University of St. Thomas Athletics
2-2 , 1-1
San Diego
1-4 , 1-1
Football close but unable to finish in 27-24 loss at San Diego
10/2/2021 9:38:00 PM | Football
But San Diego scored the game's final 13 points to escape with a 27-24 victory and gain its first victory, the latest in a series of lively games across the 11-team conference. All five Pioneer games on Saturday were decided by seven or less points, and two went to overtime.
USD (1-4 overall, 1-1 Pioneer) won or shared six consective Pioneer championships from 2014-2019 and built a 39-game league winning streak that ended last spring. The Toreros came into Saturday with three season defeats to scholarship teams and a close road loss at Davidson.
The Tommies (2-2, 1-1) got another strong defensive effort -- that unit has allowed just six touchdowns in 16 quarters.
Defensive players scored as many touchdowns here Saturday for bth teams as offensive players -- three total, two by St. Thomas defenders. One other potential Tommie TD on a pick six was negated by a penalty, and the Purple had another interception return to the USD 5-yard-line that they were unable to convert into points.
Senior Joe Hird (11 yards) and Jonathan Bunce (22 yards) had pick-six interception return scores for the Tommies, and Louis Hyde had a career-long field goal of 44 yards. Nick Rice caught a short pass and turned that into a 31-yard TD reception from Cade Sexauer.
But the Tommie offense stalled when it needed a second-half march and didn't score points over its last eight possessions. One error in that span turned into a 38-yard scoop-and-score fumble recovery touchdown for the Toreros.
Besides the interceptions by Hird, Bunce and Johnson Fallah, the Toms limited San Diego to 1-of-14 on third- and fourth-down conversions. But San Diego scored on all three red-zone tries while the Toms went 0-for-2 with similar chances.
St. Thomas returns home to face Valparaiso next Saturday at O'Shaughnessy Stadium for Homecoming.
Team Stats
TOMMIES 0, USD 7
USD - BROWN, C 6 yd pass from ERICKSON, Judd (EICKERT, B kick) 6 plays, 80 yards, TOP 3:17
TOMMIES 7, USD 7
TOMMIES - Joe Hird 10 yd interception (Louis Hyde kick)
TOMMIES 14, USD 7
TOMMIES - Nick Rice 31 yd pass from Cade Sexauer (Louis Hyde kick) 7 plays, 60 yards, TOP 3:11
TOMMIES 14, USD 14
USD - CARNER, Michael 30 yd pass from ERICKSON, Judd (EICKERT, B kick) 4 plays, 51 yards, TOP 1:43
TOMMIES 17, USD 14
TOMMIES - Louis Hyde 44 yd field goal 12 plays, 48 yards, TOP 4:51
TOMMIES 24, USD 14
TOMMIES - Jonathan Bunce 22 yd interception (Louis Hyde kick)
TOMMIES 24, USD 17
USD - EICKERT, B 27 yd field goal 8 plays, 80 yards, TOP 2:25
TOMMIES 24, USD 24
USD - KAMAKA, Kama 38 yd fumble recovery (EICKERT, B kick)
TOMMIES 24, USD 27
USD - EICKERT, B 31 yd field goal 5 plays, 67 yards, TOP 2:24
