Tommies Blog: Linfield Stands Between St. Thomas, Title Game
The No. 4-ranked St. Thomas football team is one victory away from playing for a national championship. And they get the chance to earn that right on their home field Saturday.
The Tommies have relied on a dominant defense all season on the way to a 13-0 record and home field in the Division III Playoffs. Last week, they limited a Wabash offense that averaged 41 points per game to seven points. Those points came with St. Thomas already leading 38-0 in the fourth quarter and after a St. Thomas fumble with mostly reserves in.
St. Thomas limited Mason Zurek, one of the tougher running backs in the country, to 72 yards on 21 carries and the Little Giants' lone score. Wabash managed just 226 yards of total offense on the day.
"I thought our team was mentally tough before we hit these last three games," coach Glenn Caruso said of his team's playoff run so far. "But they've brought it to a whole new level. They can go toe-to-toe with any team in the country as far as toughness, physical and mental."
Meanwhile, Caruso did just enough to keep the Wabash defense on its heels as the Tommies got out to a 17-0 lead and managed 384 yards of total offense in the victory.
Special teams was the difference in the victory for St. Thomas. Nick Waldvogel returned a punt 48 yards for a touchdown to put the Tommies on the board.
But the game swung in the third quarter. Charlie Dowdle took a fake punt and ran it 18 yards for a touchdown, his second of the day, to give St. Thomas a 24-0 lead in the third quarter. Caruso then called an onside kick, which the Tommies recovered, and scored on a Jordan Roberts 1-yard run for a 31-0 lead.
They were risks, but they were calculated. Caruso knew he could take a few chances with the way his defense was playing.
"I know a lot of people say they're risky. Good football is good football, I don't believe that there's trick plays," Caruso said. "If there's leverage points and opportunities that we can take advantage of, we do that. That's why we are who we are. Honestly, that fake field goal was the play of the game offensively."
He'll need that defense to rise to the challenge once again this weekend. St. Thomas hosts No. 2-ranked Linfield College (Oregon) with a trip to the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl on the line. The Tommies, despite being ranked lower, get the home game by virtue of their No. 1 ranking in the West Region.
Linfield advanced to the semifinals with a late field goal to beat Mary-Hardin Baylor 38-35. The Tommies and Wildcats square off at 2:30 p.m. in St. Paul. In the other semifinal, Mount Union will face UW-Whitewater at 11 a.m.
The Wildcats feature one of the premiere offenses in the country, especially in the passing game. It will be by far the biggest test of the season for St. Thomas, which is allowing just 133 passing yards per game on average. By contrast, Linfield averages nearly 500 yards per game on offense and scores about 50 points. The Wildcats are passing for nearly 300 yards per game on average, but their quarterback situation for Saturday remains in question.
Sam Riddle has played most of the season, but has been out with an ankle injury since the first half of Linfield's second round victory. Last week, back-up Tom Knecht had 38 completions for 492 yards and five touchdowns in the win over Mary-Hardin Baylor. His favorite targets were Johnny Carroll and Brian Balsinger. Carroll had 10 catches for 140 yards and two touchdowns. Balsinger had seven catches for 150 yards and two scores.
That prolific passing attack is also helped out by a solid run game. Spencer Payne leads the rushing attack at about 89.5 yards per game and has eight touchdowns on the season. Last week, he was limited to 37 yards on 13 carries, but did have nine catches for 58 yards.
Regardless of who the quarterback is, St. Thomas will need to create pressure up front to disrupt the Wildcats' passing attack.
Linfield is also strong defensively. The Wildcats only allow about 10 points per game and 219 yards in total offense. That includes about 78 yards rushing, which will give St. Thomas a test between Jordan Roberts and Jack Kaiser. St. Thomas ran for 133 yards against Wabash, which was allowing similar numbers to Linfield coming in.
Jake Reimer is the Wildcats' top tackler with 59 on the season, including 43 solo tackles and six sacks. Alex Hoff has had a big season for Linfield with 49 tackles and 15 sacks. The Linfield defense on the season has 55 sacks and 135 tackles for a loss.
The formula for St. Thomas should be simple, if it can be executed: Run the ball and use long drives on offense to keep the Linfield offense on the sideline. The Tommies have won the line of scrimmage all season, and they'll need their best effort on both sides of the ball to beat Linfield Saturday.
This year's St. Thomas team has already been compared to the 2012 program that got to the national championship game before losing to Mount Union. This year's team is better in that it has been healthy most of the season and it is deeper in talent if there are key injuries. Roberts, Kaiser and Ryan Bradley all suffered injuries at some point in last Saturday's win. Caruso said after the game all three will be fine, will play this week and could've returned if they were needed.
Tune into Newsradio 830 WCCO AM as kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. Dave Lee will have the play-by-play and Eric Nelson will provide color commentary along with Fritz Waldvogel from the sidelines.