Division III or Division I, it hasn't mattered for St. Thomas so far when playing at O'Shaughnessy Stadium.
A happy homecoming at St. Thomas with 20-13 victory over Valparaiso
Tom Loeffler ran for two touchdowns and the Tommies capitalized on a fake punt.
October 10, 2021 at 12:33AM
Tom Loeffler ran for a pair of touchdowns and the Tommies extended their home winning streak to 29 games by defeating Valparaiso 20-13 Saturday in front of an announced 7,443 fans for homecoming.
"Homecoming — awesome day, tremendous crowd," coach Glenn Caruso said. "… To be able to see us build and sell out and continue to have that support is in some ways a verification of all of the things that are going on here."
Loeffler ran for a 6-yard touchdown in the second quarter after Johnson Falla's third interception of the season gave the Tommies (3-2, 2-1 Pioneer) the ball at the Beacons 32-yard line. Loeffler's 2-yard score late in the third quarter came one play after a fake punt from Josh Komis, who threw a 33-yard completion to Wesley Juszczak on fourth-and-6 at the Valparaiso 35-yard line.
That score put the Tommies ahead 20-3, and they held on from there to improve to 2-0 at home this season, their first in FCS. Valpo fell to 1-5 and 1-2 in the conference.
Cade Sexauer completed 11 of 21 passes for 98 yards with one interception. The senior quarterback also ran 16 times for 46 yards, including a 4-yard run to cap a 13-play, 78 yard drive to begin the third quarter.
Jonathan Bunce had a pair of sacks for St. Thomas, which held Valpo to 3-for-12 on third downs. Two-way player Isaiah Hall led the Tommies with five receptions for 43 yards, while he also recorded an interception late in the game.
Two offensive linemen from Lakeville, Bryce Benhart and Riley Mahlman, are standouts for Big Ten rivals of Minnesota.
