University of St. Thomas Athletics
Davidson
Game Notes - Football returns home to face reigning PFL Co-Champion Davidson
10/6/2022 1:54:00 PM | Football
St. Thomas Football will look to extend its 32-game regular-season home winning streak as they host Davidson, which is the reigning Pioneer Football League Co-Champion.
The Tommies are coming off a 38-24 road win at Marist, it was the program's first game played in the state of New York.
St. Thomas has seen success running the ball in every game this season with a variety of ball carriers. Through the first four games of the season, the Tommies have three runners with over 150 rushing yards led by sophomore Shawn Shipman, who has netted 348 rushing yards and five touchdowns. Fellow Sophomore Hope Adebayo has posted 205 net rushing yards in two games played this season. Freshman Gabriel Abel rushed onto the collegiate scene, posting 158 net yards in his first four collegiate games.
QB Cade Sexauer has put together a good start to the season as the team's starting quarterback. Last week, Sexauer posted a career-high 218 passing yards and added 21 rushing yards. On the season, the South Paw has completed 56-of-105 for 701 yards and seven touchdowns. The Tommies have spread the ball around through the air with WR Andrew McElroy leading the team with 16 catches for 231 yards on the season.
On the defensive side of the ball, Grif Wurtz has led the team with 24 total tackles and one interception. Trent Meyer, Mason Cassady and Yusef Leak each have an interceptions on the season.
The contest can be heard live on AM-1500 Radio Skor North, with Corbu Stathes on the play-by-play call with Ayo Idowu as the color analyst.
Digging into Davidson
Winners of four straight, Davidson enters Saturday's contest at St. Thomas 4-1 overall and 2-0 in Pioneer Football League action. The Wildcats' 31-0 blanking of Butler last weekend was their first shutout in conference play since the 2008 campaign when they defeated Campbell, 49-0, in Buies Creek, N.C. In addition, it was the 'Cats second shutout during the Scott Abell era, the first coming Sept. 14, 2019, a 41-0 win over West Virginia Wesleyan. This weekend's trip to St. Paul, Minn., will be the Wildcats' first ever, as the Tommies transitioned from DIII to FCS and the PFL prior to last season.
On Sunday, Davidson's John Tessmann was named the PFL Defensive Player of the Week. The sophomore linebacker's first weekly honor came on the heels of two interceptions against Butler week five.Tessmann is the fourth different Wildcat honored by the league office this season. Davidson is one of just two (Jackson State) FCS programs ranked in the Top-10 nationally in both total offense (6th) and total defense (10th). The Wildcats have gained over 600 yards total offense in each of their last two outings. Senior Dylan Sparks enters just 19 rushing yards shy of 2,000 for his career.
In addition to leading the country in rushing offense (389.4 ypg), Davidson ranks among FCS leaders in total offense (498.2/6th) and scoring offense (39.4/8th).
Three different Wildcats have rushed for over 300 yards on the season -- Dylan Sparks (369), Coy Williams (346) and Jayden Waddell (337). Williams leads the team with five rushing touchdowns.
Mark McCurdy is Davidson's top receiver with nine catches for 144 yards and two touchdowns. The junior slot receiver also has 178 yards on the ground and a rushing touchdown. Quarterback Jayden Waddell has completed 60.7 percent of his passing attempts, thrown four touchdown passes and rushed for three more. In all, nine different players have scored offensive touchdowns for Davidson through five contests.
DEFENSIVE NOTES
Davidson has been just as impressive on the defensive side of the ball, ranking among FCS leaders in total defense (291.8/10th), passing yards allowed (147.4/6th) and scoring defense (16.4/14th). The Wildcats have recorded nine interceptions this season, including two each from Jordan Burrell and John Tessmann. Daniel Carter leads the way in tackles with 26, while Julian Rawlins has a team-high 1.5 sacks and three tackles for a loss.
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES
Highlighted by a pair of TJ Magee kickoff returns for a touchdown, Davidson is second nationally in kickoff returns (32.2). Caden Bonoffski is a perfect 3-for-3 on field goal attempts and 26-of-27 on extra point tries. Aaron Maione is averaging 19.0 yards per punt return.
Last Time Out
The St. Thomas Football Team posted 242 rushing yards in its first conference win of the season, improving to 3-1 on the season.
For the fourth time in as many games, the Tommies took the opening kickoff and marched down the field and scored a touchdown on their opening drive. This week, senior QB Cade Sexauer connected with freshman TE Matthew Rink for his first collegiate score.
On the second drive of the afternoon, Sexauer was crushed on his blindside and fumbled the ball. The Red Foxes capitalized with three points off the turnover, bringing the score to 7-3 in favor of the Purple after one quarter of play.
The Tommies scored twice in the second quarter by way of a 38-yard touchdown strike from Sexauer to senior WR Wesley Juszczak with 6:53 remaining in the half and a two-yard rush from sophomore RB Shawn Shipman with under two minutes to play in the opening half.
Sexauer finished the half completing 11-of-22 passing attempts for 148 yards and two scores. Sophomore WR Andrew McElroy posted 83 yards on five receptions in the opening half. Sophomore RB Hope Adebayo posted 46 first-half yards while averaging 5.8 yards per return.
Defensively, the Tommies held the Red Foxes to 53 yards on 23 plays in the first half – 29 yards rushing and 24 passing yards and limited Marist to a 1-of-7 showing on third-down attempts. Individually, senior DB Luke Glenna posted four first-half tackles.
The Red Foxes took their first drive of the second half and scored a touchdown – the first touchdown St. Thomas allowed in over 10 quarters of play dating back to its first game of the season at Southern Utah.
The Tommies responded with a touchdown on their first drive of the game to bring the score to 28-10 with just under five minutes played in the third quarter. The St. Thomas drive was fueled by a 55-yard rush by Adebayo on the first play of the drive getting the ball to the Marist 5-yard line.
With time expiring in the third quarter, senior LB Trent Meyer recorded his first interception of the season and returned it to the Marist 8-yard line to start the fourth quarter. The Purple were able to score three points off the turnover to open the lead to 31-17 with 13:23 to play.
On the ensuing drive, St. Thomas recorded its second interception in as many drives, this time with junior DB Grif Wurtz coming away with the pick.
The Tommies posted 10 points in the fourth quarter, while the Red Foxes added seven points to give St. Thomas the 38-24 win.
Adebayo, in his return to action, finished with 132 rushing yards on 16 attempts with a touchdown. Fueled by a 55-yard dash, Adebayo averaged 8.3 yards per carry on the day. Sexauer finished the game completing 18-of-37 passing attempts for 218 yards and two touchdowns, finishing with a 110.6 QB rating.
The defensive unit held Marist to 55 rushing yards in the game and finished with two picks. Wurtz led the way with seven tackles and an interception, while Meyer added 1.0 sack and an interception himself.
All-Purpose Andrew
Sophomore WR Andrew McElroy lead the Pioneer Football League in all-purpose yards, averaging 121.75 all-purpose yards per game.
McElroy has posted 487 total yards including 231 receiving yards, 31 punt return yards, 215 kick return yards and 10 rushing yards.
Tough Tests
St. Thomas Football has a rare opportunity in 2022 to play two home games in the same month against returning conference co-champion teams.
Highlighting a six-game home schedule, the Toms are set to play the 2021 Pioneer Football co-champions Davidson (Oct. 8) and San Diego (Oct. 29) three weeks apart at O'Shaughnessy Stadium.
Davidson took the PFL's automatic bid into the NCAA playoffs in an 8-4 finish after it led all FCS and FBS teams in rushing at 336 yards a game.
San Diego averaged 235 passing yards a game to rank among the top third of 123 FCS teams.
Touchdown Talk
St. Thomas did something last season that only two other D-I football programs can claim for 2021: record a .700 or better win percentage despite scoring under 25 ppg.
The Toms finished 7-3 while scoring 24.4 ppg and allowing just 17.8 ppg. Iowa in FBS did it (10-4 record, 23.4 ppg on offense), as did FCS's Columbia (7-3, 24.9 ppg).
The Toms' success was helped as it ranked 13th among all 123 FCS teams in fewest points allowed per game at 17.8. Only 18 of the opponents' 22 TDs in 2021 were scored on the Tommie defense, too, as four TDs came via special teams and defensive scores. The Purple ranked first among all FCS and FBS teams in takeaways per game at 2.7.
St. Thomas averaged scoring nearly six touchdowns a game in Caruso's 12-season D-III chapter (446 TDs in all). Last year's Tommies scored 33 TDs in 10 games in season one of D-I competition.
The Toms are on pace as early as this season to score the program's 500th touchdown of the Caruso era.
Offensive Improvements
In 2021, St Thomas did their best in low scoring games with the team scoring an average of 24.4 points per game.
This season the Tommies have averaged 31.5 points per game. For some perspective, over ten games last season St. Thomas Football had three games scoring 30 or more points, this season have they have done so in three of their first four games.
This season, the Tommies have averaged 4 touchdowns per game which is also an improvement from the 3.3 touchdowns per game scored the previous year
Fresh Starts
Three Tommie opponents have new head coaches for 2022.
Southern Utah hired DeLane Fitzgerald from the NCAA Division II ranks at Frostburg State.
Butler's 16th-year head coach Jeff Voris resigned and was replaced by Temple offensive coordinator Mike Uremovich.
Presbyterian's first-year coach Kevin Kelley resigned and was replaced by former Florida Tech head coach Steve Engelhart.
A fourth foe, Lincoln University of Oakland, has a second-year head coach in Desmond Gumbs. Lincoln started its athletics program in 2021 and sponsors five men's sports and three women's sports. Its football team posted a 1-9 record last season and played all 10 games on the road over seven states.
Another PFL opponent, Stetson, also has a second-year head coach in Brian Young.
Tommie QB History
It's been 29 seasons since St. Thomas Football didn't feature a native Minnesotan or native NW Wisconsin athlete as its starting quarterback. The last Tommie starting QB whose hometown was 200 or more miles from campus was Tom Stallings (Chicago Heights, Ill.).
Stallings guided the Purple offense in 1991, sat all of 1992 with an injury, then returned in 1993 for his final year. Stallings had a "Mic Drop" performance on Senior Day in 1993 closing his playing career with a 602-yard passing day and six TD passes in leading a 42-41 victory over Bethel to cap an 8-2 season.
This summer, Coach Glenn Caruso started fall camp with only one Minnesotan among five QBs on his roster: fifth-year senior Cade Sexauer of South St. Paul, who shared the starting job in 2021 and played in all 10 games. The 6-4 Sexauer came into fall practice with the inside track to win the starting role for the Sept. 1 opener at Southern Utah.
Two newcomers with promise are true freshmen: 6-1 Amari Powell of Valencia, Calif., and 6-5 Travis Plugge of Bakersfield, Calif.
Another talented athlete who played some QB last season, 6-3 sophomore Branden Smith of Las Vegas, Nev., has taken game reps at wide receiver and will lineup as a starting defensive back this week.
Opponent QB Talk
Five of the Toms' eight conference opponents graduated their starting QB last spring, including 2021 league co-champs Davidson and San Diego, and 2022 road foes Marist, Presbyterian and Valparaiso.
The Purple's other six opponents will bring back a starter at QB that's either a redshirt junior, senior or graduate student -- Southern Utah, Michigan Tech, Lincoln (Calif.), Drake, Stetson and Butler.
Lefty Leaders
Left-handed Senior QB Cade Sexauer helped produce 1,000-plus yards and seven TDs as a passer and rusher last season, and brings a solid command of the team's offense.
The Toms also have a lefty who could contribute on special teams with true freshman left-footed kicker Stephen Shagen. The Park City, Utah native is pushing returning starter Louis Hyde for the No. 1 kicking spot. Hyde won't be easy to unseat: In the 2021 season opener, he kicked a tie-breaking 32-yard field goal with 59 seconds left to give the Toms a 12-9 win at Michigan Tech. Hyde converted 5-of-8 field goals and 25-of-26 PAT kicks on the season.
Shagen has one of the more interesting bios on the roster. A soccer player through his junior season, he's only played one year of high school football (2021). But the inexperience didn't show as he nailed all 30 PATs and 8-of-10 field-goal attempts last season. He's one of the first few -- if not the first -- Utah natives to compete for St. Thomas Football.
Upper Echelon of the Conference
In just its first year as members of the Pioneer Football League, St. Thomas showed it belongs. The Tommies are continuing that trend in 2022, ranking in the upper echelon of the conference in a myriad of statistical categories.
Below are rankings and statistics for all games by the eight conference schools last season. These stats and rankings include totals from the Tommies' game against FCS opponent Southern Utah University.
Rank Category Stat
Defense
1st Opponent 3rd Down Percentage 21.1% (12/57)
1st Opponent 1st Downs Allowed 15.0 per game
1st Rushing Defense 90.25 yards per game
2nd Scoring Defense 20.0 points per game
3rd Total Defense 317.7 yards per game
3rd Pass Defense Efficiency 117.7 efficiency rating
Offense
2nd Scoring Offense 31.5 points per game
2nd Touchdowns Scored 17 total touchdowns
3rd Total Offense 403.5 yards per game
3rd Rushing Touchdowns 8 touchdowns
2nd Offensive Rushing Yards 838 yards
2nd Rushing Offense 209.5 yards per game
Team
1st Opponent Penalties Committed 40 penalties (10.0 per game)
2nd Points Scored Kicking 3 FG, 11 PAT
2nd Time of Possession 32:46 minutes per game
Hope is on the Way
Sophomore running back Hope Adebayo raced out to a fast start in the 2022 season opener at Southern Utah - the sophomore took a handoff 60 yards on the first play from scrimmage in his second collegiate season. That drive was capped off one play later when fellow running back Shawn Shipman capped off the 2-play, 75-yard opening drive with a touchdown. After a two-game hiatus, Adebayo rushed back onto the scene when the Tommies opened conference play at Marist. The sophomore finished with 132 yards on 16 carries, averaging 8.3 yards per rush.
Adebayo led the St. Thomas rushing attack with 699 rushing yards on 110 attempts in 2021. Adebayo averaged 6.0 yards per carry and scored 10 touchdowns on the ground a season ago.
Last season, Adebayo gashed the Stetson defense for a 78-yard touchdown on the game's opening offensive play in his first collegiate start. He finished the game with 182 rushing yards and four touchdowns, earning him Pioneer Football League Offensive Player of the Week honors.
Righting the Ship(man)
Sophomore running back Shawn Shipman rushed for 157 yards and two short touchdowns in his first collegiate start against Michigan Tech on Sept. 10 in the Tommies 2022 home opener.
In the first four games of the 2022 season, Shipman has rushed the ball 63 times amassing 361 yards on the ground and is averaging 5.5 yards per rushing attempt. The Brooklyn Park, Minn., native has scored five touchdowns on the year and is averaging 87 yards rushing per game this season.
Notable Performances in First Career Starts by Tommie RBs
2022: Hope Adebayo, 16 carries, 132 yards, 1 TD vs. Marist
2022: Shawn Shipman, 23 carries, 157 yards, 2 TD vs. Michigan Tech
2021: Hope Adebayo, 20 carries,182 yards, 4 TD vs. Stetson
2016: Josh Parks, 14 carries, 74 yards, 1 TD vs. Gustavus
2016: Tucker Trettel, 6 carries, 70 yards, 1 TD vs. Carleton
2015: Jordan Roberts, 16 carries, 92 yards, 3 TD vs. UW-La Crosse
2014: Nick Waldvogel, 14 carries, 67 yards, 2 TD, vs. Hamline
2013: Jack Kaiser, 17 carries, 60 yards, 1 TD, vs. UW-River Falls
2012: Brenton Braddock, 13 carries, 79 yards, 0 TD vs. Augsburg
2010: Colin Tobin, 14 carries, 85 yards, 1 TD vs. St. Olaf
2008: Ben Wartman, 11 carries, 84yards, 2 TD vs. Macalester
Pioneers in the Pioneer League
St. Thomas posted a 6-2 record against Pioneer Football League teams in its first year in the conference. The Tommies two losses came at the hands of the top-two ranked teams in the conference - Davidson (7-1 PFL) and San Deigo (7-1 PFL).
Tommie D
St. Thomas' defense only allowed 19 touchdowns through their 10-game schedule a season ago. While it may seem that the defense has taken a small step back this year allowing five touchdowns in their first 3 games, it is important to remember that all five came in the Tommies' first game against Southern Utah. In the team's last two games, the Tommies have not allowed a touchdown of any kind.
St. Thomas' defense also only allowed an impressive 17.8 points per game. They have performed similarly this year allowing 20.0 points per game in their three games this season.
Following the Southern Utah game, the St. Thomas defense played lights out football, and went on a 10-quarter streak of holding opposing teams, not just offenses, out of the endzone. Michigan Tech and Lincoln didn't find the endzone in their game against the Purple and St. Thomas held Marist out of the endzone for the first half of the contest.
Proud Program Builder
15-year Head Coach Glenn Caruso has an 10-4 record in FCS after building a 126-21 record in the Toms' D-III era.
Adding in his 6-12 record in two seasons of a rebuilding project as Macalester College head coach (2006, 2007), Caruso boasts a 142-37 career record (.793). That all-game win percentage ranks in the top 10 among current NCAA football coaches at all levels who have worked 10 or more seasons.
Balance on Both Sides
The 2021 Tommies had no superstars but played well as a team with several guys sharing the load.
The Tommies won despite these unusually low totals by category leaders:
• The leading passer, Cade Sexauer, averaged just 86 yards per game.
• The leading available receiver, Wesley Juszczak, averaged 24 yards per game.
• The leading scorers were RB Hope Adebayo, 72 points, and K Louis Hyde, 36 points.
• Their defense had only one player (S Luke Glenna) with more than three solo tackles a game, with 13 different players recording an interception, a forced fumble or a fumble recovery.
Starting Strong in the Second Half
In eight of their 10 games in 2021, St. Thomas was in scoring position on its first drive of the second half. On six of those instances, the Tommies scored on their first drive of the second half (touchdown vs. Butler, field goal at San Diego, touchdown vs. Valpo, touchdown at Stetson, touchdown vs. Marist, touchdown at Davidson, touchdown vs. Presbyterian). Against Michigan Tech, St. Thomas turned it over on downs at the Husky 7-yard line.
The Tommies scored on their first drive of the second half in the game at Marist, but were unable to get into scoring position in their first second-half possesion of the first contest of the 2022 campaign and fumbled away their first possesion of the second half in the second and third contests of the season.
Home Sweet Home
St. Thomas has started its Division I era with a 7-0 home record - building on its 39-1 record in its last 40 DIII games played on campus. The only loss in that span was to eventual NCAA Division III runner-up UW-Oshkosh 34-31 in the 2016 NCAA playoffs.
The Purple are riding a 32-game home-field regular-season win streak.
Different Week, Different Quarter
An interesting trend has developed with St. Thomas' scoring patterns early in this season. In their first game against Southern Utah, the Tommies scored more than half of their points in the first quarter. In their second game against Michigan Tech, the Tommies scored more than half their points in the second quarter. In their third game against Lincoln, the team scored more than half of their points in the third quarter.
Did You Know?
• This fall St. Thomas will make program history by traveling to play its first games in the states of Utah, New York, South Carolina and Indiana.
• The Tommies' three dozen newcomers for 2022 come from 14 different states.
• The Purple have their first graduate students in program history in veteran LB Trent Meyer, LB Ty Barron (2022 Minnesota transfer) and DL Mark O'Reilly (2022 Concordia-St. Paul transfer).
• St. Thomas' 30 seniors include 13 who are 2018 high school grads and now starting their fifth season of eligibility. Besides the three graduate students, other fifth-years are 2021 transfer LB Kellan McKeag; offensive lineman Matt Weimann and Mark Schmitz; defensive linemen Seth Bickett, Noah Borgeson and Brent Robley; QB Cade Sexauer; TE Max Zimmerman; FB Joshua Komis; and DB Luke Glenna.
• The Toms just missed their magic scoring number in the 27-24 loss at San Diego. They are 92-0 in regular-season games in the Glenn Caruso era when they score 25 or more points.
• In 127 games last decade (2010-2019), St. Thomas defenders recorded 21 interception return touchdowns.
• Last season, Jonathan Bunce's first interception since his youth football days took him to the end zone with a 22-yard return. But he scored several TDs as a high school running back at Edina High.
• Jr. K Louis Hyde, went 5-of-8 on field goal attempts a season ago. That's a change from the 2019 season when the Toms made only 2-of-7 field goals.
• St. Thomas has held a second-half lead in 15 of its last 16 conference games (MIAC, Pioneer). The only conference game in that span in which the Tommies didn't hold a second-half lead was at Davidson.
St. Thomas Returning Academic All-Conference honorees
Defense
• #91 – DL Seth Bickett, Actuarial Science major 4.00
• #90 -- DL Noah Borgeson, Political Science major 3.93
• #41 -- LB Jonathan Bunce, Business Admimistration 3.91
• #49 – DL Brent Robley, Biology major 3.87
Offense
• #14 – QB Cade Sexauer, Mechanical Engineering major, 3.63
Pioneer Football League by the Numbers
11: Members for 2022 season with the addition of Presbyterian and St. Thomas in 2021
8: Conference games each team plays each season
8: Teams with Red or Blue as primary color
3: Teams with primary colors of Green (Stetson), Brown/Yellow (Valparaiso) or Purple (St. Thomas)
3: Teams that play games on natural grass (San Diego, Stetson, Presbyterian)
2: Teams with Bulldogs as nickname (Drake, Butler)
1: Team that changed nicknames in 2021 (Valparaiso, was Crusaders now Beacons)
2: Teams whose nickname includes a color (Presbyterian Blue Hose, Marist Red Foxes)
4: Teams that don't share a nickname with any other college (Presbyterian Blue Hose, Stetson Hatters, San Diego Toreros, St. Thomas Tommies)
1: Team located in Pacific time zone
2: Teams located in Central time zone
8: Teams located in Eastern time zone
6: Teams that at one time were Division III programs (Dayton, San Diego, Marist, Valparaiso, Davidson, St. Thomas)
3: Teams located in a city that's the state capital (Butler/Indy; Drake/Des Moines; St. Thomas/St. Paul)
4: Remaining charter members since league's 1993 creation (Dayton, Drake, Butler, Valparaiso)
6: Different programs to win or share a PFL championship since 2012 (San Diego, Davidson, Dayton, Drake, Marist, Butler)
15-1: Coaching record in PFL games for Jim Harbaugh at San Diego, 2004-06
57: Years, from 1956-2013, when Stetson didn't play football before restarting its program
5: Current Pioneer schools that once played in a January 1 bowl game (Dayton, Drake, Presbyterian, Valparaiso, St. Thomas)
About Davidson
About Davidson College
Location: Davidson, N.C. (pop. 13,404)
Distance to St. Paul: 1,145 miles
Founded: 1,837
Athletics Website: www.https://davidsonwildcats.com/
Undergrad Enrollment: 1,983
Nickname: Wildcats
Colors: Red and White
FB Stadium: Smith Field at Richardson (4,500)
Surface: Artificial Turf
2022 FB Record: 4-1
FB Head Coach: Scott Abell (10th season)
