NORTHFIELD, Minn. — Senior running back Josh Parks continued his touchdown spree with three scores and No. 19 St. Thomas continued its dominance over St. Olaf, 56-7, Saturday afternoon at Klein Field at Manitou.
With the win and No. 4-ranked St. John’s upset loss to Concordia, 19-18 in overtime, the Tommies are a half-game behind the Johnnies for first place in the MIAC, tied with Bethel. The Tommies have home games remaining against Gustavus and the Royals over the next two Saturdays. The Johnnies have played one more conference game than St. Thomas.
Receiver Gabe Green and backup quarterback Ronnie Jones also scored touchdowns in the first half for the Tommies (6-2 overall, 5-1 MIAC), who were never threatened after their opening drive resulted in a missed field goal. St. Olaf (5-3 overall, 3-3 MIAC) managed only 13 yards of offense in the first quarter and two first downs in the first half.
“To be able to come out right away and assert our dominance was big for us,” Jones said.
Jones has played in six games this year as second-string quarterback to Tommy Dolan, and coach Glenn Caruso planned to play him early in the game because he brings a new energy to the team.
“To be able to have (Jones) go in and give a different dynamic is really awesome,” Caruso said. “But when Tommy came back in I thought he played much better and finished pretty well.”
The Oles scored for the first time against the Tommies in three years. The Tommies had outscored the Oles 157-0 the last two seasons.
“I’m still going to be kept up tonight by their fake punt in the third quarter,” Caruso said. “That helped lead to the field position that gave them their one score.”
Other than that one score, Caruso said he was fairly pleased with how the defense performed, holding the Oles to 53 rushing yards and 86 passing yards.
The Tommies started off Saturday’s game with Parks scoring on a five-yard run and runs of six and one yard in the second quarter.
Tommie fullback Stephen Wagner was carted off the field with a lower leg injury early in the first quarter.
“It was obviously a very difficult injury and it will end (Wagner’s) career,” Caruso said. “Never have I seen a sideline respond to an injury like that where they all went up to give him a hug, and that’s simply because he is the heartbeat. If this team has a heartbeat, it lies in Stephen Wagner.”
Following Wagner’s injury, Jones made some big plays for the Tommies. He completed a 35-yard pass to Green and rushed for an 8-yard touchdown.
Jones described his team’s performance as consistent.
“It’s going to roll us right over into next week,” Jones said. “We have to keep growing, keep getting better and keep focusing on making ourselves the best versions of ourselves.”
A mistake in coverage by the Oles led to the Tommies first score of the second quarter. A wide open 5-yard touchdown pass from Dolan to Green made the score 22-0.
Dolan also threw a 59-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Vinny Pallini, making the score 43-0.
(Samantha HoangLong/TommieMedia)
St. Olaf scored its only touchdown of the game off a 12-yard run from quarterback Lars Prestemon in the third quarter.
(Samantha HoangLong/TommieMedia)
Jones came out in the fourth quarter after running 24 yards to score his second touchdown of the game.
Tommie running back Nick Rice rushed for a 25-yard touchdown, capping off the win.
(Samantha HoangLong/TommieMedia)
The Tommies return home for the last two games of the regular season.
“I think we kind of forget what it’s like to play at home,” Caruso said. “It will feel good to get back home next week, and next week is Hall of Fame week.”
The St. Thomas football program will honor two former players inducted into the Tommie Hall of Fame, Fritz Waldogel ‘11 and Ryan Collins ‘98.
St. Thomas takes on Gustavus with kickoff at 1:10 p.m Saturday at O’Shaughnessy Stadium.
Carly Noble can be reached at nobl1781@stthomas.edu.