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 on the opening drive and ended the game early in the game, thwarting Tech’s bid for an upset against their Division 1 foe on the road.
“First of all, I want to tip my hat to St. Thomas for going out and playing a basic, healthy game of football and doing well,” head coach Steve Olson said. “When we look at what we need to do better, we go back and watch film, but there were plays that St. Thomas made that jumped the ball and we didn’t. There was also a block. It just can’t be that. Then they had a fake field goal on us in the fourth quarter, so we’re going to come out of it and try to improve.” We will continue to work hard.
The Huskies fell to 1-1 after a home win over Wisconsin-Platteville in Week 1. The team will fly to Midwest State (Texas) next Saturday for an 8 pm EST kickoff. St. Thomas improved to 1-1 after falling on the road to Southern Utah last week.
St. Thomas frustrated Michigan Tech’s offense and the Huskies put up 97 total yards on the ground with a 53-yard pass to the net, using Will Tark and Steele’s fort 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 had an interception to start the second quarter, but when the ensuing drive stalled at the 36-yard line, Ryan Seaver blocked Brendan Lack’s punt and Tommy Stocks 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 added 6 more when Colby Gartner connected on a fake field goal from 11 yards out. Score to 32-3.
Drew Weible connected on two field goals for Michigan Tech, including a 40-yard attempt late in the fourth quarter. In last fall’s season opener, the Tommies moved to 2-0 against MTU after defeating the Huskies 12-9 at Houghton.
Mark Sippel posted a team-high 12 tackles for the second straight week with two quarterback hurries. Hunter Buchel, Travis Ojala and Benjamin Marion each had seven tackles.
