University of St. Thomas Athletics
7-2-0 , 6-1
Gustavus Adolphus
6-3-0 , 4-3
Football stays in MIAC title race with Parks-led home victory
11/9/2019 12:00:00 AM | Football
Senior Josh Parks surpassed 4,000 career rushing yards, had 241 yards of rushing and receiving, and scored five touchdowns to lead No. 18-ranked St. Thomas to a 57-36 win over Gustavus in an MIAC football offensive shootout Saturday at O'Shaughnessy Stadium.
The Tommies (7-2 overall, 6-1 MIAC) rolled up 481 yards on offense, but Nick Raddatz' blocked punt set up one TD, and interceptions by Logan Petersmeyer and Nick Ektanitphong preceded two other Purple TD drives.
Parks rushed 26 times for 184 yards and had four catches for 57 yards in his five-TD day. He now has 60 touchdowns and 4,012 rushing yards in 40 career games, and needs 65 run yards to pass program leader Ben Wartman (4,076).
Gustavus (6-3, 4-3), which never led and trailed 29-14 at halftime, rallied to within 43-36 in the fourth quarter but never got closer.
GAC senior QB Michael Veldman completed 29-of-45 passes for 356 yards and four scores and also had a running TD. Brice Panning had 10 catches for 169 yards.
St. Thomas goes into next Saturday's home game with No. 9-ranked Bethel (8-1) with three incentives for a victory: a share of the the league championship with St. John's; extend a program streak of eight or more wins to 11 seasons; and stay in contention for an NCAA at-large playoff bid.
St. Thomas had only one turnover, punted just two times and and was not sacked, while it recorded eight sacks of its own on defense. Tommy Dolan completed 13-of-18 passes for 197 yards and no interceptions while converting 9-of14 on third and fourth down.
The Tommies have scored 23 touchdowns in their last 10 quarters of play. They have won 26 regular-season games in a row at home, with 33 consecutive games scoring 21 or more at Palmer Field.
Team Stats
GAC 0, UST 7
UST - Josh Parks 3 yd run (Tyler Knutson kick), 12 plays, 68 yards, TOP 6:14
GAC 7, UST 7
GAC - Brayton Finch 2 yd pass from Michael Veldman (Andrew Abegglen kick) 10 plays, 70 yards, TOP 5:49
GAC 7, UST 14
UST - Josh Parks 44 yd pass from Tommy Dolan (Tyler Knutson kick) 7 plays, 59 yards, TOP 2:57
GAC 14, UST 14
GAC - Brice Panning 28 yd pass from Michael Veldman (Andrew Abegglen kick) 12 plays, 78 yards, TOP 5:22
GAC 14, UST 22
UST - Vinny Pallini 22 yd run (Gabe Green rush), 4 plays, 52 yards, TOP 2:01
GAC 14, UST 29
UST - Josh Parks 2 yd run (Tyler Knutson kick), 4 plays, 42 yards, TOP 1:23
GAC 14, UST 36
UST - Josh Parks 52 yd run (Tyler Knutson kick), 5 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:35
GAC 22, UST 36
GAC - Michael Veldman 1 yd run (Brayton Finch pass), 7 plays, 48 yards, TOP 2:50
GAC 22, UST 43
UST - Josh Komis 3 yd run (Tyler Knutson kick), 3 plays, 6 yards, TOP 0:59
GAC 29, UST 43
GAC - Ethan Sindelir 3 yd pass from Michael Veldman (Andrew Abegglen kick) 13 plays, 77 yards, TOP 5:22
GAC 36, UST 43
GAC - Ethan Sindelir 6 yd pass from Michael Veldman (Andrew Abegglen kick) 2 plays, 12 yards, TOP 0:39
GAC 36, UST 50
UST - Josh Parks 1 yd run (Tyler Knutson kick), 10 plays, 59 yards, TOP 4:38
GAC 36, UST 57
UST - Grant Slavik 67 yd pass from Tommy Dolan (Tyler Knutson kick) 4 plays, 98 yards, TOP 1:38
