NORTHFIELD, Minn. – Three St. Olaf turnovers and a relentless running game helped quarterback Matt O’Connell and the St. Thomas offense put up 34 points in the second quarter and lead the No. 24-ranked Tommie football team to a 69-7 win over the Oles on a blustery Saturday in Northfield.

O’Connell began the game with six straight completions and the offense had more than 400 yards of total offense in the first half, while the defense held St. Olaf’s offense scoreless. Coach Glenn Caruso said the final score and victory were impressive but added that he was happier with the team’s effort.

“Well the victory, it means a good chunk,” Caruso said. “But it doesn’t mean nearly as much as the effort and the energy and the passion with which we played.”

The Tommies got on the scoreboard first after receiving the opening kickoff and marching down the field in less than four minutes for a touchdown. O’Connell completed all three of his passing attempts on the drive, and running back Jack Kaiser capped it off with a 3-yard touchdown run.

St. Olaf responded to the St. Thomas scoring drive quickly. After a long kick return and a roughing-the-passer penalty, St. Olaf made its way into St. Thomas territory just seconds after the Tommie touchdown. However, the drive stalled inside the red zone and St. Olaf was forced to attempt a field goal. St. Olaf kicker Ezra Coughlin’s attempt hit the right upright, keeping the score at 7-0 in favor of St. Thomas.

After the missed field goal, St. Thomas again marched down the field for its second touchdown of the game. Running back Brenton Braddock carried five times for 41 yards before finally punching it in with a 3-yard touchdown run. Kicker Paul Graupner added the extra point to make it a 14-0 Tommie lead.

To start the second quarter, St. Thomas scored its third touchdown when running back Nick Waldvogel ran into the end zone from 2 yards out. This possession started a 34-point second quarter for the Tommies to put the game out of reach early.

With 8:15 remaining in the first half, Braddock scored his second touchdown of the game on a 3-yard carry, and – after an interception from St. Thomas linebacker Matthew Larson – Waldvogel scored just a minute later on a 22-yard run, giving the Tommies a 34-0 lead.

After another St. Olaf turnover on the ensuing drive, O’Connell threw to tight end Charlie Dowdle over the middle for an 11-yard touchdown – the Tommies’ third in less than four minutes – to give St. Thomas a 41-0 lead.

After a slow start in the passing game last week, O’Connell and the Tommies had success through the air this week, but Dowdle said opponents may be wary of that moving forward.

“Teams will be looking for it a lot more,” Dowdle said. “Just going to have to work harder to keep getting better and keep having the same success.”

O’Connell added his second passing touchdown just before halftime on a 17-yard toss to Dowdle. The drive started with 2:15 remaining in the half, and O’Connell led St. Thomas’ two-minute drill down the field to score with 17 seconds left and give the Tommies a 48-0 halftime lead.

Dowdle caught six passes for 109 yards and two touchdowns before exiting the game at halftime. He became the first St. Thomas tight end to surpass 100 yards in a game in Caruso’s tenure but said the milestone wasn’t as important as the game itself.

“I wasn’t really aware of it. We don’t really talk about too much stuff like that,” Dowdle said. “It’s cool obviously, but I’m way more happy with the outcome of the score and how we played.”

O’Connell went 19 for 22 passing with 248 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, while the St. Thomas rushing attack put up 163 yards and scored five touchdowns on the ground before halftime.

Caruso was pleased with the first-team offense and said that O’Connell looked sharp in his reads and throws.

“We had some good calls, but even when they weren’t great, Matt did a good job of finding the secondary receiver,” Caruso said. “He got the ball out quickly, which was important.”

St. Thomas started fast again in the second half when O’Connell finished off a scoring drive with a 9-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Joe Reed just 2:27 into the third quarter to give the Tommies a 55-0 lead.

St. Thomas played the majority of the second half with its second-team offense and defense. On the last play of the third quarter, backup quarterback John Gould completed a touchdown pass to Waldvogel to put St. Thomas up 62-0.

With 12 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, freshman quarterback Thomas O’Neil came in for his first drive as a Tommie. O’Neil led the offense on a long possession before ending the drive with a 1-yard sneak for a touchdown to put the Tommies up 69-0.

More than 10 different players caught passes from the trio of Tommie quarterbacks, and Caruso said it speaks to the team’s depth compared to past seasons.

“I think right now we have a lot of really good players … whether they’re a one or two or three, when given the opportunity, (they) are making the most of their opportunity,” Caruso said.

St. Olaf finally broke the shutout with 2:24 remaining in the game when Ole defensive lineman John Bennett scooped up an O’Neil fumble and returned it 36 yards for a touchdown. Bennett’s defensive touchdown was the final scoring play of the game as St. Thomas defeated St. Olaf 69-7, the Tommies’ largest margin of victory in Caruso’s tenure as head coach.

Lopsided victory aside, Larson said the team will use this game as a starting point to get back on track.

“It’s a good start. We’ve got to start from the ground up after last week,” Larson said. “Now it just starts from here, we’ve got to keep getting better and better every week.”

St. Thomas will take on Augsburg College in its own Homecoming matchup Saturday afternoon at O’Shaughnessy Stadium.

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