Football starts fast, storms to quarterfinals

By DOUG HENNES

When the NCAA announced the brackets for the Division III football playoffs two weeks ago, Cade Caruso asked his dad, "Do you know what I want for my birthday?"

Glenn Caruso sure did. Cade would turn 10 on Nov. 28, and he was confident enough to look past the first-round games and circle his birthday, when he expected St. Thomas would play a very familiar opponent.

"Yeah, I know what you want," dad said.

"I want you to beat St. John's," son said.

And beat St. John's the Tommies did on Saturday, 38-19 before an overflow crowd of 8,025 fans in O'Shaughnessy Stadium to advance to the quarterfinal round of the playoffs for the fifth time in Caruso's eight years at St. Thomas.

The No. 3 Tommies (12-0) will play Wabash College (12-0) at noon Dec. 5. The NCAA will announce the location of the game on Sunday, but St. Thomas hopes to be the host based on its No. 1 seed in the West Region.

The win over No. 10 St. John's (10-2) was the second for the Tommies this year, with the first coming 35-14 two months ago in Collegeville. St. Thomas won that game with a dominant running game and a stout defense that shut down All-American halfback Sam Sura, and the results were the same in the rematch. St. Thomas outrushed the Johnnies 243 yards to 49, holding Sura to 54 net yards after he gained 74 in the September loss.

Leading the Tommies again was junior halfback Jordan Roberts, who rushed for 126 yards in 33 carries for his ninth 100-yard game of the season and called the game's atmosphere "electric."

Caruso acknowledged the same heightened sense of importance in the game and nodded when asked in his post-game news conference if the Tommies were nervous.

"Not nervous to the point where you can't do your job," he said, "but an appropriate level of anxiety is important. How would you not want it?"

Reporters nudged Caruso to say whether this team is as good as the 2012 squad that went to the national title game. His assessment of the 2015 Tommies: "not quite as athletic, definitely deeper and absolutely the healthiest team we have had in eight years."

St. John's coach Gary Fasching didn't hesitate to praise his opponent, calling St. Thomas "as good as anybody in the country" – a physical team with "a very good running back" and "a defense that is smothering."

Tommies burst to early lead

St. John's won the coin toss but deferred on the kickoff, and the Tommies cashed in with their longest drive of the year in terms of plays (16) and time (7:55). Roberts carried 10 times for 49 yards on the 71-yard drive, scoring the first of three rushing touchdowns from the 1. He has 30 touchdowns on the season, with 28 of them on the ground.

St. John's struggled on its first three series, fumbling on the third play of its first drive and twice punting after three-and-out possessions.

Paul Graupner missed a 39-yard field goal but the Tommies notched second-quarter touchdowns on their next three drives. Quarterback John Gould hit wide receiver Ryan Bradley with a 42-yard scoring pass and Roberts added another one-yard run; combined with holder Charlie Dowdle's two-point run after touchdown, St. Thomas led 22-0.

The Johnnies got on the board with a 38-yard touchdown pass with 2:11 remaining in the half, but St. Thomas nullified that score almost immediately. Jack Gilliland returned the kickoff 76 yards to the St. John's 7 and Roberts punched it over for a 29-7 halftime lead.

Defense shines in second half

Nick Martin, St. John's starting quarterback, left the game late in the second quarter after a the back of his helmet hit the turf. He was replaced by Johnny Benson. The Tommies turned up the pressure, ending one drive with a sack by linebacker Jesse Addo, who earlier had forced a Martin fumble. Addo came through with another sack on the next St. John's drive, taking Benson down in the end zone for a safety.

"The call was for a strong-side blitz," said Addo, who finished with six solo tackles. "The defensive linemen did a good job of taking out the tackle and guard. I got free and was able to get to him (Benson) for the safety."

St. John's closed to within 31-13 three plays into the fourth quarter on a one-yard run by Sura, but the Tommies again responded with a quick touchdown. On third and 7 from their 38, Gould dropped back to pass but scooted up the middle untouched for a 62-yard touchdown run.

"It was a quarterback draw from the start," said Gould, who finished with 85 yards rushing and completed 8 of 14 passes for 107 yards – reminiscent of his first win over St. John's when he was only 9 of 22 for 76 yards. "The guys did well blocking downfield. It really opened up."

The defense stopped the Johnnies with interceptions in St. Thomas territory on their next two possessions– the first by Jordan Young at the 8 and the second by Mozus Ikuenobe at the 20. St. John's finished the scoring on a 10-yard pass from Benson to Josh Bungum with a minute left.

Fasching chalked up the loss to the Johnnies' inability to get out to quick start, as they had in their last five games when they outscored opponents 219 to 28. He and Caruso agreed their teams have similar approaches, wanting to run the ball and take time off the clock. St. Thomas held a 37:38 to 22:22 edge in time of possession.

"They just really dominated the first half," Fasching said. "After the second touchdown, we felt we were back on our heels, and we never really got into it in the first half."

Other playoff action

In Wabash, which is located in Crawfordsville, Indiana, St. Thomas will face a team that defeated Thomas More 33-27 in overtime on Saturday after trailing 27-13 at halftime. Wabash won the game on a 75-yard fumble recovery after a sack on the first possession of OT.

The Little Giants are 78-12 under eighth-year coach Erik Raeburn (Caruso, also is in his eighth year, is 85-13). They won the North Coast Athletic Conference and have qualified for the NCAA playoffs in five seasons under Raeburn. They advanced to the quarterfinals in 2011, when they finished 12-1.

Two WIAC teams remained alive. UW-Whitewater defeated Wheaton 31-17 on the road and UW-Oshkosh topped Ohio Northern 42-17 at home, and will face each other on Dec. 5. Oshkosh defeated Whitewater 10-7 earlier this year.

Tommie Notes

• Roberts moved ahead of Sura as the MIAC's top rusher this year, 1,654 to 1,604 yards, and has 1,860 yards from scrimmage. Sura finished his career with two St. John's records – 4,031 rushing yards on 730 rushes – and tied a school record with 48 touchdowns on the ground.

• Caruso is 85-13 overall, 50-4 at home and 13-5 in the playoffs, including 12-1 at home. In his era, the Tommies are 47-0 when scoring 20 or more points, and 20-0 in games when they don't have a turnover.

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Team Stats

John Gould

University of St. Thomas Athletics