W, 45-22

at St. Olaf, November 16, 2013

By DOUG HENNES

NORTHFIELD -- Now the waiting begins.

The St. Thomas football team finished its regular season Saturday with a 45-22 win over St. Olaf to push its record to 8-2 (6-2 MIAC).

But the question that will loom over the Tommies until late Sunday afternoon is if their record, which allowed them to finish in a tie for second place in the conference behind Bethel, is good enough to earn a fifth straight trip to the NCAA Division III playoffs.

The NCAA will announce the 32-team playoff field at 5 p.m. Sunday. There was no doubt the last four years that St. Thomas would qualify for the playoffs, but two close losses to St. John's and Bethel this season put the Tommies on the bubble.

Coach Glenn Caruso pointed to several factors, including a No. 7 NCAA ranking in the West Region, a No. 16 national ranking by d3football.com and playing in one of Division III's toughest conferences, as positive signs for his team's playoff hopes.

"If you look at our body of work, not just this year but the last four years in the playoffs, that should help us," he said. "It's not in our hands, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't think we are in pretty good shape."

Senior Dan Noehring felt the same way.

"We just have to hope we get in," said Noehring, who led UST receivers with five catches for 95 yards against St. Olaf. "We'll be very disappointed if we don't."

Rain, mud dominate

St. Thomas came through with a convincing win over St. Olaf in difficult playing conditions - a light but steady rain that made the Oles' grass field muddier with every play.

The Tommies took 7:39 off the clock with their opening drive, which was handicapped by five penalties for 35 yards, before settling for a 29-yard Paul Graupner field goal and a 3-0 lead. Quarterback Alex Fenske connected with Noehring for two long completions - 25 and 22 yards - on the drive.

"It was tough to keep our footing at times, but Alex threw the ball well," Noehring said. "He got the ball to us and we just had to go up and catch it."

"We knew it was going to be sloppy," said Fenske, who completed 27 of 39 passes for 353 yards and two touchdowns. "But we embraced it and we did the best that we could under the conditions."

After a St. Olaf field goal fell short, the Tommies moved 67 yards in seven plays for a 10-0 lead two minutes into the second quarter. Nick Waldvogel accounted for 48 yards on the drive -- 21 on the ground and 27 on a Fenske pass that put the ball on the St. Olaf 5 -- and the freshman ran it in on the next play. It was his ninth touchdown of the season.

A short St. Olaf punt and a 13-yard Noehring return gave the Tommies the ball at the St. Olaf 30, and five plays later Jack Kaiser scored from the 7 for a 17-0 lead. The sophomore would finish with 74 yards in 15 rushes, giving him 523 yards over the last five games.

"North to south was the key to running well today," said Kaiser, who rushed for three touchdowns for the second straight game and has 13 on the season. "It was tough to get any firm footing and to make cuts in the mud. We just had to grind away."

After the teams traded fumbles, St. Olaf quarterback Nate Penz found wide receiver Jake Schmiesing open behind two St. Thomas defenders for an 81-yard touchdown pass - the longest of the year against the Tommies.

St. Thomas responded with a quick touchdown and a 24-7 lead. Waldvogel returned the kickoff to near midfield and a 15-yard St. Olaf penalty moved the ball to the 38. Five plays later, Fenske hit wide receiver Jack Gilliland with a 16-yard touchdown pass.

St. Olaf bounced right back. Penz needed just three plays, including passes of 55 and 5 yards to Stephen Asp, to score, and with a two-point conversion the Oles trailed 24-15. The Tommies took the ensuing kickoff and moved to the St. Olaf 15, but Fenske was intercepted in the end zone with no time remaining in the first half.

Three TDs seal game

Anthony King-Foreman recovered a Penz fumble on the St. Olaf 15 two minutes into the second half, and St. Thomas made the Oles pay for the turnover. Kaiser ran it in from the 3 for a 31-15 lead, and two series later he notched his third touchdown with a four-yard run.

Fenske starred on the Tommies' final touchdown four minutes into the fourth quarter, needing just three plays to go 51 yards. He hit freshman tight end Greg Kriege with passes of 15 and 16 yards before connecting with Pete Fitzsimmons on a 20-yard touchdown and a 44-15 lead.

St. Olaf closed out the scoring with Penz' third touchdown pass of the day. While he put up a St. Thomas opponent's biggest passing numbers of the year -- 327 yards on 23 of 42 -- he received little help from his running game. St. Olaf backs had only 19 yards in six rushes; take away 40 yards in sacks and tackles for loss of Penz and the Oles had minus-21 yards on the ground.

Odds and ends

Dan Ferrazzo, a sophomore wide receiver, caught five passes for 55 yards and now has 103 receptions (and 1,292 yards) in his St. Thomas career.

Both teams had more than 100 yards in penalties. St. Olaf finished with eight penalties for 124 yards and the Tommies had 10 for 103 yards.

No. 5 Bethel finished its regular season undefeated (10-0, 8-0) with a 28-7 win at St. John's and knocked the Johnnies (7-3, 5-3) out of playoff contention. Concordia finished in a second-place MIAC tie with St. Thomas with a 38-31 over Gustavus, and Carleton outlasted Augsburg 49-45. In non-conference action, Macalester defeated Hamline 7-0.

Click here for box score:

http://www.miacathletics.com/sports/fball/2013-14/boxscores/20131116_a90x.xml

Football closes season with solid win at St. Olaf

Rain, mud dominate

Three TDs seal game

Odds and ends

Team Stats

Alex Fenske

Jonah Koski

University of St. Thomas Athletics

Football closes season with solid win at St. Olaf

Rain, mud dominate

Three TDs seal game

Odds and ends

Related News

Team Stats

Game Leaders

Alex Fenske

Jonah Koski

Related News

Related Videos