Defense sets early tone in 45-27 win

By Tom Wrede/UST Sports Information

The Tommies improved to 4-1 on the season with Saturday's Homecoming defeat of Augsburg College. Although the final score read 45-27, thee were some ups and downs for the winners, especially on defense.

The St. Thomas defense set an early tone as it held the Auggies to only one first down and no points in the opening quarter. Linebacker Jesse Addo and defensive lineman Sam Pokornowski, each forced first-quarter fumbles, which led to takeaways. That helped jump start the defense.

"We had to focus on playing St. Thomas football," said Addo, a sophomore linebacker who has been playing a larger role this season.

The defensive play helped UST race to a 38-7 halftime lead. In those first two quarters, the defense limited the dangerous Auggie QB Ayrton Scott under 100 yards of total offense, about one third of his season average.

"The mindset for the defense was to focus on the quarterback, he's a fast and agile guy. We had to make sure we contained him and kept him inside of us outside linebackers," said senior linebacker Tom Laventure, who had a highlight-reel sack of Scott and eight tackles on the day.

Pokornowski, a senior, added, "We had a lot of practice this week for containing (Scott). We knew he was an athlete and was going to run around -- we did everything we could in practice to get ready for him."

"We ran a lot of outside pressures, we were coached to stay outside yet to be aware of his speed and strength," said Addo, a sophomore who finished with two tackles and his forced fumble.

In the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Tommies seemed to lose some focus, and the Auggies quickly made it into the end zone. They then recovered an onside kick and began to make their way downfield.

"Coach Caruso called a timeout and (reminded us) the game was not over. We had to continue to play with passion and energy, and that's exactly what we did," Addo said.

Senior Kyle Coyne soon intercepted a Scott pass on a fourth-down play near the goal line to slow the Augsburg momentum.

Over the final 17:00 on the game clock, Scott eventually threw three TD passes to Joey Sonnenfeld, all well executed plays. The Toms could take some pride in limiting the Auggies to 330 total yards and not allowing that explosive offense an early rhythm.

Going into next week against Hamline, the Toms have to "continue to practice with a lot of emotion and energy and, like I keep saying, pride and passion -- that's the key to victory for St. Thomas football," Addo said.

PHOTO: Tom Laventure pulls down Ayrton Scott for a second-half sack. (Haley Staffon photo)

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