It is sad to say this, but 2:19 into Saturday’s game between St. Thomas and Carleton, the game was over. That seems absolutely unfathomable to consider, but the reality is that after the Tommies scored their first touchdown of the game, it was only going to get worse from there. How much worse? 83 points worse. Yes, the Tommies would roll up 83 points on their way to an 83-7 win over the Knights of Carleton.

A series breakdown of the game is completely unnecessary. When St. Thomas QB John Gould hit Charlie Dowdle for a 25-yard touchdown pass the game was already over, for all intents and purposes. It was going to be just one of those days for the Knights

The Tommies had the ball for 17 possessions. They scored touchdowns on 13 of them, the half ended two drives, they missed a field goal, and turned the ball over on downs once. That is an impressive day by any standards.

The first seven possessions for St. Thomas all resulted in touchdowns. Gould had three touchdown passes before the first quarter ended, and Nick Waldvogel and Brenton Braddock each had two rushing touchdowns by the half.

On defense the Tommies were crushing the Knights at every turn. On their seven possessions, Carleton managed only one drive of more than three plays and that ended on a fumble at the St. Thomas one-yard line. Three of their drives ended in minus yards and they committed two turnovers. At the half Carleton had just 96 yards of offense to St. Thomas’ 355.

In the second half it didn’t get much better. The Tommies added five more scoring plays for touchdowns. Matt O’Connell took over for Gould and scored from one-yard out for St. Thomas’ first touchdown of the half. Thomas O’Neil had a touchdown pass and ran one in for a score for the Tommies, and Tanner Bedard had two rushing touchdowns in the half.

Zach Creighton had the lone score for Carleton on a 13-yard run. For the day the Knights QB finished 9-25 for 74 yards and had 13 carries for 22 yards and a touchdown.

For the visiting Tommies it was a huge day for many of their players, and the team as a whole. They racked up 621 total yards of offense on 74 plays to the Knights 137 total yards. 356 of that came on the ground, led by Jack Kaiser, who had 7-carries for 71-yards and a score, and Waldvogel, who finished with 70-yards on just 4-carries. He also had a touchdown. Braddock had 11 carries for 60 yards and two touchdowns, and Bedard had 8-carries for 51-yards and two scores of his own.

In the air Gould was almost perfect in his one half of work. He finished with 176 yards on 12-14 passing with three scores. He also had 4-carries for 31-yards. O’Neal was 3-4 for 62 yards and a touchdown, and he added a rushing touchdown on five carries for 35-yards. O’Connell was 4-9 passing for 27 yards, but added 42 yards on the ground and a score.

Eleven different Tommies receivers caught passes. Tanner Vik was the leader with 66 yards and a score. Ryan Bradley and Charlie Dowdle also had touchdown receptions.

On defense St. Thomas forced five fumbles, recovering four, and had two sacks. The longest play of the day for Carleton was a 13-yard run by Zach Creighton in the fourth quarter, and the Knights had only three plays that went at least 10-yards on the afternoon.

Carleton (1-8) will travel to Hamline next week to close out the season. The St. Thomas Tommies (7-2) will welcome Gustavus Adolphus to St. Paul in the Minor League Sports Report MIAC Featured Game of the Week. St. Thomas will be looking for their eighth win in hopes of still making the Division-III playoffs.

By Robert Pannier