Two weeks after setting a school record for career touchdowns, Josh Parks scored a personal-best five TDs Saturday to lead St. Thomas to a 57-36 victory over Gustavus Adolphus at O’Shaughnessy Stadium.

Parks’ big day raised his career TD total to 57. The senior running back finished the game with 241 all-purpose yards for the 18th-ranked Tommies (7-2 overall, 6-1 MIAC), who rolled up 552 yards of total offense against the Gusties (6-3, 4-3). He rushed for 130 yards and scored three touchdowns in the first half, including a 44-yard pass from quarterback Tommy Dolan.

After rushing for 184 yards on 26 carries Saturday, Parks is 67 yards away from breaking the Tommies’ all-time career rushing record of 4,076 rushing yards. The Tommies close out the regular season next Saturday at Bethel.

Tommies head coach Glenn Caruso called Parks a “special, special man.”

“He has such a tremendous focus and his endurance and ability to play as long as he has, what an important football player he’s been for this team,” Caruso said. “It’s tough to put into words what a man like that means to our program.”

Parks opened the second half with his fourth touchdown of the game. He scored his fifth TD in the fourth quarter to help seal the Tommies’ victory.

“We’re hitting our stride when we need to, and for me, it’s just another game. I just want to keep playing,” Parks said. “It feels good to score five, but in all reality, the entire offense played a role in that. We came together on offense and just made it happen.”

After falling behind by 21 points in the third quarter, the Gusties closed to within 43-36 early in the fourth. But the Tommies found their stride late and coasted away comfortably with the win.

Gustavus quarterback Michael Veldman threw for 356 yards and four touchdowns, three of them coming in the Gusties’ near-comeback.

“With a quarterback like they have, they knew they were never out,” Caruso said. “I looked at my team and said, ‘Can everyone just please smile? Show me your teeth and smile, relax a bit.’ They ended up making the stops they needed after that.”

The Tommies came up big on defense when it mattered. Defensive back Tommy Fuller sacked Veldman for a crucial 12-yard loss in the third quarter, and defensive back Nick Raddatz blocked a Gustie punt in the fourth that gave the Tommies the ball at the Gustavus 6 that set up another Tommie score.

The Tommies took advantage of those situations and used them for momentum, according to Caruso.

“Anytime you’re put on the six-yard line you’re pretty happy with it,” Caruso said.

The Tommies sealed their win after Dolan found tight end Grant Slavik on a 67 yard touchdown with 2:38 left in fourth quarter to go up 56-37.

“It’s certainly more points than we wanted to allow, but I think we did a wonderful job of answering the adversity,” Caruso said.

Jacob Schneider can be reached at schn6923@stthomas.edu.