Alex Fenske passed for 313 yards and two TDS and Tucker Trettel rushed for 132 yards to lead St. Thomas to a 27-6 MIAC victory over Bethel in Arden Hills on Saturday.
The victory was the 21st consecutive regular-season victory for the conference-leading Tommies (8-0, 6-0 MIAC), ranked No. 4 in the d3football.com Top 25.
The Tommies defense intercepted three passes and came up with a crucial goal-line stand midway through the fourth quarter to stop a Bethel comeback.
With five minutes left, the Tommies led just 20-6 and the Royals had a first-and-goal at the UST 3-yard line. But the Tommie defense held on four downs to turn the ball over and keep the double-digit lead. Two plays later, Trettel raced 90 yards for the clinching TD.
The Tommies had 519 yards in offense.
The Tommies' Michael Alada had his seventh interception of the season, and teammates Chris Pierson and Michael Franzese also had interceptions. Adam Brant had 10 solo tackles to anchor the Tommies' defense.
Jake Marsh passed for 276 yards and Gunnar Bloom rushed for 101 yards for the Royals (3-5, 3-3), who had 413 yards in total offense.
Hamline 35, Augsburg 14: Justice Spriggs passed for 317 yards and five TDs to lead the host Pipers past the Auggies. Hamline trailed 6-0 after the first quarter but scored 35 unanswered points in the second and third quarters to take a 35-6 lead into the fourth quarter. Spriggs, who leads the MIAC in passing yards per game and TD passes, completed 24 of 30 passes as the Pipers (5-3, 3-3) reached the five-victory mark for the first time since 1997. Nick Kampa caught passes for 124 yards and three TDs for the Pipers. The Pipers defense limited the Auggies (2-7, 2-5) to minus-11 yards rushing. Nick Heenie caught a game-high 10 passes — including one for a touchdown — for Augsburg.
Concordia (Moorhead) 40, Carleton 3: Michael Herzog passed for two TDs and ran for one to lead the host Cobbers past the Knights. Herzog passed for 98 yards and ran for 79 yards as the Cobbers (6-2, 5-1) had 398 yards in total offense (300 rushing). The Cobbers, who led 10-0 after one quarter, scored 16 points in 3½ minutes late in the second quarter to open a 26-0 halftime lead.
Gustavus 23, St. Olaf 3: Christian Haffner passed for 152 yards and ran for 71 yards and two TDs to lead the Gusties to the victory in Northfield. Luke Martinez rushed for 106 yards for the Gusties (4-4, 2-4), who had 407 yards in total offense.
