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Tommies Blog: St. Thomas Earns NCAA Bid, Heads To Iowa

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – The St. Thomas football team celebrated Senior Day with a 57-35 win in its regular season finale against Gustavus on Saturday. Most of the 17 seniors on the squad also probably thought it was their final college football game.

Not so fast. There was a sliver of hope for the No. 20-ranked Tommies after Bethel went to double overtime with Augsburg and lost 62-61 for its second loss of the season. St. John's beat St. Olaf 26-6 Saturday to win the MIAC outright and earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Playoffs. But did the Tommies do enough to get one of six at-large bids or was Bethel's win over St. Thomas enough to give them the edge?

The team met early Sunday night to watch the NCAA Selection Show, and St. Thomas was called at the bottom of the first bracket revealed. The Tommies will travel to No. 5-ranked Wartburg (Iowa) which went 10-0 in the regular season to win the IIAC. One of Wartburg's wins was a season-opening 31-14 victory over Bethel. It's the fifth NCAA appearance in the last six years for St. Thomas.

St. Thomas got in by winning its last three games after losing 35-24 to Bethel for its second loss of the season. The Tommies averaged 58 points per game during that stretch, aided by putting up 83 at Carleton. The offensive attack on the season couldn't be more balanced. They're averaging about 500 yards of total offense per game, and 253 of that is on the ground.

On Senior Day, it was a junior who led the way for the Tommies as Brenton Braddock ran for 261 yards and five touchdowns. St. Thomas scored 22 second quarter points on the way to a 43-22 lead at the half. Mitch Hendricks, the MIAC's leaduing passer, threw for 298 yards and one touchdown. He entered the contest averaging 345 yards and about three scores per game.

But on a cold, snowy afternoon, the ground game took over as St. Thomas ran for 370 yards in the victory.

After getting snubbed from the NCAA Playoffs last year following the 2012 run to the national title game, it had to be both exciting and a relief to hear the St. Thomas name get called Sunday. The program gets to have at least one more week together. If the Tommies can pull off the upset of Wartburg, a potential rematch with St. John's could happen in the second round. The Johnnies will host St. Scholastica on Saturday.

The Knights' offense will be a tough one for St. Thomas as it should present one of the biggest challenges for the Tommies this season. Wartburg has scored at least 31 points in every game this year and has put up at least 40 in eight games, including the last six straight. The Knights put up 81 on Loras last week.

Quarterback Logan Schrader passes for about 257 yards per game and has 27 touchdowns on the season with just five interceptions. Robbie Anstoett and Taylor Jacobsme combine to average more than 130 receiving yards per game and have a combined 17 touchdowns on the year. Brandon Domeyer runs for about 85 yards per game and has 14 touchdowns to lead their rushing attack.

On defense, Wartburg is led by Gunner Tranel's 97 tackles on the season, which includes 10.5 tackles for a loss and two sacks. Zach Twedt leads the Knights with nine sacks on the year. The unit has also recorded nine interceptions and forced six fumbles. On average, Wartburg allows just more than 11 points per game and will provide a great challenge for the St. Thomas offense. It will be John Gould's first playoff start at quarterback leading the Tommies' offense. He's gone 3-0 as a start since Matt O'Connell was pulled after two interceptions in the loss at Bethel.

In St. Thomas's two losses this year, it has had a combined seven turnovers. The Tommies will need to take care of the ball to have a chance to beat Wartburg. The Knights only allow about 257 yards of offense per game on average.

Braddock filled in admirably for Jack Kaiser running the ball in Saturday's win over Gustavus. Kaiser left the game in the first quarter with a leg injury and his status for Saturday is unknown. Braddock's touchdown runs went for 5, 5, 20, 25 and 47 yards. St. Thomas had 504 yards of total offense in the win, and it will take a performance similar to that to knock off Wartburg.

St. Thomas will travel to Waverly, Iowa, to take on the Knights at noon Saturday.

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