After his fourth touchdown of the game, senior quarterback Amari Powell looked at his bench and pumped his fists, a week after being the backup.
With starting graduate quarterback Andy Peters sidelined, the Tommies knocked off the Beacons 55-17 Saturday afternoon at a packed O’Shaughnessy Stadium for family weekend. UST has now scored at least 50 points in the last two games.
“You continue to stack days, continue to put your head down and work, and when my time is called up, I was ready to work,” Powell said.
The Tommies (4-3, 2-2 PFL) are fifth in the Pioneer League with four conference games left. St. Thomas’ remaining schedule includes PFL first place and No. 19 Presbyterian, second place Drake, Marist and Stetson.
Powell completed 13 of 20 passes for 265 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for another. Powell launched a 44-yard pass to sophomore receiver Quentin Cobb-Butler to set up a sophomore running back Joseph Koch touchdown. He later connected with graduate receiver JaShawn Todd for a 56-yard touchdown. He was subbed halfway through the third quarter with the Tommies up 41-10.
“I’m super proud of Amari. He’s a guy that shows up every day … puts smiles on other guys’ faces. He works his tail off. He just goes out there and is quiet and comes and plays like how he just did,” Cobb-Butler said.
The Tommies faced an early 7-0 deficit after Valparaiso’s (1-6, 0-3 PFL) 78-yard opening drive. St. Thomas quickly adjusted and allowed just 176 yards the rest of the game. The Tommies put up 24 unanswered points to close the first half, scoring touchdowns on four of its first six drives. St. Thomas ended the game on a 21-7 run.
“That wasn’t the funnest first drive if you are on our sideline,” coach Glenn Caruso said. ”They had a distinct plan on what they wanted to do … that was an excellent drive by them. We have seen this a lot over the years. When a team comes out, it wasn’t just the movement of the ball … but the play calls and their levels of strategic aggression were much higher than they normally have laid out on film.”
Senior defensive back and PFL All-Preseason honoree Den Juette intercepted Valparaiso sophomore quarterback Caron Tyler in the first quarter, his first interception of the year. Juette returned the turnover to the Valparaiso 4-yard line.
“It felt amazing to get the offense in scoring position and get points on the board,” Juette said. “(The quarterback) just stared me down the whole way … the quarterback wasn’t a guy who goes through his reads and then just thanking the pressure and being thankful for my boys up front.”
The Tommies were missing starting junior center Kaleb Rector, junior right guard Marcus Johnson and sophomore right tackle Aiden Horel.
Peters, even if he was out, stayed involved in the bench and helped with quarterback signalling.
Sophomore linebacker Cade Caruso, Glenn Caruso’s son, saw his first snaps in front of the home crowd.
“It did feel good to see him make that hit on fourth-and-1 to stop them. That one felt good,” Caruso said.
St. Thomas will travel to DeLand, Florida, to face Stetson on Oct. 24. Kickoff is at noon. St. Thomas has never lost against the Hatters in four meetings.
Juan Del Valle can be reached at delv9625@stthomas.edu.
