Football holds off Loras, wins 19-7

September 9, 2006


Senior P.J. Theisen (84) goes up and pulls away the ball to finish a 31-yard TD in Saturday's 19-7 win over Loras. (Photo by Mike Ekern)



Senior QB Ryan Jansen (7) completed 15-of-22 passes for 215 yards and two TD in Saturday's 19-7 Tommie victory. (Photo by Mike Ekern)
Sophomore Jake Casey's 67-yard scoring run with 1:44 left helped St. Thomas turn back visiting Loras, 19-7, in non-conference football Saturday at O'Shaughnessy Stadium.

It was victory No. 499 in 102 varsity seasons for St. Thomas (1-1), now 499-320-34 all-time.

The first Tommie-Duhawk meeting in 48 seasons was in doubt until the waning minutes.

Leading just 12-7 with 2:49 to play, St. Thomas stopped Loras (0-2) by inches on a 4th-and-two situation at the Tommie 29-yard-line. Two plays later, Casey broke two tackles and galloped 67 yards for the clinching points.

Casey finished with 137 yards on 17 carries -- his fifth 100-yard rushing performance in 11 collegiate games. Senior QB Ryan Jansen, who connected on his first eight passes, completed 15-of-22 on the game for 215 yards with one interception. Senior P.J. Theisen caught six passes for 100 yards -- all in the first half. It was his sixth 100-yard receiving effort in his last eight games.

On defense, UST senior Luke Rezac had two sacks among his eight tackles; junior Matt Anderson had a key fourth-quarter interception in the end zone; and senior Nick Johnson had a sack and a pass breakup that created a third-quarter interception by junior Justin Thom.

St. Thomas was hurt by 10 penalties for 85 yards, including a second-quarter holding call that negated Theisen's 55-yard punt return to the end zone.

Loras controlled most of the second half -- it had a 59-40 advantage in plays run in the contest -- but was hurt by two interceptions. In the final two quarters, the Duhawks had four of their five sacks and forced an intentional grounding penalty.

The Tommies used second-period TD receptions by Ian Lewis (18 yards) and Theisen (31 yards) to build a 12-0 halftime lead. Theisen pulled the ball away from the Duhawk defender in the end zone for his 10th career touchdown catch.

Loras was held to 109 yards in the first half. On its first possession, the Duhawks used a 15-yard roughing-the-punter penalty to start a 92-yard march near the goal. But Loras stalled at the UST six, and Joe Greenley's 23-yard field-goal try was blocked by Tommie freshman Ross Petterson.

Loras QB Matt McLaughlin, just 3-of-10 for 54 yards in the air in the first half, led a second-half comeback. His 3-yard TD pass to Matt Burds five minutes into the second half made it 12-7.

The Duhawks' next four possessions moved into Tommie territory. But two were halted by interceptions, and the last was stopped when UST freshman linebacker Adam Johannsen tripped up Loras' Ronnie Stickney inches short of a first-down with 2:49 left.

For Loras, McLaughlin completed 15-of-30 for 246 yards and one TD with two pickoffs. Burds had four catches for 66 yards -- all in the second half. Sophomore Brennan McCarron rushed 19 times for 72 yards. On defense, Brock Hall had two sacks among his seven tackles; Justin Sparrgrove had two sacks among four tackles; and Mike Radakovitz had an interception.

St. Thomas evened its recent slate vs. Iowa Conference teams to 2-2 over the last three seasons. The Tommies start Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play next Saturday at Gustavus. Loras has a bye next week and opens Iowa Conference play Sept. 23 at Dubuque.

see box score here