St. Thomas Football 9-Game Notes

November 5, 2002
St. Thomas Football 9-Game Notes

--THIS WEEK -- St. Thomas (5-4 overall, 5-2 MIAC) closes its 2002 season Friday with a 5 p.m. Metrodome clash vs. Concordia-Moorhead (6-3, 6-1). The Tommies will tie for second in the conference with a victory. Tickets are $8 for adults and $4 for students and will be on sale outside the Metrodome. Its the final game for 21 Tommie seniors.

--LAST WEEK -- St. Thomas ran into a buzzsaw in Collegeville as the No. 6-rated Johnnies broke to a 27-0 second-quarter lead and went on to post a 48-28 victory. St. John's had 33 first downs and gained 709 yards of offense in beating the Tommies for the ninth time in the last 10 meetings. The Tommies gained 420 yards of offense. Senior RB Jake Barkley returned after missing most of the last five games with a groin injury and had 129 rushing yards on 24 carries with TD runs of 8 and 2 yards. It was Barkley's third career 100-yard rushing game vs. the Johnnies. Andrew Hilliard had an 88-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and had six catches for 73 yards. QB Nick Ambrasas completed 25-of-42 passes for 314 yards and a 39-yard TD pass to TE Jon Learn. Steve Groth was in on 20 tackles for the Tommies and John Kaiser had 15 tackles.

--RECORD WATCH -- Two Tommies are nearing UST career records -- WR Andrew Hilliard needs 106 yards to become the all-time leader in receiving yards, and RB Jake Barkley needs 107 yards to break a 25-year-old MIAC record and become the conference career rushing leader.

Barkley suffered a groin injury while pass blocking early in the second quarter of the Sept. 28 game with Stout and didn't return. He was taken to a hospital for precautionary X-rays but no bone break or chip was found. He rushed just twice for minus-1 yard before getting injured. Barkley didn't travel to St. Olaf Oct. 5. He returned Oct. 12 to face Gustavus and rushed 11 times for 50 yards in the first quarter before aggravating the injury. He didn't travel to Carleton Oct. 19 and didn't dress for the Oct. 26 Augsburg game. Barkley has 3,827 rushing yards and 33 touchdowns on his career and passed Gary Trettel (3,724 yards) last week to become the Tommies' all-time rushing leader. He also needs 107 yards to pass SJU's Tim Schmitz (1974-77) and become the MIAC career leader, and 173 yards to reach 4,000. (St. Olaf's Ole Gunderson gained 4,090 career yards from 1969-71 when the Oles were a member of the Midwest Conference, but that total isn't recognized as the MIAC's official best.)

--UPS AND DOWNS -- St. Thomas sits 5-4 after beating conference foes Bethel (49-25), Hamline (41-7), St. Olaf (35-15), Carleton (41-7) and Augsburg (49-6); losing 25-24 at home to Gustavus (25-24) and at Collegeville to SJU (48-28), and losing in non-conference play to St. Norbert (35-31) and UW-Stout (28-7). St. Norbert, now 9-0 and ranked ninth in Division III, scored the go-ahead TD to beat the Toms on Sept. 7 with 43 seconds left in a game that featured seven lead changes. UW-Stout, now 7-1 and ranked 16th, held the Tommies to their lowest offensive output (143 yards) in several seasons in their Sept. 28 game. Gustavus took its first lead of the game with 2:21 to go then stopped the Toms on 4th-and-4 at the GAC 25-yard line in the final 50 seconds.

--NON-CONFERENCE BLUES -- The Tommies are 2-10 in non-conference play over the last 11 seasons, including an 0-4 mark vs. Division II Bemidji State and a combined 0-6 mark vs. Wisconsin Division III schools. In the last six seasons, the Tommies are 45-14 in MIAC games, however.

--GOOD ON ROAD -- In five seasons under Coach Don Roney, the Tommies are 18-5 away from O'Shaughnessy Stadium (16-4 road, 2-1 Metrodome).

--RONEY WATCH -- In five seasons so far under Roney, St. Thomas' 32-11 conference record includes an 0-5 record vs. St. John's, 2-3 mark vs. Bethel, 3-2 mark vs. Gustavus, a 4-1 mark vs. St. Olaf and a 23-0 record vs. everyone else.

--FAST STARTERS -- St. Thomas had outscored foes 105-7 in the first quarter of their first eight games but were outscored 20-0 in the first frame at St. John's.

--EXPLOSIVE -- St. Thomas is averaging 465 yards of offense per game and 33.5 ppg. Last season, the Tommies averaged 417 ypg and 32.7 ppg. The 2002 Tommies rank 21st in D-III total offense and 26th in passing offense (267.7 ypg).

--SENIORS -- The Tommies start four fifth-year seniors on offense: QB Nick Ambrasas, TE Jon Learn, WR Justin Hall and OG Justin Wallick. The Tommies start nine seniors on offense and currently start four seniors on defense.

--TD BURST -- Barkley's 5 rushing TDs vs. Bethel broke a school record.

--KNOCK ON WOOD -- Barkley has lost only one fumble in his last 592 touches as a runner, receiver or kick returner. He lost a fumble last season at St. John's, and that's one of just two lost fumbles by a Tommie offensive starter in the last 17 games. Barkley has lost three fumbles in 737 career touches.

--SACK MACHINE -- Senior DE Sean O'Leary of Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., broke the Tommies school record for sacks Sept. 21. He's had 11 sacks in eight games this season and ranks among the Division III leaders. He has 29.5 sacks on his career in 28 career starts. O'Leary and Bethel senior Jon Foss (33.5 sacks) rank No. 2-3 in sacks in MIAC history, in pursuit of the conference record of 39 sacks set by St. John's Jim Wagner. O'Leary's 18 tackles for loss ranks among the Division III leaders.

--GOOD WORKS -- Tommie senior WR Andrew Hilliard was one of 14 college football players from all divisions named to the National Scholar-Athlete team by the National Football Foundation. He will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship and be honored at a black-tie dinner in new York Dec. 10. Hilliard is the second MIAC player in the 43-year history of the award to be honored -- joining Chirs Palmer of St. John's, a 1995 recipient. Hilliard also was named to the "Good Works" team by the American Football Coaches' Association for exceptional community service. Only three Division III players in the nation were recognized. It's the fifth year in a row that St. Thomas has had a player on the Good Works team. Hilliard has a 3.98 gpa and is a three-time Verizon Academic All-American in football and track and a four-time relay All-American in track and field. Hilliard has 148 catches for 2,547 yards and 23 touchdowns in his career and needs 106 yards to pass Ryan Davis (2,652 yards) and become the Tommies' career leader in receiving yards.

--OVER 100 -- Tommie senior WR Justin Hall surpassed 100 career catches Oct. 5 as he caught five for 94 yards. Hall has 110 career receptions for 1,594 yards and 14 TDs. Hall is a five-time All-American in track and field. Hall missed the two games with a foot injury but had four catches for 63 yards vs. St. John's.

--NICK STREAK -- QB Nick Ambrasas had thrown 53 TD passes since becoming the UST starter midway through the 2000 season. He has thrown a TD pass in 24 consecutive games. This season, he's completed 161-of-249 (64.7%) for 2,435 yards and seven INTs with 18 TD passes. He's ranked among the D-III passing efficiency leaders at 165. In the Oct. 26 49-6 win over Augsburg, he completed 20-of-24 passes for 373 yards and five TDs with no pickoffs in just over two quarters. Ambrasas was named MIAC co-Offensive Player of the Week Oct. 7 after throwing for a career-high 387 passing yards in the victory over St. Olaf. Ambrasas led three consecutive scoring drives for 21 points for a 35-8 lead after the Oles pulled within 14-8 in the third quarter.

--MISCELLANEOUS -- In Barkley (33), Hilliard (23), Hall (14), Learn (11), Justin Kostner (12) and Ambrasas (5), the Tommies have 98 career TDs among six players... Friday will mark the 60th consecutive game that St. Thomas has had a Kaiser brother in the starting lineup. QB Greg Kaiser started 29 of 30 games from 1997-99; DT Andy Kaiser started all 40 games from 1998-2001; and junior LB John Kaiser missed the last couple of games of 2000 with an injury but has started every other game in his era.

St. Thomas 2-Deep Lineup
11-8-02 Game vs. Concordia-Moorhead

Offense
QB (10) *Nick Ambrasas, SR, 6-3, 220
(11) Jesse Baker, JR, 6-2, 180
RB (3) *Jake Barkley, SR, 5-8, 190
` (20) Nick Whitehead, JR, 6-0, 215
(30) Jimmy Mullen, FR, 5-10, 185
FB (17) Paul Delaney, SR, 5-11, 195
(22) Jake Braegelmann, FR, 5-11, 215
FL (2) *Andrew Hilliard, SR, 5-9, 165
(5) Mitch Nelson, JR, 6-1, 170
TE (86) *Jon Learn, SR, 6-3, 225
(8) Jude Schmit, JR, 6-1, 220
WR (15) *Justin Hall, SR, 6-2, 195
or (4) Ryan Galindo, SR, 6-2, 190
RT (72) *Logan Kane, SR, 6-6, 290
(63) Jordan Heller, SO, 6-3, 220
RG (77) *Joe Moline, SR, 6-2, 290
(79) Joshua Nelson, FR, 6-2, 290
C (53) *Brock Norman, SO, 6-0, 230
(78) Brian Farnes, FR, 6-2, 230
LG (73) *Justin Wallick, SR, 6-0, 250
(79) Joshua Nelson, FR, 6-2, 290
LT (74) *Blake Norman, JR, 6-6, 260
(63) Jordan Heller, SO, 6-3, 220
PK (12) *Andy Clark, JR, 6-0, 170

Defense
DE (49) *Sean O'Leary, SR, 6-0, 230
(16) Justin Fatheree, SR, 6-5, 230
DT (45) Dane Sievwright, JR, 6-0, 225
(69) Luke Rezac, FR, 6-3, 250
or (55) Kimble Torres, SO, 5-9, 210
DT (54) Matt McLaughlin, JR, 6-6, 275
(68) Ben Kessler, FR, 6-2, 220
DE (97) Joe Skaja, SO, 6-3, 215
(93) Dan Reisenour, FR, 6-4, 225
ILB (44) *John Kaiser, JR, 6-2, 230
(21) Jared Nelson, JR, 6-0, 200
ILB (50) *Rick Joslin, SR, 6-3, 225
(41) Marshall Clamons, JR, 5-11, 210
OLB (28) Tore Evenson, SR, 6-3, 210
or(38) Dustin Peltier, SO, 6-0, 180
FS (24) *Paul Sommerstad, SO, 6-5, 205
(22) Tom Fritze, FR, 6-2, 190
SS (33) Joe Fritze, SR, 6-2, 205
(37) *Matt Meunier, SO, 5-10,185
CB (27) David Rains, SO, 5-10, 170
(25) Jason Larson, JR, 5-9, 165
CB (32) Steve Groth, SO, 6-0, 195
(35) Ben Garbe, SO, 6-2, 190
P (81) *Kyle Davenport, JR, 6-5, 170

KR-(30) Jimmy Mullen (48) Joel Korte
PR-(2) Andrew Hilliard, (4) Ryan Galindo
H-(4) Ryan Galindo
DS-(19) Luke Miller