Tommies prevail for 20-14 OT win at San Diego

ST. PAUL, MINN. – It had been 149 games since the University of St. Thomas football last found itself in an overtime situation. On Saturday, the Tommies made their first OT game in 13 seasons look routine. Easy, perhaps. Thanks to clutch plays by the defense and offense, St. Thomas leaves San Diego, California with a 20-14 win over the cities flagship university, improving to 7-3 overall and 6-1 in Pioneer Football League (PFL) play. Thanks to a loss by Davidson on Saturday, the Tommies still find themselves in the thick of the PFL title race, which will be determined next Saturday, November 18.

RECAP:
The last two meetings between St. Thomas and San Diego indicated Saturday was destined to be a shootout. However, Saturday's game was a bump and grind affair between the Tommies and Toreros, though, like many times this season, it looked like St. Thomas might run away with the victory. The Tommies used a 16 play, 90-yard drive in the first quarter to take a 7-0 lead over San Diego, a drive which was capped off a beautiful pass play between Amari Powell (Valencia, Calif. / Chaminade College Prep) and Colin Chase (Orange County, Calif. / St. John Bosco). Despite St. Thomas best efforts on defense, it simply could not hold the Toreros offense at bay in the second, as they evened the score at 7-7 with 4:56 remaining in the quarter.

The Tommies made those last four minutes count, as they ate up the clock and the field to find themselves in enemy terriroty. With 51 seconds remaining in the half, Powell handed the ball to Hope Adebayo (Inver Grove Heights, Minn. / Simley) at the 37-yard line, and the junior running back barreled his way into the San Diego end zone, giving St. Thomas a 14-7 lead entering the locker room at halftime.

The second half promised to be as equally exciting as the first; however, both the Tommies and Toreros defense came to play in the third quarter. The quarter was defined by three punts and a Johnson Fallah (Brooklyn Park, Minn. / Osseo) interception, but no scoring. In fact, neither team truly threatened to reach the end zone until the closing minutes. After being held scoreless for nearly a full quarter and a half, San Diego marched itself into St. Thomas territory and scored the game-tying touchdown with 12:55 remaining in regulation.

From that point on, the Tommies and Toreros fought for supremacy on the scoreboard. Twice, it looked like San Diego might take a definitive lead, finding itself in field goal range twice with under two minutes in regulation. Both times, though, the Torero kicker missed wide, giving St. Thomas the opportunity to win the game outright. Despite the two missed field goals and an interception by Grif Wirtz (Chaska, Minn. / Chaska), the Tommies were unable to take advantage of the San Diego turnovers, resulting in a 14-14 tie after four quarters of play.

With the game knotted 14-14, St. Thomas was headed into near uncharted territory. The Tommies had not played in a overtime since October 2010, marking 149 consecutive games with either a win or loss in regulation. That streak came to an end on Saturday, but fortunately, St. Thomas found itself in the win column. After giving up over 100 rush yards in regulation, the Tommies defense held its own in overtime, forcing the Toreros to kick a field goal on fourth down from the St. Thomas 11. The kicker, again, missed wide left, giving the Tommies the chance to win the game outright with a touchdown. When it came down to it, head coach Glenn Caruso and Powell knew exactly who to give the ball to: Adebayo. The junior once again bullied his way into the San Diego end zone, securing the 20-14 win for St. Thomas with his third consecutive multi-touchdown game.

TOP TOMMIES

Hope Adebayo (Inver Grove Heights, Minn. / Simley) was a force to be reckoned with Saturday afternoon. The junior running back rushed for 85 yards and two touchdowns, becoming the first running back in the DI era to score multiple touchdowns in three consecutive games. Adebayo has scored six of his eight touchdowns this season in the last three games, leading St. Thomas to victories over Stetson, Marist and San Diego.

Amari Powell (Valencia, Calif. / Chaminade College Prep) closed the game with 94 passing yards, and his top target was Andrew McElroy (Bolingbrook, Ill. / Bolingbrook), who closed the game with 41 receiving yards. Colin Chase (Orange County, Calif. / St. John Bosco) caught the lone receiving touchdown on Saturday.

Defensively, the Tommies were led by Jack Mohler (Woodbury, Minn. / East Ridge), who closed the game with a team-leading nine tackles. Johnson Fallah (Brooklyn Park, Minn. / Osseo) and Grif Wurtz (Chaska, Minn. / Chaska) each tallied interceptions in the win.

NOTABLES

St. Thomas avoided overtime for 149 consecutive games, dating back to the 2010 season. In fact, the last time the Tommies played in OT was on October 2, 2010, when they defeated Saint John's 27-26. This was the first overtime game for St. Thomas in the DI era.

HAVE A LITTLE HOPE

Thanks to his walkoff touchdown, Adebayo became the first running back in the DI era to record multiple rushing touchdowns in three consecutive games. The junior running back found the back of the end zone twice against Stetson, twice again Marist and then twice in Saturday's win over the Toreros, breaking his own DI record for consecutive games with multiple touchdowns. This season, St. Thomas is 3-0 when Adebayo scored multiple TD and 4-1 when he scores at least one.

PLAYOFF PICTURE

Thanks to a loss by Davidson on Saturday, the Tommies find themselves in the hunt for a PFL title. With a win over Valparaiso next week, and a loss by Drake, St. Thomas could find itself in a three-way tie atop the conference standings, giving the team at least a share of the conference title.

UP NEXT

There are plenty of implications for the final game of 2023. After three months, the Tommies season comes down to this, as they are set to host Valpo on Saturday, November 18. With a win, St. Thomas could earn a share of the PFL title and keep its 30+ home field win streak alive. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at O'Shaughnessy Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota.

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Team Stats

Amari Powell

Players Mentioned

Hope Adebayo

Colin Chase

Johnson Fallah

Andrew McElroy

Jack Mohler

Amari Powell

Grif Wurtz

University of St. Thomas Athletics