Roberts, Gould lead Football to 7-0 start

By DOUG HENNES

"This team," an excited Glenn Caruso yelled Saturday in a post-game huddle at midfield, "has a little different vibe," and he sure likes it.

The head coach could have been referring to the losses his St. Thomas football team suffered at Bethel the last two years – losses that ended their run of three straight MIAC titles and kept them out of the NCAA Division III playoffs in 2013.

But as Caruso reflected after the No. 6-ranked Tommies ran their 2015 record to 7-0 (5-0 MIAC) with a convincing 45-14 win over Bethel in O'Shaughnessy Stadium, he had a better definition of "vibe."

"I first noticed it the second week of fall camp," he said. "These guys are so locked in. They have such a hard focus. It's the simplest group to coach. We tell them something, and it's done. We don't have to say anything twice or raise our voices. Each guy is all for the common good of this team."

The St. Thomas-Bethel rivalry has been intense during the eight-year Caruso era, and he improved to 6-3 over the Royals (4-3, 3-2). The players know it's intense, too. Junior wide receiver Nick Waldvogel, who was on the losing side the last two seasons, feels a different vibe this year, too.

"We definitely have a lot of leaders on the team, and every one of them knows their roles," said Waldvogel, who caught seven passes for 67 yards. "Everybody wants to be the guy to make the play, but nobody gets upset when the other guy does. When you have that kind of chemistry, it's special."

Behind for First Time

Four plays into the game, St. Thomas found itself trailing for the first time this year.

Bethel ran the opening kickoff back to near midfield, and on the second play from scrimmage halfback Bridgeport Tusler broke loose for a 45-yard run to the St. Thomas 8. Quarterback Trey Anderson ran in for the touchdown and a 7-0 lead on the next play, with only 1:19 gone.

Given past close games against Bethel, was anybody nervous?

"Not at all," said sophomore running back Jordan Roberts, who ran 39 times for 194 yards and recorded his fifth straight rushing game over 100 yards. "We kept our cool and it worked out well."

It certainly did. The Tommies scored the first three times they touched the ball to take a 21-7 lead. Their opening drive – 16 plays, 82 yards and 6:27 – was one of six scoring drives of nine or more plays as they rolled up margins of 88-44 in plays and nearly 39 to 21 minutes in time of possession.

Kaiser capped the first drive with a five-yard run, and Paul Graupner made the first of eight kicks, including a field goal, for a 7-7 tie. St. Thomas went ahead 14-7 on Roberts' 2-yard touchdown run two plays into the second quarter, and after the defense forced a 3-and-out Bethel punt, Kaiser plunged in from the 2 for a 21-7 lead with nine minutes left in the half.

An ensuing onside kickoff failed, and Bethel cashed in four plays later after covering the ball at the St. Thomas 42. Anderson scored on a 29-yard keeper up the middle and the Royals trailed 21-14.

They got the ball back two minutes later at midfield after the Tommies' only 3-and-out possession of the game and marched to the 18, where they faced a second-and-2 situation with a minute to go. St. Thomas stopped Tusler for no gain on three straight plays to hold onto the lead.

"We knew what was coming," Caruso said when asked about Bethel's decision to run Tusler, who finished with 127 yards and is the only back to rush for more than 100 yards against St. Thomas this year. "They are strongly committed to their running game."

Another Dominant Second Half

Just as they did at St. John's, when they were tied 7-7 at halftime but went on to win 35-14, the Tommies came out of the locker room and dominated Bethel.

The Royals gained only 17 net yards in 18 plays in the second half, and Anderson finished 1 of 5 passing for only 1 yard. That's quite a contrast from the last two seasons, when Bethel quarterback Erik Peterson torched St. Thomas for a total of 458 yards on 35 of 54 passing.

"Our pass defense is so good," Caruso said. "Just the way our guys are running to the ball – it was unbelievable performance. I'm not sure when we've had that good of a performance on defense in the second half."

The Tommies took the second-half kickoff but their drive stalled at the Bethel 21, and Graupner kicked a 38-yard field goal for a 24-14 lead. Bethel managed only one first down on its next series, and St. Thomas responded with an 11-play, 74-yard drive capped by John Gould's 14-yard touchdown pass to tight end Charlie Dowdle.

Another fourth-down stand by the defense gave the Tommies the ball at their 47, and 10 plays later Roberts ran it in from the 3 for his 16th rushing touchdown of the season and a 38-14 lead with 11 minutes left in the game.

On the third play of Bethel's ensuing drive, lineman Ryan Winter forced a fumble around the Royals' 35 – the only turnover of the game – and linebacker Tim McClanahan picked up the ball.

"I was yelling, 'Raven, 'Raven' – that's what we call the play – and he tossed it to me," said cornerback Mozus Ikuenobe. "It was a crazy play. I saw a pile of guys and the ball. I really thought I had a chance to go all the way."

He was tackled at the Bethel 30 after a four-yard return, but three plays later Gould connected with wide receiver Ryan Bradley on a 21-yard touchdown pass to complete the scoring. Gould finished 18 of 21 for 186 yards in improving his record as a starter to 11-1.

Tommie Notes

• St. Thomas travels to Moorhead on Halloween to face second-place Concordia (7-1, 5-1 MIAC), which defeated Hamline 30-20 on Saturday in St. Paul. Caruso is 7-0 against the Cobbers, including 35-32 a year ago at home.

• The Tommies are averaging 54.3 points a game and giving up only 7.9 – a scoring margin of more than 46 points. In 2012, when they went to the Division III title game and finished 14-1, the scoring margin was 19.5 points (34.6 to 15.1).

• Gould went over 3,000 passing yards for his career (now at 3,149) and Dowdle's touchdown pass was his 19th at St. Thomas. He played wide receiver his first two years before converting to tight end, where he has 18 touchdown receptions, all in the last 14 games.

• Caruso's career record is 80-13 (.860), including 19-0 when the Tommies have no turnovers. He will hold his bi-weekly Quarterback Club event at 7 p.m. Monday at Plum's on Snelling Avenue in St. Paul.

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Team Stats

John Gould

Alex Fenske

University of St. Thomas Athletics