Seeking to win its opening playoff game for the fifth time in six seasons, the No. 20-ranked St. Thomas football team travels to Waverly, Iowa, this weekend to face No. 5-ranked Wartburg College in the first round of the NCAA Division-III playoffs.

The Tommies and Knights have never faced one another in their programs’ histories, but coach Glenn Caruso said Wartburg’s 10-0 record (for the fourth time in school history) and eighth Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title under coach Rick Willis speak for themselves.

“You’re not 10-0 unless you do a lot of things well,” Caruso said. “It’s not just that they won 10 games … They play in a really good conference, and they haven’t played a close game yet. There’s not a lot of things that they’re missing at this point.”

Wartburg is led by a tenacious defense that forced 15 turnovers and allowed just over 11 points per game this season.

Linebacker Gunner Tranel and defensive lineman Zach Twedt star for a unit that gave up more than 21 points just once on the year and sacked opponents’ quarterbacks 23 times in 10 games. Tranel was fifth in the IIAC with 97 tackles this season and fourth with 10.5 tackles-for-loss, while Twedt was second in the conference with seven sacks.

But it’s not just Tranel and Twedt leading the defense. The Knights boast impressive depth across the defensive side of the ball. The Knights had 11 different players register a sack and 22 players record a tackle-for-loss this season.

“You can watch film for tons and tons of hours, but it’s tough to find a weakness on their defense,” Caruso said.

Caruso is in his seventh year at St. Thomas and has won 11 playoff games during his tenure. He said he is well-aware of the hard-nosed football game ahead of the Tommies, but he added that prior opponents have prepared the team well.

“It certainly is a challenge, but in many ways, we’ve been well-prepared because we’ve played a couple of staunch defenses in our league,” Caruso said. “It’s not an easy task because not only are they talented, but they are tremendously disciplined, so they are going to make you earn everything you get.”

Stout on defense, Wartburg also features the IIAC’s most dynamic offense this season, averaging just over 488 total yards per game.

Quarterback Logan Schrader leads the Knights’ attack that scored a school-record 453 points this season – four less than St. Thomas’ school record for points in a 10-game season of 457 scored this year. Schrader threw for more than 2,500 yards and 27 touchdowns this season while contributing 326 yards and four touchdowns rushing.

“He reminds me very much of our style of quarterback and has a lot of the leadership qualities you look for. He’s shorter, athletic and a tough kid who’s a good decision maker,” Caruso said. “A lot of people may look at him like they look at (quarterback) John Gould and think, well he’s not 6-foot-4. Who cares? All he does is run a tremendously efficient offense.”

Since taking over as the starting quarterback in Week 8, Gould has led the Tommies to a 3-0 record, including a win over then-ranked Concordia-Moorhead. Gould has remained remarkably efficient this season, completing almost 70 percent of his passes and leading an offense that has committed only three turnovers in the last three games.

“Not turning the ball over is big. It gives the other team less possessions, and it gives our offense a lot of confidence when we go down the field and don’t turn the ball over,” Gould said. “A turnover messes with the rhythm, and it puts our defense out there in a bad spot.”

Gould will be surrounded by talented playmakers when he directs St. Thomas’ offense again on Saturday. Running back Nick Waldvogel and wide receivers Pete Fitzsimmons and Jack Gilliland each recorded more than 280 receiving yards this season, while tight end Cole Kelly snagged three touchdowns.

Gould has weapons to throw to, but if past results are any indication, he will most likely rely on his favorite target.

Tight end Charlie Dowdle led the Tommies with 42 receptions and 581 yards this season, combining with Gould for eight touchdowns on the year.

“I just need to get good releases off the ball and watch a lot of film and know what they’re going to do so when I come up to the line, I can do what’s called in the huddle,” Dowdle said. “On the play calls, luckily I’ve been pretty open. I haven’t had to do too much except catch the ball and run for a little bit.”

A stable group of running backs will join Gould in St. Thomas’ backfield. Jack Kaiser led the Tommies with 654 rushing yards this season, while Waldvogel led the team in rushing touchdowns with nine until Brenton Braddock’s five-touchdown effort against Gustavus gave him 10 on the year. Caruso said the team will take advantage of its depth at the position but added that he will pay attention to who is most effective during the game.

“It’s not necessarily pivotal to stay balanced with three backs. It’s more of having the luxury of having three different styles of running back and which one fits that game,” Caruso said. “When you have a guy that has the hot hand, you usually ride them.”

Members of the St. Thomas defense said the team will need to apply consistent pressure on the quarterback to slow down Wartburg’s offense.

Schrader was only sacked 13 times this season by opponents but was taken down twice, lost two fumbles and threw two interceptions in Wartburg’s 31-14 victory over Bethel earlier this season – the Knights’ closest margin of victory this year. Defensive lineman Ryan Winter said the Tommies will need to get pressure on Schrader to have success but mentioned other defensive responsibilities for the team.

“(We need to) run sound assignments and do what we need to do to stop the run first and beat them up like we do, and then once we do that they’re going to have to pass,” Winter said. “That’s when we beat them up, get them nervous and get them to make mistakes.”

The Tommies face a tall task on Saturday, but Gould said the team can’t let the magnitude of the game affect its play.

“We try to treat it just like any other week and prepare the same way,” Gould said. “It’s a tough opponent, but if we go out and play like we have these past couple weeks, we can get the job done.”

Tom Pitzen can be reached at pitz2014@stthomas.edu.