ST. PAUL, Minn. – Head coach Kurt Ramler has a history of big upsets, and for one half, it looked like his Carleton College football team had a chance for the biggest one yet, but No. 4 University of St. Thomas scored 28 unanswered points after intermission and cruised to a 38-7 victory Saturday in St. Paul. With the win, the Tommies (10-0, 8-0 MIAC) clinched their first conference title since 1983 and an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament, while completing the program’s first-ever 10-0 regular season.
Carleton’s defense held UST in check for the first 30 minutes and the hosts took a narrow 10-7 lead into the locker room.
After the opening kickoff, it took the Tommies just three and a half minutes to get on the board as Matt Joshi punched in the game’s first score from one yard out.
The Knights (3-6, 2-5 MIAC) responded, however, engineering a 17-play, 77-yard drive capped by quarterback Vaughn Schmid’s (Jr./Mahtomedi, Minn.) four-yard touchdown rush. Schmid had three first-down runs during the drive, along with three completions to Kilian Murphy (Sr./Eau Claire, Wis./Regis), who finished the day with a game-high nine catches for 55 yards.
Carleton looked poised to take the lead midway through the second quarter, when the Knights drove into the St. Thomas red zone with back-to-back first down completions from Schmid to running back Jon Lien (Jr./Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes). On third-and-goal, however, the UST defense came up big, as Tony Danna sacked Schmid for a loss of nine, forcing a fumble that Danny Kane pounced on to give possession to the hosts and drastically shift the game’s momentum.
The Tommies capitalized on the turnover, stringing together a long drive that culminated in Tim Albright’s 20-yard field goal on the final play of the half.
It was all St. Thomas after the break, as the Knights mustered only three first downs in the second half, all of them coming on a drive late in the fourth quarter with the game’s outcome all but decided.
All-American Ben Wartman led the surge for the Tommies, rushing for a pair of touchdowns to finish the game with 92 yards on 18 carries. Colin Tobin also pounded the Carleton defense, totaling 81 yards on 20 attempts.
Schmid was efficient for the Knights, completing 17-of-23 passes, but the UST defense prevented any big plays and the Carleton signal-caller finished with just 136 yards in the air. The Tommies were equally stifling against the run as the Knights finished with just 50 yards on the ground.
Linebacker Justin Rotman (Jr./Minnetonka, Minn.) led the Knights’ defense, matching his career high with 11 tackles, including three for losses.
Carleton will conclude its season next Saturday when it travels to Gustavus Adolphus College for a 1 p.m. matchup. A live audio broadcast will be available from Knights Online as well as Power 96 (95.9 FM) in the Northfield/Faribault area.
