University of St. Thomas Athletics
10-0
Carleton
3-6
A perfect "10" for Football with 38-7 victory
11/6/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
By DOUG HENNES
Glenn Caruso wasn't happy with how St. Thomas played in the first half on Saturday, when it limped to a 10-7 lead over Carleton. "Very ugly," in fact, he told the team in the post-game huddle at midfield.
But, he quickly added, "For the last three years, we have judged ourselves on how we . . ."
"FINISH!" the players boomed in unison, and with that Caruso led them over to the bleachers to sing their victory song and receive the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship plaque from athletic director Steve Fritz.
The No. 4 Tommies used a suffocating defense in the second half and took advantage of superb field position to notch touchdowns on four straight drives and break away from Carleton 38-7 on Senior Day in O'Shaughnessy Stadium.
It was a day of firsts for St. Thomas: first 10-0 season in the school's 105-year varsity football history, first MIAC title since 1990 and first undisputed conference championship since 1983. The Tommies assured themselves of home field for the first round of the Division III playoffs on Nov. 20, with the 32-team field to be announced Nov. 14.
Tommie trend
Saturday was the fourth consecutive game where St. Thomas led by only eight or less points at halftime, but dominated the second half and outscored opponents 105-13. The only close game turned out to be Bethel (10-6), with the others turning into blowouts of Augsburg (55-17), Gustavus (40-6) and Carleton.
"Attitude adjustment," Caruso said when asked what happened in the locker room at halftime. He blamed what he called a "sub-par" first half performance on lack of attention, penalties (6 for 56 yards) and a failure to get enough pressure on Carleton quarterback Vaughn Schmidt. He completed 11 of 14 passes, mostly in the flat, for 92 yards.
"We came out slow," said All-American center Josh Ostrue, who set a school record with 43 starts in a row. "We just had to get our attitude right, to not be passive and to get back to what we do best -- running the ball and pounding away."
And pound they did as they strung together four straight touchdown drives -- 39, 50, 48 and 58 yards -- in the second half. In the process, they stopped Carleton on four straight three-and-out series and held the Knights to just four yards in 12 plays from scrimmage. Here's how the splurge transpired:
• Carleton took the second-half kickoff but linebacker Tony Danna recorded his second sack to force a punt. Quarterback Greg Morse -- who played most of the game after Dakota Tracy sat out with minor injuries -- drove the Tommies 39 yards in seven plays, capped by a two-yard Ben Wartman run. The score gave him 46 touchdowns and 276 points for his career, breaking the records he held with Gary Trettel (1988-1990).
• Morse made the score 24-7 with a quarterback sneak from one yard out to finish a nine-play, 50-yard drive. He had two key completions, the first for 12 yards to Nick Gleisner on third and nine, followed by a 16-yarder to Colin Tobin on a double-reverse flea flicker.
• Wartman scored his second touchdown on a one-yard run two plays into the fourth quarter for a 31-7 lead, covering 35 of the 48 yards on the ground. He finished with 92 yards rushing and needs just 94 more to break Jake Barkley's record of 3,969 yards (1999-2002).
• Matt Joshi took over at quarterback and tossed a three-yard touchdown pass to Logan Marks to finish the scoring at 38-7. Earlier, Joshi scored the Tommies' only touchdown of the first half, coming into the game on a first-and-goal situation to run it in from one yard out after bobbling the snap.
"Matt Joshi is everything that's right with our program," Caruso said of the senior from Shawnee, Kan., who was one of 14 seniors honored -- and one of 14 who saw action -- on Saturday. "He has been a career backup but he never pouted or moped about it."
"Sticking it out for four years, it felt great to play so much," Joshi said. "Coach told me he'd get me in the game, and that meant a lot."
Aside from Joshi's touchdown run and two series in the fourth quarter, Morse quarterbacked the entire game. The junior from St. Paul Como Park hit 12 of 16 passes for 179 yards, including a 44-yard strike to Ben Noehring on the Tommies' first play from scrimmage. Morse improved to 9-2 on his career as a starter.
"We decided to open up right away and go down the field with a long pass," Morse said. "Ben just ran a seam route and I was able to get the ball to him."
"Greg put it right on the spot," said Noehring, a freshman from Lakeville South, who had career highs with six catches for 101 yards.
Colin Tobin was another offensive star, running for 80 yards for the third straight week.
Defense sharp
Defensively, Danna made perhaps the key play of the game late in the second quarter with the game tied 7-7. Carleton had moved to the St. Thomas 8-yard line but Danna sacked Schmid and forced a fumble recovered by Danny Kane.
Morse chewed up the next six minutes with a drive to the Carleton 3-yard line, where Tim Albright kicked a 20-yard field goal as time expired for a 10-7 lead. On the drive, Morse completed back-to-back passes of 13 yards to Tobin and 20 yards to Noehring after a 15-yard penalty.
For the game, St. Thomas outgained Carleton 411 to 186 yards, holding the Knights to 47 yards and three first downs in the second half. The Tommies sacked Schmid four times and freshman linebacker Harry Pitera led St. Thomas defenders with 11 tackles.
After the game, as Caruso accepted congratulations from fans, he reflected briefly on his team's record and how the Tommies are this season's first 10-0 team in Division III.
Coming into the season, he said, "We thought we were a better team than last year, when we were 9-1. Even so, it took a tremendous amount of effort to get this far."
Click here for box score:
http://www.tommiesports.com/ftbl/stats/11-6-fb.htm
Mike Ekern action photos
Team Stats
CAR 0, UST-FB 7
UST-FB - Matt Joshi 1 yd run (Tim Albright kick), 7 plays, 79 yards, TOP 3:27
CAR 7, UST-FB 7
CAR - Vaughn Schmid 4 yd run (Eric Murphy kick), 17 plays, 77 yards, TOP 8:15
CAR 7, UST-FB 10
UST-FB - Tim Albright 20 yd field goal 18 plays, 79 yards, TOP 5:49
CAR 7, UST-FB 17
UST-FB - Ben Wartman 2 yd run (Tim Albright kick), 7 plays, 39 yards, TOP 3:24
CAR 7, UST-FB 24
UST-FB - Greg Morse 1 yd run (Tim Albright kick), 9 plays, 50 yards, TOP 3:57
CAR 7, UST-FB 31
UST-FB - Ben Wartman 1 yd run (Tim Albright kick), 7 plays, 48 yards, TOP 2:55
CAR 7, UST-FB 38
UST-FB - Logan Marks 3 yd pass from Matt Joshi (Tim Albright kick) 10 plays, 58 yards, TOP 4:09
