University of St. Thomas Athletics
3-1 , 2-1
Valparaiso
1-5 , 1-2
Fans inspire Football to close win on Homecoming
10/9/2021 5:18:00 PM | Football
St. Thomas football improved to 3-2 on the season and 2-1 in Pioneer Football League action as it defeated Vaparaiso, 20-13 at O'Shaughnessy Stadium in front of a stadium sell-out crown of 7,443 to culminate Homecoming week.
The Toms extended two streaks in the process -- 29 consecutive on-campus regular-season victories, and a 13-0 Homecoming mark in the Glenn Caruso era.
"Homecoming – awesome day, tremendous crowd," said Coach Glenn Caruso. "The class of '22, '23, '24, '25 showed up. I just think the enormity of the excitement was a winning edge today, I really believe that. To be able to see us build and sell out and continue to have that support is in some ways a verification of all of the things that are going on here. Hats off to (Vice President, Director of Athletics) Dr. Phil Esten and everybody else who was able to put something like that together. It was a fun day."
The Tommies stayed in the thick of the chase for first place, one of six Pioneer teams at 2-0 or 2-1 in league play. Valpo dropped to 1-4 overall and 1-2.
The Purple took a 7-3 lead into intermission and extended their lead to 20-3 entering the fourth quarter. The Beacons battled back to cut St. Thomas' lead to 20-13 with 6:34 to play before the Tommies put the clamps on and finished out the game, aided by a key Isaiah Hall interception near midfield with 4:47 to go. St. Thomas ran the ball 11 times in a row and dained the clock, converting twice on tid down and once on fourth down.
St. Thomas' defense limited Valpo's offense to only 16 plays for 79 yards in the second half, compared to 45 plays resulting in 213 yards for the Tommies after intermission. The lone TD of the game for the Beacons came on a one-play drive with a 35-yard TD pass from Ben Nimz to Braden Contreras that cut the lead to seven with under 6:30 remaining.
The Beacons were unable to overcome their 14 penalties for 117 yards on the day. The Tommies, the least penalized team in the league entering the contest, committed only five penalties on the afternoon, which resulted in 62 yards.
Hall had a busy afternoon on both sides of the ball. The senior transfer led the team with five receptions for 43 yards on offense and also recorded an interception late in the fourth quarter of the game. Junior DB Johnson Fallah intercepted a Beacon pass in the second quarter, his third interception of the season.
Senior QB Cade Sexauer completed 11-of-21 passing attempts for 98 yards with one interception. Sexauer added 46 rushing yards on 16 carriers, with one rushing touchdown. Tom Loeffler scored short TD runs of two and six yards. Another big play was a four-down fake punt from the visitors' 35-yard line that Josh Komis tossed to a leaping Wesley Juszczak to the Valpo 2-yard line to set up the last touchdown.
Defensively, senior LB Trent Meyer led the way for St. Thomas with six tackles, including five solo stops. Sophomore LB Jonathan Bunce recorded two sacks on the day, part of a defensive effort that held the Valpo offense to 226 yards, including 177 in the air. Bunce's sacks were critical in shifting the momentum back in the Tommies favor. The St. Thomas defense held the Valpo offense to just a 3-of-12 showing on third downs.
St. Thomas continues PFL action next Saturday as it makes its first trip to the Sunshine State in 73 seasons to take on Stetson, a game set for DeLand, Fla. The last time the Tommies played in Florida was January 1, 1949 in the Cigar Bowl, where they tied Missouri Valley in a night game played in Tampa, Fla.
Team Stats
VALPO 3, TOMMIES 0
VALPO - BARTHOLOMEW 32 yd field goal 7 plays, 60 yards, TOP 3:46
VALPO 3, TOMMIES 7
TOMMIES - Tom Loeffler 6 yd run (Louis Hyde kick), 3 plays, 32 yards, TOP 0:50
VALPO 3, TOMMIES 14
TOMMIES - Cade Sexauer 4 yd run (Louis Hyde kick), 13 plays, 78 yards, TOP 5:45
VALPO 3, TOMMIES 20
TOMMIES - Tom Loeffler 2 yd run (), 10 plays, 77 yards, TOP 5:16
VALPO 6, TOMMIES 20
VALPO - BARTHOLOMEW 31 yd field goal 6 plays, 23 yards, TOP 3:11
VALPO 13, TOMMIES 20
VALPO - CONTRERAS 35 yd pass from NIMZ (BARTHOLOMEW kick) 1 plays, 35 yards, TOP 0:06
