St. John’s hoists The Holy Grail after defeating St. Thomas 38-20. The Johnnies outscored the Tommies 25-6 in the second half. (Jacob Schneider/TommieMedia)
EDITOR’S NOTE: Full game story with photo, video, and interviews available here.
Two fourth-quarter touchdowns by St. John’s running back Kai Barber led the Johnnies to a 38-20 victory over the Tommies Saturday at Allianz Field in St. Paul.
The No. 11 Tommies drove deep into Johnnies territory trailing 25-20 in the fourth quarter, but they failed to convert on 4th-and-inches at the 6-yard line. The Johnnies then marched down the field and extended their lead to 31-20 on Barber’s second touchdown, a one-yard scamper, with 6:47 remaining.
The Tommies had no answer for Johnnies senior quarterback Jackson Erdmann, who threw for 440 yards on 31 of 46 pass attempts. The former Penn State walk-on also had a monster game last year against the Tommies, throwing for 470 yards in the Johnnies’ 40-20 win.
St. Thomas jumped out to an early lead and held on for a 14-13 halftime advantage.
The Tommies (4-2 overall, 3-1 MIAC) scored the first two touchdowns of the teams’ 89th annual game. The first, on a 6-yard TD reception by Tommie tight end Grant Slavik midway through the first quarter, was sparked by an interception by defensive back Tommy Fuller.
The Tommies continued their offensive surge with running back Josh Parks scoring on a 32-yard run to put the Tommies up 14-0 with 3:23 left in the first quarter. Parks finished the day with 147 yards on 13 carries.
The No. 4 Johnnies (6-0, 5-0) roared back when Erdmann connected with running back Kenneth Udoibok for a 29-yard touchdown with one second in the first quarter.
A 1-yard touchdown run by Johnnie running back Henry Trost closed the gap with 1:36 remaining in the half, but the Johnnies’ extra point attempt was blocked to preserve the Tommies’ razor-thin lead.
The Johnnies scored first coming out of haltime, just two minutes in with a 2-yard touchdown by tight end Tyler Johnson. The Johnnies missed the extra point, making the score 19-14.
On the second play of the Tommies’ ensuing drive, Parks ran 68 yards to score his second touchdown, but a failed two-point conversion by St. Thomas gave the Tommies a one point lead.
The Johnnies scored the final three touchdowns of the game.
St. John’s now leads the all-time series 53-35-1. St. Thomas’ loss will substantially hurt its playoff chances with two losses this year to UW-Eau Claire and St. John’s.
The total attendance of today’s game was 19,508, the second highest attendance in a Division III game.
Carly Noble can be reached at nobl1781@stthomas.edu