Tommies Blog: No. 4 St. Thomas Hosts La Verne (CA) Saturday In Playoffs
The No. 4-ranked St. Thomas football team ended its regular season Saturday with another dominating victory to finish a perfect 10-0.
The Tommies collected 715 yards of total offense, nearly 400 rushing, in a 66-9 rout of Gustavus in St. Peter. The victory gave St. Thomas the MIAC title outright and assured them of a least one home game in the NCAA Division III Playoffs. The Tommies will likely get more as long as they win.
St. Thomas led the entire game and at one point scored 38 straight points. Jordan Roberts has been a workhorse all year as one of the top running backs in the MIAC. He didn't disappoint Saturday with 32 carries for 230 yards and three touchdowns. That's an average of more than seven yards per carry. John Gould threw for 229 yards and one touchdown, a 21-yard play to Nick Waldvogel in the third quarter. Wolfgang Dvorak also had two catches for 70 yards, both touchdowns.
Heading into the NCAA Playoffs, the Tommies are leading the nation in scoring at 56.4 points per game and are third in total offense with 564.8 yards per game. If that wasn't enough, the St. Thomas defense is No. 3 nationally in total defense, allowing about 200 yards per game. The Tommies are also fourth in scoring defensing, allowing 8.1 points per game. That's an ideal combination to make a deep postseason run.
The St. Thomas football team got together Sunday night for the NCAA Selection Show, already knowing it was automatically in the 32 team field. It didn't take long for the Tommies to learn their fate.
St. Thomas was the first team announced in the tournament. The Tommies will host the University of La Verne, a qualifier out of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Leopards finished the regular season 8-1, with their only loss coming at Whitworth in Week 2.
The Tommies also learned they're not the only MIAC team in the bracket. St. John's will host Dubuque University, a team the Johnnies beat in their season opener.
What's even more tantalizing is how the bracket is set up. If St. Thomas and St. John's both win Saturday, the two rivals would meet in St. Paul Nov. 28 for a trip to the NCAA Quarterfinals. But there is no point for St. Thomas to look ahead. Especially in the playoffs, when it's win or your season is over.
For coach Glenn Caruso, it's his sixth NCAA appearance in eight seasons with the Tommies. He faces a difficult task with a west coast opponent in the first round of the playoffs that's largely an unknown. St. Thomas has never faced the La Verne and rarely gets to play west coast opponents. Caruso said Sunday he knows a few coaches in the SCIAC and will have to rely on film to get his squad ready for Saturday.
But until you get on the field and play a few series, you don't really know what you're going to face.
So what do we know about La Verne? The Leopards like to run the ball, and they can score. For the season, La Verne is averaging nearly 40 points per game and is rushing for more than 260 yards per contest. It's an attack that's led by Travis Sparksjackson, who is averaging 151 yards per game on the season and has 18 touchdowns. Dallas Parent also runs for about 82 yards per game and has 10 touchdowns.
Quarterback William Livingston is throwing for about 188 yards per game and has 12 passing touchdowns on the season. He has a clear favorite target in Anthony Arellano, who has 58 catches on the season for eight touchdowns. His 58 catches are more than double the next top receiver on the team.
The Tommies have faced offenses in the past that can put up numbers, but the difference is that they know the tendencies of MIAC opponents. It may take a few series for St. Thomas to figure out what the Leopards are doing and make the necessary adjustments. It will be a test for the St. Thomas run defense, which is allowing just 70 yards per game on the ground. The Tmmies will need to win the line of scrimmage to be successful in limiting the run game.
It will help St. Thomas that it features one of the top offenses in the country. On defense, the Leopards are allowing 28.8 points per game and 404 yards in total offense. About 164 of those yards are rushing. Anthony Penaliber is their leading tackler with 66 on the season, averaging more than seven per game. He also has 10.5 tackles for a loss, including 4.5 sacks. Michael Shepherd has 39 tackles on the season with 5.5 sacks, and Matt Canlas has 57 tackles with three interceptions.
It's the first winning season for the Leopards since 2005. They went just 2-7 last year. The winner advances to the second round to face the St. John's/Dubuque winner.
Tune into Newsradio 830 WCCO AM at about 11:50 a.m. Saturday as Dave Lee will have the play-by-play and Eric Nelson will provide color commentary along with Fritz Waldvogel from the sidelines.
