Box Score

The St. Thomas football team took advantage of Falcon mistakes to get a 45-22 win over UWRF on Saturday at Ramer Field.

St. Thomas, ranked No. 4 in last week's d3Football.com poll, ruined Falcon Head Coach Matt Walker's coaching debut.

The Falcons were limited to just three first half points, but came back in the second half to score 19 points. St. Thomas held a 17-3 lead at the half and then added two touchdowns in both the third and fourth quarters.

UWRF won the toss and took the opening kickoff down the field in business-like fashion against a strong Tommie defense. The Falcons drove 72 yards and took 9:12 off the clock in the drive that had 19 plays. The drive stalled at the UST five and from there Chad Blair (Oakdale, MN, Tartan) kicked a 23-yard field goal to give UWRF a 3-0 lead. The Falcons used 13 running plays in the drive. The Falcons converted on a fourth-and-one at the UST 36 when Joel Yogerst (Richfield, WI, Slinger) ran two yards up the middle.

UST responded scoring the next 31 points. The first touchdown came on a nine play, 76 yard drive then ended when running back Colin Tobin scored from 3 yards out. Tobin finished with 121 rushing yards and the score was his first of four on the day.

The next UST points came after a fumbled lateral by the Falcons. UST took over at the UWRF 14. The Falcon defense did a great job of keeping the Tommies out of the end zone however. UST had to settle for a Tim Albright 36-yard field goal.

Midway through the second quarter the Falcon offense was stopped and in punt formation, the snap went over the punter's head. UST took over at the UWRF 18 and two plays later Tobin went 13-yards untouched up the middle for the score to make it a 17-3 game.

"We put our defense in some tough positions in the first half," said Falcon Coach Matt Walker after the game. "We made some mistakes in the game, but they are correctable. I thought we kept our poise and had a good effort."

UST took the opening second half kickoff and Kyle Whitley returned it 81 yards to the Falcon three. Tobin scored his third touchdown of the game to give UST a 24-3 lead.

The Falcons went three and out on their next possession and UST took control at its 27. Tobin took a handoff and cut left and went 73 yards to pay dirt to make it a 31-3 game early in the third quarter.

UWRF got back to within 31-9 later in the third quarter. A big play led to the Falcon score. Nate Brandt (Lakefield, MN, Jackson County Central) caught a B.J. Letourneau (Falcon Heights, MN, Roseville) pass over the middle and outran three UST defenders to the goal line. The point after was blocked and UST led 31-9.

The teams combined for 27 points in a wild fourth quarter.

The Falcons got to within 31-15 when Letourneau scrambled 5-yards to pay dirt to cap an eight play, 47-yard drive. UST then scored when Dakota Tracy ran 1-yard with 9:14 to play in the game.The Tommies scored again with 4:49 to go when backup quarterback, Matt O'Connell, ran 10 yards to make it a 45-15 game.

The Falcon offense put together another long drive to score the final points of the game. Brandt caught a 4-yard pass from Letourneau with 36 seconds to play. The drive took 4:11 and covered 75 yards in 18 plays.

Letourneau finished 26-43 passing for 253 yards and two scores. Brandt led all receivers with 11 catches for 136 yards and two touchdowns. Both were career highs for the players.

Matt Ainsworth (Maple Grove, MN, Osseo) led the Falcons with six solo and 10 total tackles. Jake Mandoza (New Brighton, MN, Irondale) led UWRF with two tackles for loss. Emmanuel Udeh (Bloomington, MN, Kennedy) had a sack.

The Falcons will next play at Trine University on Saturday with action starting at 1 p.m. (ET).

Box Score