St. Thomas football cruised by Davidson 57-13 Saturday afternoon at Richardson Stadium in Davidson, North Carolina, winning their first Pioneer Football League matchup of the year.
The Tommies’ (3-3, 1-2 PFL) 57 points against the Wildcats (1-5, 0-2 PFL) are the most in UST’s Division I era, and the second time St. Thomas has reached the 50-point mark since Nov. 20, 2021.
“We’re a good football team that can play well, we just don’t play well as consistently as our standards would suggest we should,” coach Glenn Caruso said to ESPN Radio. “Just really proud of the guys. I’m sure we could’ve been in our feelings from last week.”
Graduate quarterback Andy Peters left the game in the second quarter after getting hit in the head while sliding. Peters was in street clothes after halftime. Senior quarterback Amari Powell stepped in and tossed an 85-yard touchdown to sophomore receiver Quentin Cobb-Butler. Sophomore quarterback Ryan Jackson debuted for the Tommies and scored a touchdown.
“Amari does his job … he embraces his role, and when given the chance, he’s ready because he’s prepared himself,” Caruso said.
A week after Davidson allowed 384 yards rushing to Stetson, the Tommies combined for 550 total yards, their first 500-yard game in program history. Tommie running backs combined for six touchdowns. Sophomore running back Joseph Koch scored three touchdowns after not playing last game.
After red zone struggles the last two weeks, the Tommies scored in all five trips inside the 20-yard line.
“When spaces get small, the more room for error there is … The offensive line really led the day,” Caruso said. “If you can run the ball between the tackles when everybody knows you’re going to run the ball, you got a shot, and that’s what we did today.”
The Tommies defense stifled Davidson all afternoon, forcing three fumbles and one interception.
“We tackled really strong. We weren’t perfect. We missed two big fits that led to explosive plays – not touchdowns in the first half. But I think we tackled the ball strong and we hustled to the ball,” Caruso said.”
Graduate receiver JaShawn Todd exploded on special teams, returning a punt for 77 yards, the longest punt return in the PFL this season. In total, Todd returned two punts for 121 yards. Todd added a reception for 33 yards.
Davidson found some offense in the second half, scoring 13 points in six drives. Saj Thakkar is still looking for his first conference win in his first year as the Davidson head coach.
St. Thomas hadn’t faced Davidson since 2022, when the Tommies defeated the Wildcats 27-16 at home. In their first meeting in 2021, Davidson defeated the Tommies 42-15. The Wildcats went on to win the PFL that year.
“Four years ago, we came down here in our very first year in Division I … there’s games when you win or lose and play well, don’t play well, but there’s very few games where physically a team handles us, and that was one of maybe two or three games,” Caruso said. “Maybe we left a piece of our soul here, and it left a taste in our mouth for four years.”
The Tommies return to O’Shaughnessy Stadium to play Valparaiso on Oct. 18. The game starts at 1 p.m.
Juan Del Valle can be reached at delv9625@stthomas.edu.
