Second-half surge fuels 48-28 Football victory

W, 48-28
at Carleton (M), October 24, 2009

Sophomore QB Dakota Tracy guided five second-half touchdown drives as No. 16-ranked St. Thomas (6-1 overall, 5-1 MIAC) pulled away for a 48-28 win over host Carleton (3-4, 1-4) in conference football action Saturday in Northfield.

St. Thomas, which never trailed, has won 16 in a row against the Knights. UST used a 20-0 surge in the third and fourth periods to take control at 34-14.

The Knights had a 400-394 advantage in total offense, although Tracy, Ben Wartman and Colin Tobin each rushed for two touchdowns for UST.

St. Thomas scored on all four trips inside the red zone. Brady Beesen was 6-for-6 on PAT kicks for on the day and is now 29-for-29 in six MIAC games.

Tracy directed scoring drives of 46, 74, 60, 34 and 12 yards in the second half. Wartman rushed for 124 yards on 20 carries -- his 13th 100-yard game in his last 15 outings. Wartman (172 yards) and Fritz Waldvogel (126) combined for nearly 300 yards of all-purpose yards.

Waldvogel returned the opening kickoff 74 yards to stake the Toms to a 7-0 lead. Over the last seven seasons, St. Thomas is 7-0 when it gets a kick or punt return to the end zone, and 0-4 in games when it gives up a punt-KO return touchdown. In 17 career games, Waldvogel now has four return TDs and six returns of 55-plus yards.

The Toms led 14-7 at halftime, but Carleton tied the score early in the third quarter on an eight-play, 50-yard drive. The Knights were unsuccessful on an onside kick, and Wartman rushed four times for 46 yards to put UST ahead to stay at 20-14. Tracy had a 53-yard TD run later in the quarter to extend the lead to 27-14.

UST starting QB Greg Morse, who completed six of his first nine passes, was picked off in the end zone to kill one scoring threat, then was intercepted near midfield to precede the Knights' tying TD.

For the Tommies defense, Zach Strurm had 12 tackles, freshman Kyle Mulrooney had an interception, and Danny Kane and Kyle Reynertson had sacks.

The Toms return home next Saturday to play Augsburg, which rallied in the final 2:00 to edge Gustavus, 28-21.

Click here for box score:

http://www.carleton.edu/departments/publ/sportsinfo/football/2009/1024ust.htm

Click here to view more Greg Smith action photos:

www.gsmithsports.com

Kirk Baglien (24) (Greg Smith photo)

Danny Kane (99) (Greg Smith photo)

Mike Valesano (41) and Kyle Reynertson (90) (Greg Smith photo)

Colin Tobin (37) (Greg Smith photo)

Dakota Tracy (17) (Greg Smith photo)

Tony Margarit (1) (Greg Smith photo)

Ben Wartman (8) (Greg Smith photo)