There won’t be a Pioneer Football League championship coming to St. Thomas this year.
Presbyterian defeated St. Thomas 23-9, denying a third-quarter surge by UST. The Tommies needed to win Saturday at O’Shaughnessy Stadium for a chance at a share of the conference, but Presbyterian’s top-PFL-ranked defense countered everything in coach Glenn Caruso’s playbook.
“It was a huge game for a lot of different reasons. Mainly for our seniors. The people who had bled and lost sleep, tirelessly over this team. And that’s who we wanted to play for … It sucks what happened, but now we have to get back to the drawing board and be able to regroup and be able to hit next week running,” senior linebacker Jordan Pendleton said.
Drake (6-1 PFL) defeated Dayton 14-6 on Saturday and clinched a share of the conference championship. Drake can win the PFL outright against Morehead State (4-3 PFL) on Nov. 22. Presbyterian (5-2 PFL) and San Diego (5-2 PFL) are still in the mix but need a Drake loss. Dayton entered Saturday in contention but are now eliminated.
St. Thomas football continued to grow this season. The Tommies won their first game against a scholarship program in Lindenwood and lost by a touchdown against Idaho, a nationally ranked team at the time. Ultimately, early season conference losses against San Diego and Butler held the team back in the standings.
“Today’s results don’t change what we’ve done. You know, we’ve played so hard every single snap, every single game this entire year. And the results today don’t take any of that away,” Pendleton said. “And I don’t want anybody in that locker room to feel like it does. Because it absolutely doesn’t. We’ve accomplished things that no other football team here has accomplished.”
Pendleton set a new St. Thomas single-season sack record with 7.5 and led a Tommie defense that ranked second in the PFL.
Graduate receiver JaShawn Todd sat in the news conference still with his purple jersey and pads. A tape across his nose read “Do it 4 Doonie,” an homage to his high-school friend, Dranel, who passed away in Todd’s first year of college.
This was Todd’s last season of eligibility.
“We definitely can’t see this as a roadblock. That would discredit everything we’ve built over. Even before I was here, but once I came in the summer and fall camp. Like he said, those sleepless nights and the grinding we all went through, it would be horrible for us to sit here and act this is the end of the road,” Todd said.
Late in the third quarter, it looked like the Tommies would break through their first half struggles and overcome a 10-point deficit. Senior cornerback Branden Smith intercepted Presbyterian sophomore quarterback Collin Hurst and returned it for a touchdown, inching the Tommies 10-9 after a failed two-point conversion.
In the following drive, Presbyterian pounded their way down the field. Senior cornerback Den Juette went down with a leg injury and exited the game. The Blue Hose exposed that hole immediately, connecting a 31-yard touchdown through the Tommies secondary, putting Presbyterian up 17-9. By that point, the Tommies were also missing starter senior safety Nick Hand, who got injured on the pick-6.
“We have to continue to work to get deeper. Get more depth and to get more out of that depth,” Caruso said. “This time of year, it’s tough to be feeling fresh.”
Graduate quarterback Andy Peters had his worst statistical performance of the season. Peters combined for a season-low 151 yards along with two costly interceptions. Presbyterian contained his usual connection with sophomore receiver Quentin Cobb-Butler, who caught five passes for 30 yards receiving.
The loss lands heavier, especially on senior night. Smith missed two seasons due to injury. On Saturday, he wore a knee brace. He walked gingerly after a second-quarter pass breakup, but stayed in the game. Smith provided the only touchdown for the Tommies.
“Anyone who has come into contact with him around campus understands how infectious his personality is. There are days when you can see someone like Branden or a couple of the other guys on the team, and without him saying a word, you kind of ‘coach, we’ll be alright,’” Caruso said.
St. Thomas is set to face No. 1 North Dakota State on Nov. 22 for their final game of the season. The game starts at 2:30 p.m.
Juan Del Valle can be reached at delv9625@stthomas.edu.
