "When the hole opens, you have to burst through it. It was comforting to see three wide receivers running down the field with me."
Benedictine scored its only touchdown midway through the second quarter on an 11-yard pass to close to 22-10, but the Tommies put the game out of reach on Wartman touchdown runs of 14 and 3 yards to lead 36-10 at halftime.
More of the same lay ahead. Fritz Waldvogel returned the second-half kickoff 39 yards to the Benedictine 44 and Wartman ran for the touchdown on the first play from scrimmage. The Tommies closed the scoring with touchdowns on their next two drives -- a 7-yard Tracy pass to Jon Nelson and a one-yard Willie Schneider run to open the fourth quarter.
The St. Thomas defense was especially stingy in the second half, holding the Eagles to 97 yards and forcing the only turnover of the game with Brady Ervin's 16th career interception. Linebacker Tony Danna, who missed last season with a broken foot, led the Tommies with 11 tackles in his first career postseason game.
"To get a chance to play 11 games so far has been amazing," said Danna, a junior from Lake Elmo, in reflecting on the Tommies' season. "I've tried to taken advantage of every opportunity in every practice and every game. It's been special."
Fellow linebacker Tommie Becker, who missed the regular-season finale against Carleton with a shoulder injury, agreed with Danna.
"The defense prides itself on working hard every week," he said. "We just stepped up today, made plays and put the team in good position."
Caruso looks forward to another spirited week of practice as the Tommies prepare for Linfield, and he is sure his team will be ready.
"I don't have a problem of getting them focused," he said. "They do a great job of staying on task."
http://www.tommiesports.com/ftbl/stats/11-20-fb.htm
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Click here to view more Greg Smith action photos:
Above, Willy Baregi (40) and Kyle Reynertson (90); below, Dakota Tracy had a record-setting passing day. (Greg Smith photo)
Above: Tommy Becker (11); Mike Valesano (41) and Colin Tobin (37). (Greg Smith photos)
Team Stats
BU 3, UST 0
BU - Stolarski, John 38 yd field goal 11 plays, 59 yards, TOP 4:48
BU 3, UST 7
UST - Colin Tobin 10 yd run (Tim Albright kick), 8 plays, 57 yards, TOP 2:46
BU 3, UST 15
UST - Ricky Margarit 61 yd pass from Dakota Tracy (Ricky Margarit rush) 4 plays, 61 yards, TOP 3:53
BU 3, UST 22
UST - Colin Tobin 91 yd run (Tim Albright kick), 1 plays, 91 yards, TOP 0:15
BU 10, UST 22
BU - Wiesemann, Brya 11 yd pass from Earl, Preston (Stolarski, John kick) 12 plays, 70 yards, TOP 5:56
BU 10, UST 29
UST - Ben Wartman 14 yd run (Tim Albright kick), 5 plays, 56 yards, TOP 1:51
BU 10, UST 36
UST - Ben Wartman 3 yd run (Tim Albright kick), 6 plays, 54 yards, TOP 3:01
BU 10, UST 43
UST - Ben Wartman 44 yd run (Tim Albright kick), 1 plays, 44 yards, TOP 0:10
BU 10, UST 50
UST - Jon Nelson 7 yd pass from Dakota Tracy (Tim Albright kick) 7 plays, 47 yards, TOP 3:26
BU 10, UST 57
UST - W. Schneider 1 yd run (Tim Albright kick), 7 plays, 57 yards, TOP 3:23
