When the St. Thomas athletic department conducted a nationwide search for a coach to take their struggling football program in a new direction, they didn’t have to look very far. In January the Tommies introduced the former head coach of neighboring Macalester, Glen Caruso, to the Tommie faithful. Optimism was running high around St. Thomas, as Caruso wasted no time by luring recruits away from St. John’s and other MIAC schools with his enthusiasm and vision of what Tommie football will be under his leadership. The usually apathetic Tommie student body was finally energized about the Tommie football team with their youthful and charismatic coach Caruso. I mean, why wouldn’t a high school recruit want to go to St.Thomas, especially if the recruit is from the Twin Cities area? St. Thomas has a wonderful campus, graduate programs in many fields, alumni and other donors who are falling over one another to gift millions of dollars to the university in exchange for their name on a building. In terms of connecting with a high school aged student-athletes Caruso is the perfect fit at just 34 years old he even has his own blog, which (according to the UST game day program) features a photo slide show on Mondays after all home football games, check it out on www.Tommiesports.com I’m willing to go out on a limb to say that Coach Caruso is also well versed in text messaging, yet another reason for a high school recruit to enroll at St. Thomas. “? 4U PLZ COM 2 UST W/ PEEPS 4 F2F”- translation for most people over 40 years old, “I have a question for you. Would you please come to the University of St. Thomas with your parents (people) for a face-to-face official campus visit and to meet with the football staff?” There is no doubt that St. Thomas is a team on the rise in the MIAC, yet for the 11th consecutive year the Johnnies defeat the Tommies. This time the score was 12-9; the game was in St. Paul on the campus of the University of St. Thomas spoiling the debut of coach Caruso against the legend, John Gagliardi.
The Johnnies and their starting QB Jordan Hansel began very sluggishly, Hansel was 4 of 8 passing for 12 yards and 2 interceptions in the 1st QTR, before being relieved by Joe Boyle. Hansel’s first interception was the result of a tipped ball that ended up in the hands of UST linebacker Tommy Becker. The Tommies wasted little time in converting this turnover into a touchdown and the Tommies led 7-0.
The defense once again led the way and saved the day for the Johnnies and the Johnnie Nation. Ryan Wimmer was again the leading tackler for the Johnnies with 10 followed by Derek Stifter with 7 tackles. Stifter also broke up a UST pass play in the end zone in the closing seconds of the 1st half. The biggest stop of the day for the Johnnie defense came with 20 seconds remaining in the game as Johnnie defensive lineman Kyle Schroeder pounced on a Tommie fumble inside the Johnnie 1-yard line, sealing the victory for the Johnnies.
The Johnnie offense was energized and responded immediately on the entrance of Joe Boyle at QB in the 2nd Qtr. The offensive line took charge and Jakob Reding, back form an ankle injury, took advantage of some pretty impressive holes in the UST defense taking back to back hand-offs from Boyle and converting them into runs of 14 and 27 yards, the second run for a touchdown. Once again the Johnnies PAT unit had a poor snap, resulting in a block of Russell Glaidon kick of the extra point, the Tommies led 7-6 going into half time.
In the 3rd QTR the Johnnies had a very nice, time-consuming drive of 17 plays for 81 yard resulting in a 1-yard touchdown run by Joe Boyle, which put the Johnnies out front to stay at 12-7. The Johnnies attempted a 2-point conversion after the touchdown and were unsuccessful.
The final score for the day occurred when St. John’s, faced with punting into the wind from their own end zone, elected to have punter Russell Glaidon step out the back of the end zone to avoid any chance of the Tommies blocking the punt and scoring a touchdown. Despite the second-guessing by many fans in the stands, once again John Gagliardi’s knowledge and wisdom prove correct.
Offensively the Johnnies leading rushers were Jakob Reding with 94 yards, Jeff Schnobrich with 36 yards and Joe Boyle with 21 yards. The leading receivers on the day for the Johnnies where Ben Vanderheyden with 3 receptions for a total of 22 yards and Brett Saladin who had 2 receptions for a total of 15 yards.
Once again the Johnnies find a way to defeat the Tommies. This game reminded me a little bit of the 2003 game, where the Johnnies were favored yet they needed last minute heroics to seal the victory. This year, the Tommies where the better team on paper and had just come off a big win over Concordia in Moorhead last week and should have made a statement against the Johnnies as to the new look of the MIAC. The Johnnie Nation is not complaining, because a win against the Tommies is always sweet but, with a new coach, a face-lift to their stadium and an optimistic student body this victory over the Tommies in St. Paul was even sweeter.
