On big stage, the little things push Football to victory

By DOUG HENNES

It's hard to say that two plays can make a difference and a define a game, but a case can be made for that Saturday when St. Thomas and St. John's squared off for the first football game to be played at Target Field.

The No. 6-ranked Johnnies, trailing most of the game, came to life midway through the fourth quarter, trimmed the St. Thomas lead to three points and had the ball on their own 21 with 3:29 to go. Could they move the ball again and win or force overtime? No: they moved the ball nine yards but were stopped on fourth and 1.

The No. 10-ranked Tommies, taking over at the St. John's 30, gained nine yards on three carries, with the Johnnies calling their final timeouts to save the clock. Could St. Thomas pick up the first down and ice the game? Yes: On fourth and 1, quarterback Jacques Perra snuck for two yards and the clinching first down.

It was Tommie-Johnnie football 2017 at Target Field, presented by Oppidan. The event produced a raucous crowd of 37,355 – more than double the Division III attendance record of 17,535 set last year by UW-Whitewater and UW-Oshkosh. The sun-drenched fans, clad only in purple or red, were on the edge of their seats for most of the game on this unusually warm (85 degrees at kickoff) and humid day on the second day of autumn.

"For us to have been blessed with the opportunity to set an attendance record is an absolute honor," said coach Glenn Caruso, whose Tommies won their fourth game in a row – and seventh out of the last nine – over St. John's. "It was really unique to have it here . . . a phenomenal atmosphere."

Caruso and St. John's coach Gary Fasching pointed to St. Thomas' rushing defense throughout the game (-1 net yardage for the Johnnies) and its ability to control the ball on offense in the second half (24:50 to 5:10 time of possession).

"If you look at the stats, it's easy to see what happened," Fasching said. "St. Thomas ran almost double the plays we did (76-43) and had much bigger time of possession. Give them credit. We couldn't run the football."

While his offense "was not wildly productive in the second half," Caruso said, he still marveled at how the Tommies controlled the lines of scrimmage. "I can't remember the last time we've had the ball 25 of 30 minutes in one half."

The defense, he added, "was the stalwart for us today."

Johnnies lead first

St. John's jumped on top 3-0 after a three-and-out series was extended when returner Vinny Pallini muffed a punt and the Johnnies recovered at the St. Thomas 20. Five plays later, Zach Barwick kicked a 31-yard field goal for the lead.

The Tommies went ahead on their second possession on a Jacques Perra 31-yard touchdown pass to tight end Matt Christenson. Perra sparkled on the nine-play, 80-yard drive, hitting Luke Iverson for 35 yards and Jordan Roberts for 15 on back-to-back plays to move the ball to the St. John's 15. After two St. Thomas penalties, a scrambling Perra found Christenson open at the 10 and he scored.

The Johnnies struggled on their next three possessions – two three-and-outs and a six-play drive, and the Tommies took over at their 39 with 6:25 remaining in the second quarter. On the first play, Perra found wide receiver Gabe Green down the middle at the St. John's 20 and he raced in for 61-yard touchdown and a 14-3 lead.

St. John's responded two series later, getting their best field position of the half after a 19-yard punt return by Max Jackson to the St. Thomas 31. Quarterback Jackson Erdmann responded with his own one-play touchdown drive – a pass to Jared Streit – who outwrestled the defender for the ball at the 10 and twisted his way into the end zone.

Just 2:21 was left on the clock before halftime, but that was enough for the Tommies. An 11-play drive, highlighted by a 27-yard run by fullback Jeremy Molina, moved the ball into St. John's territory. Perra later threw twice incomplete into the end zone before, on fourth and 14, St. Thomas settled for a 34-yard Bryan Steinsapir field goal with 7 seconds left and led 17-10 at halftime.

That Molina ran on that play and went on to lead the Tommies in rushing with 61 yards on nine carries may surprise fans, as Caruso mostly uses his fullbacks for blocking purposes. Not Saturday.

"Getting the opportunity and delivering on it paid dividends today," Molina said.

"Jeremy was a tremendous tailback in high school," Caruso said, and willingly accepted a lesser running role at St. Thomas while always being ready to step up if needed. "He is being gracious. He was well-prepared today, and he capitalized."

Tommies can't shake SJU

On their second possession of the third quarter, the Tommies marched to the St. John's 17 but a holding penalty – their second in the 12-play drive – stalled the drive. They settled for a 43-yard Steinsapir field goal and a 20-10 lead.

St. Thomas took control of the clock in the third quarter. St. John's ran only six plays for -3 yards on two three-and-out possessions, pushing its total yardage to 91 for the first three quarters.

But the Tommies could not put the game away. Their initial third-quarter drive ended with a St. John's fourth-down stop near midfield and the second drive resulted in Steinsapir's field goal before they embarked on their longest drive of the game – 13 plays and 8:22. They got down tothe St. John's 6, but a Perra interception at the goal line snuffed the opportunity to go up by three possessions.

"I could have thrown that ball better," Perra said. "Jackson (Hull) made an awesome move, saw me scramble and was in the right spot. I forced the ball a little and the St. John's player (Sam Westby) made a good play."

The Johnnies got life after blocking a St. Thomas punt midway through the fourth quarter and recovered the ball at their 49. Two plays later, Erdmann found Evan Clark streaking down the left sideline and caught him in stride for a touchdown. Suddenly, it was a three-point game at 20-17 with six minutes to play.

St. Thomas couldn't move the ball on its next possession and St. John's took over on its 21. But the Tommies held on two short-yardage situations – third and 1 and fourth and 1, twice breaking up passes over the middle to Streit. For the day, St. John's was 0 for 11 on third-down conversions and 0 for 1 on fourth.

"If they got the first down, they still had the entire field to go," said nose guard Austin Jochum, who had two of the Tommies' three sacks of Erdmann. He felt the defense "got the feeling back today" of being more in control. "We were not 100 percent coming in."

With 2:44 left in the quarter, all St. Thomas needed was one first down to seal the game. Three running plays by three backs – Molina, Jordan Roberts and Tucker Trettel put the ball on St. John's 21. Fourth down . . . what to call?

A quarterback sneak – the first of the game. Perra plunged for two yards and the Tommies had their first down. Perra took three knees and the clock ran out.

"We have been practicing the sneak the last couple of weeks," he said. "The hole was to the left. We had two 300-pounderss on the left (tackle Damon Longstreet and guard Chandler Lamke) and I just followed them."

In the post-game news conference, players talked about the thrill of playing in front of such a huge crowd. Perra, a transfer last year from the University of Minnesota, is awed by the intensity of the St. John's-St. Thomas rivalry ("it's something you can't explain,") and Molina liked "the energy on the sideline."

Players had to make adjustments to the crowd noise – each team had several five-yard penalties for infractions such false starts– and the warm and humid weather contributed to fatigue. But nobody would have traded the situation for another.

"Two great universities, two great football teams both nationally ranked and alumni bases that are very passionate about their universities," Fasching said. "I told the guys this is something they'll remember the rest of their lives."

Caruso noted that he still hears regularly about the Tommies' 1948 Cigar Bowl team, which played on New Year's Day in Florida – and that was nearly 70 years ago. Saturday's game, he said, "will forever be known as the Target Field Game."

Fans will long remember the game. In the waning minutes, during a timeout, Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" came on the public address system. The crowd joined in to lustily sing "good times never seemed so good" and then ad-libbed, "So good! So good!"

Tommie Notes

• It was the 20th game in the 87-game series (St. John's leads 51-35-1) settled by four points or less. Caruso's record, now in his 10th year, is 102-16 (.864) and Fasching is 40-10 (.800). It's the first four-game St. Thomas winning streak over St. John's since 1954-1957.

• St. John's came into the game ranked among all NCAA teams in scoring (67.6), and was third in Division III in defense and fifth in passing efficiency. Running back Dusty Krueger had 249 yards in his first three games but had -7 net yards against St. Thomas.

• Roberts, after running for 230 yards and 125 yards in two games against St. John's in 2015, was held in check Saturday. He finished with 41 yards on 14 carries. Parks had 108 yards in the win over St. John's last year but only 29 on Saturday.

• Next up for St. Thomas: a road game at high-scoring Augsburg (3-1), which defeated Carleton 48-28. The Auggies average 41 points a game, with a loss to Gustavus Adolphus and non-conference wins over Northwestern-St. Paul and Concordia of Wisconsin.

On big stage, the little things push Football to victory

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On big stage, the little things push Football to victory

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