ST. PAUL, Minn. – St. Thomas used a balanced offense and a steady defense to defeat Michigan Tech football 32-6 in a conference game Saturday afternoon at O’Shaughnessy Stadium. Early in the game, the Tommies scored their opening possession and blocked a point early in the game, giving Tech hopes of an upset over their Division 1 rival on the road.
“First of all, I want to take my hat off to St. Thomas for going out and playing a basic, healthy game of football and getting a good result.” Michigan Tech head coach Steve Olsen said. “In terms of what we had to do better, we go back and watch the film, but there were plays that St. Thomas made and missed ball situations that we didn’t make. We had a dead end that just couldn’t happen. Then in the fourth quarter, they were on us with a fake field goal, so we’re going to work hard to improve from that.
The Huskies fell to 1-1 after a home win over Wisconsin-Platteville in Week 1. The team will fly to Midwest State, Texas, on Saturday at 8 p.m. It was the first win for St. Thomas (1-1) since last week’s loss to Southern Utah.
St. Thomas frustrated Michigan Tech’s offense and the Huskies put up 97 total yards on the ground with a 53-yard touchdown pass to the net, using the strength of Will Tark and Steele at quarterback. UST notched 16 quarterback hurries and 3.0 sacks.
Sean Shipman, on the other hand, was effective running back for St. Thomas, rushing 23 times for 211 yards. The Tommy tailbacks finished with 231 yards, while senior quarterback Cade Sexauer completed 8 of 17 passes for 91 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
The Huskies answered Shipman’s first touchdown of the afternoon with a 13-play, 57-yard drive that resulted in a Drew Weible field goal at 12:29 of the opening quarter. Sam Ahern caught an interception to start the second quarter, but when the ensuing drive stalled at the 36-yard line, Ryan Seaver blocked Brendon Lack’s punt and Tommy Shears returned it in the end zone for a 13-3 UST advantage.
The Tommies posted a score 20 seconds into the quarter to take a 26-3 halftime lead, then went on to score by six when Colby Gartner hit an 11-yard fake field goal to cap a 7-play, 40-yard drive that brought the score to 32-3.
Drew Weible connected on two field goals for Michigan Tech, including a 40-yard attempt late in the fourth quarter. The Tommies improved to 2-0 all-time against MTU after defeating the Huskies 12-9 in Houghton in the season opener last fall.
Mark Sippel posted a team-high 12 tackles for the second straight week with two quarterback hurries. Hunter Beuchel, Travis Ojala and Benjamin Marion each had seven tackles.
