St. Thomas lines up for the National Anthem before kickoff. The Tommies took on Hamline Saturday afternoon in St. Paul. (Carlee Hackl/TommieMedia)
St. Thomas defensive linemen Micah Hausman and Anthony King-Foreman take down Hamline quarterback Justice Spriggs with help from St. Thomas defensive back Jack Dwyer. Saturday’s halftime score was 43-20 with the Tommies in the lead. (Carlee Hackl/TommieMedia)
The St. Thomas Dance Team engages the crowd during Saturday’s game. The Tommies will play Bethel University next, on Saturday, October 29. (Carlee Hackl/TommieMedia)
St. Thomas offensive lineman Michael Greene and Hamline offensive lineman Brandon Ferns follow the ball during Saturday’s game. (Carlee Hackl/TommieMedia)
Tommies talk in between plays from the sidelines. St. Thomas is undefeated this season and is 7-0 overall. (Carlee Hackl/TommieMedia)
Hamline quarterback Justice Spriggs winds up for a pass. Spriggs made one touchdown for Hamline Saturday afternoon. (Carlee Hackl/TommieMedia)
Linebacker Jesse Addo and defensive back Chris Pierson embrace one another after a play. (Carlee Hackl/TommieMedia)
Hamline wide receiver Naji El-Araby carries the ball. St. Thomas defeated Hamline 71-20 Saturday afternoon in St. Paul. (Carlee Hackl/TommieMedia)
Running back Tucker Trettel rushed for 189 yards on 18 carries for three touchdowns to lead the fourth-ranked St. Thomas football team to a strapping 71-20 victory over Hamline on Saturday at O’Shaughnessy Stadium.
MIAC STANDINGS
| St. Thomas | 5-0 | 7-0 |
| St. John’s | 5-1 | 7-1 |
| Concordia | 4-1 | 5-2 |
| Bethel | 2-2 | 2-4 |
| Hamline | 2-3 | 4-3 |
| Augsburg | 2-4 | 2-6 |
| Gustavus | 1-4 | 3-4 |
| St. Olaf | 1-4 | 2-5 |
| Carleton | 1-5 | 1-7 |
SATURDAY’S SCORES
- St. Thomas 71, Hamline 20
- Concordia 43, Augsburg 15
- St. John’s 56, Gustavus 10
- St. Olaf 32, Carleton 25
GAMES OCT. 15
- Concordia 34, Hamline 14
- St. John’s 62, Carleton 0
- Bethel 32, Gustavus 17
- Augsburg 27, St. Olaf 9
NEXT WEEK
- St. Thomas at Bethel
- Carleton at Concordia
- Gustavus at St. Olaf
- Augsburg at Hamline
Trettel scored the game’s first touchdown with a 5-yard run and added another 53-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter. His final score was a 12-yard run in the third quarter. He recorded more than 100 of his 189 rushing yards in the first half.
Coach Glenn Caruso was happy with Trettel’s performance.
“He had a lot of nice little stalwart chunk runs … which were important for us to keep the chains moving,” Caruso said. “He did a great job in his one-on-one matchups when he got to the edge.”
Trettel believes his success came from his teammates.
“I mean, it’s really easy to run behind the people that I have in front of me, and so I just was thinking the whole time that they were going to do their job and make mine a lot easier,” he said.
The game marked the 600th all-time victory for St. Thomas and the 100th coaching victory for Glenn Caruso at St. Thomas and Macalester.
“I know that no one would highlight 100 wins simply as a single person … I think it’s probably more of a function of this school’s commitment to athletics and to doing things right.”
St. Thomas has played the second most college football games and has the second most wins in the state behind the University of Minnesota.
“Longevity is a big deal to me, and anybody can do something for a short period of time and be good at it. But if you really want to be great, you have to sustain that over a long time,” Caruso said. “I think it speaks to how long football has been important around here.”
After Trettel scored with 12:21 to go in the first quarter, a 15-yard St. Thomas penalty set up Hamline’s Naji El-Araby for a 3-yard rushing touchdown that left the Pipers down by one with 5:17 left in the first quarter. St. Thomas responded with Trettel’s 53-yard touchdown run for a 14-6 lead with 3:53 to play in the first.
Alex Fenske threw one of his three touchdown passes 5 yards to Jackson Hull for a 22-6 St. Thomas lead with 3:22 on the clock, but Hamline shocked the home crowd with two consecutive scores that cut the lead to 22-20,
El-Araby scored on a 4 yard run, and the Pipers added a 2-point conversion to make it 22-14.
MIAC passing leader Justice Spriggs then hit Nick Kampa with an 18-yard touchdown pass to make it 22-20 with 8:13 to play in the first half.
From there on, it was all St Thomas.
Tight end Jackson Hull plowed through the Piper defense for two touchdowns, while running backs Josh Parks, Emitt Peisert and Stephen Wagner, wide receiver Nick Waldvogel and defensive back Chris Fondakowski each scored a touchdown. Fondakowski’s score came off of a 46-yard pick-six in the first half.
St. Thomas (7-0) will play Bethel next Saturday at Royal Stadium.
Carolyn Meyer can be reached at cameyer@stthomas.edu.