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COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – No. 6 St. Thomas erased a 14-7 deficit in the second quarter with 29 straight points en route to a 43-21 win at Saint John's in front of an announced crowd of 14,286 on Saturday, Sept. 15.
The Tommies have now won three consecutive games against SJU for the first time since 1955-57.
After the Johnnies went three-and-out to open the game, UST's Matt O'Connell hit Dan Noehring for a 33-yard touchdown pass on the Tommies' first play from scrimmage.
The Johnnies dominated the rest of the opening quarter, however, outgaining UST (3-0, 1-0 MIAC) 169-47 with a 10:38-4:16 advantage in time of possession.
SJU (2-1, 0-1 MIAC) tied it at 7-7 on a 31-yard touchdown pass from junior Connor Bruns (Baltimore, Md./Loyola Blakefield) to senior Max Forster (Minnetonka, Minn./Hopkins) with 5:29 left in the first quarter. Bruns ducked past a UST defender and threw a jump ball to the 6-foot-3 Forster for the score. The touchdown capped a five-play, 80-yard drive.
On the defensive side of the ball, three plays later, Forster intercepted O'Connell on another jump ball on the SJU 18. The Johnnies, aided by two personal fouls (three total in the first quarter alone) called on UST, went 82 yards on 12 plays, ending on a one-yard touchdown plunge from Bruns. Senior Jimmie Mattson's (Eau Claire, Wis./Memorial) extra point gave the home team a 14-7 lead 43 seconds into the second quarter.
Senior Bobby Fischer (Plymouth, Minn./Osseo) intercepted O'Connell on the ensuing drive, but the Johnnies were forced to punt after three plays.
St. Thomas swung the momentum back in its favor with an 80-yard, 11-play scoring drive that ended on a one-yard touchdown run from Ryan Toney. The holder on the ensuing point-after attempt, Dan Ferrazzo, ran in the fake for two points, giving UST a 15-14 lead.
The Johnnies covered 20 yards on their next drive, down to the UST 40, and intended to go for a fourth-and-1 before a false-start penalty forced a punt. SJU gained 16 yards to the UST 31 on second down, but were called for holding after senior Stephen Johnson (Mahtomedi, Minn.) chopped a player in the backfield.
The Tommies chipped away for a 10-play, 72-scoring drive that ended on a seven-yard pass from O'Connell to Logan Marks with two seconds left in the first half. The Johnnies dropped a drive-ending interception five plays earlier.
UST took advantage of an interception-and-return down to the SJU two-yard line with a five-yard touchdown run by Toney to increase its lead to 29-14. The Tommies then forced a three-and-out and covered 52 yards on eight plays, ending on a seven-yard touchdown run by Toney, his third score of the game. The extra point made it 36-14 with 2:50 left in the third quarter. A generous spot on a fourth-and-one attempt extended the drive on the SJU 43-yard line. Toney ended the day with 50 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries (2.8 avg.).
SJU was forced to punt after three plays once again, but Fischer's second interception of the day three snaps later gave the Johnnies a first-and-10 on the UST 17. Bruns hit senior Taylor Freetly (Kerhoven, Minn./Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg) for a 17-yard strike on the first play to cut the deficit to 36-21.
Despite the optimistic end to the third quarter, SJU missed out on a number of opportunities in the fourth. The Johnnies were forced to punt on their first drive of the fourth quarter, and then threw interceptions on each of their last three drives. The first was intercepted by Tyler Erstad on the UST 15 and returned 84 yards to the one-yard line. Willie Schneider took it over from one-yard out on the next play to end the scoring for both teams at 43-21. The final two interceptions both occurred in the end zone.
Bruns tallied his first 300-yard passing game, ending the day 24 of 46 for 316 yards with two touchdowns and four interceptions. Freshman Josh Bungum (Paynesville, Minn.) recorded his first 100-yard receiving game with 105 yards on nine catches. Freetly added 89 yards and a touchdown on seven catches, while Forster posted 53 yards and a touchdown on three grabs. The Johnnies gained only 24 yards on 24 carries. Forster also added five tackles (three solo) with an interception and pass breakup on the afternoon.
Senior Taylor Dammermann (Spicer, Minn./New London-Spicer) once again led the Johnnies' defense with 14 tackles (nine solo).
O'Donnell finished 16 of 31 passing for 218 yards. He threw two touchdowns and three interceptions, while leading the team with 56 yards on 12 carries. Marks, his favorite target, finished the day with six catches for 70 yards and a touchdown.
The Tommies were whistled for 12 penalties (for 101 yards), including five personal fouls. First downs were even at 20 apiece and UST out-gained the Johnnies 405-340.
SJU travels to face Concordia (3-0, 1-0 MIAC) for a 1 p.m. kickoff next Saturday, Sept. 22, at Jake Christiansen Stadium in Moorhead.
Notes: The game was John Gagliardi's 600th as head coach of the Johnnies…the announced crowd of 14,286 is the second-largest in school history, second only to 2010's crowd of 16,421 against UST.
