Sept. 12 Football game story from Cedar Rapids Gazette

September 13, 2004
Tough St. Thomas defense lowers boom on Kohawks

BY:Jim Ecker
SO:The Gazette

CEDAR RAPIDS ... Don Roney, the head football coach for the University of St. Thomas, knelt in the grass at Clark Field Saturday to lead his team in a postgame prayer, but he barely got started when the public address announcer began reciting statistics from the game against Coe.

Roney stopped praying, looked up, listened and smiled, because all those stats seemed like pennies from heaven.

St. Thomas, beginning its 100th year of collegiate football, won its first game in Iowa since 1958 by stuffing the Kohawks, 21-12, in a non-conference affair before 1,284 fans on a hot, sunny day.

The Tommies, from St. Paul, Minn., sacked Coe quarterback Joe Brannen six times, held Kohawk tailback Neil Suckow to 31 yards rushing, and scored three times in the second quarter on long drives, including one that lasted 18 plays and nearly 9 minutes.

It was a far cry from last week, when Suckow ran for 225 yards and scored five touchdowns in a 42-12 victory over Westminster. St. Thomas was a lot stronger than last week's opponent.

``I'd say probably twice as strong,'' said Coe linebacker Ross Weymiller, who had an interception and fumble recovery. ``That's a good team. We shouldn't hang our head about losing.''

The Tommies compete in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and lost to St. John's, the 2003 NCAA Division III national champs, by a field goal in a conference game last
season.

Coe and St. Thomas had never met before, and it turned out to be a stiff home opener for the Kohawks.

``We feel like our conference is strong enough. We prefer not to have to play top teams in the non-conference,'' said Coe Coach Erik Raeburn. ``We really didn't have much choice.''

There aren't many other Division III leagues to choose from, he noted, and St. Thomas was willing to make the trip. Next year, the Kohawks will travel to St. Paul for the return engagement.

Coe took a 6-0 lead in the first quarter on a 2-yard run by Suckow, but it turned out to be Coe's only touchdown. The Kohawks missed the PAT attempt and managed only two field goals the rest of the way.

``We just didn't block very well. And we certainly didn't protect our quarterback,'' Raeburn said. `'It's hard to keep drives alive when you have those kind of breakdowns.''

St. Thomas (1-0) took a 7-6 lead in the second quarter on its long, impressive 18-play drive and the PAT by Cedar Rapids Xavier grad Adam Valenta, who went 3-for-3 in the game. The Tommies
collected six first downs on the march as quarterback Justin Lockrem hit a series of short passes, and they scored on fourth-and-goal from the 1.

Coe went 3-and-out and the Tommies scored on a 60-yard drive for a 14-6 lead.

The Kohawks went 3-and-out again and the Tommies responded with a 75-yard march, capped by a 48-yard burst by Peter Ridley.

St. Thomas scored 21 straight points in the second quarter, and the Kohawks never fully recovered.

``Our offense didn't come out and produce like we wanted to. That kind of hurt us. Our defense was out there a long time,'' said Suckow, who averaged 2.1 yards on 15 carries after averaging
11.25 yards per carry against Westminster.

``We really had a hard time getting things rolling,'' noted Brannen, who hit 15 of 36 passes for 134 yards under heavy pressure. ``It's hard on a hot day like this to go 3-and-out. It makes it tough on the defense to be out there so long.''


(reprinted with permission of the Cedar Rapids Gazette)