After quarterback Matt O’Connell was taken off the field on a stretcher with a lower leg/ankle injury midway through the second quarter, the No. 6-ranked St. Thomas football team defeated Gustavus Adolphus College 20-12 Saturday at Hollingsworth Field.

O’Connell couldn’t confirm the type or extent of his injury, but said he plans to have it looked at again Saturday night. Coach Glenn Caruso said he is happy with how his team made the most out of a tough situation.

“(O’Connell) is a phenomenal person and an amazing leader. Your heart really goes out for anyone who gets hurt,” Caruso said. “But I will tell you, our team really came together pretty closely today.”

Before his injury, O’Connell rushed for a 1-yard touchdown with 48 seconds left in the first quarter to put the Tommies (4-1, 2-1) on the board first, 7-0.

Gustie quarterback Mitch Hendricks responded with a 2-yard rushing touchdown with 10:30 left in the second quarter, but Gustavus (3-2, 2-2) missed the extra point. Defensive back Sean Hamlin said the defense played aggressively all game.

“We just played fast and furious today, and we’ve been talking about swarm tackles,” Hamlin said. “Today was a big step for the defense; we played really well.”

Fenske connected on a 19-yard pass with wide receiver Nick Waldvogel for his first collegiate receiving touchdown to put the Tommies up 13-6 with 9:03 left in the third quarter, but the Tommies failed on a two-point conversion. Caruso said the team played with a lot of energy and effort.

“We talked to (the team) at halftime that we don’t need perfect, we don’t need pretty,” Caruso said. “We need worthy and productive, and we got that in the second half.”

Hendricks found wide receiver Jake Douglas wide open for a 22-yard touchdown pass with 12:43 left in the fourth quarter, but Hamlin blocked the extra point to keep the Tommies ahead 13-12.

After a Gustie defender deflected a Fenske pass, wide receiver Cole Kelly snagged the loose ball for an 11-yard touchdown to put the Tommies ahead 20-12 with 5:48 remaining in the game. Fenske said he tried to step up and do the best he could.

“The line was protecting well and the receivers were making good cuts on their routes, so it’s pretty easy for my job,” Fenske said. “Like coach said, we’re gonna look back on this and say it was a really pivotal point in our season, coming around with all the adversity that we went through this game, to come through and step up.”

The Tommies held the Gusties to 170 yards offensively, and only allowed 20 yards on the ground. Caruso said this was a huge win for the Tommies.

“For where we are right now, a gritty win is probably as much as we possibly could of asked for,” Caruso said. “Last week was different; it was a nice clean win. A lot of fancy numbers and statistics and all that, but for us and where we want to go, finding a way to win a tough one was big.”

The Tommies improved their conference road win streak to 15 games.

St. Thomas will travel up the road to Arden Hills next week for a battle with No. 5-ranked Bethel University at 1 p.m.

Kyle Jonas can be reached at jona7984@stthomas.edu.