St. John's got what it wanted Saturday afternoon — another shot at St. Thomas.

Senior quarterback Nick Martin threw a career-best four touchdown passes, leading the Johnnies past Dubuque (Iowa) 51-7 in the opening round of the NCAA Division III playoffs at Clemens Stadium in Collegeville. They also beat Dubuque 45-9 in their season opener.

The 10th-ranked Johnnies (10-1) and fourth-rated Tommies (11-0) will meet in the second round Saturday.

It will mark the first time the two schools have met in the playoffs. St. Thomas scored 28 second-half points to win their regular season meeting 35-14.

Martin completed 17 of 26 passes for 257 yards. Senior tight end Nick Simon caught scoring passes of 6, 13 and 22 yards.

Martin has thrown 17 touchdown passes with no interceptions in his last seven games.

Senior running back Sam Sura, who scored on a 44-yard shovel pass from Martin, became the school's all-time rushing leader.

Sura had 15 carries for 84 yards, bringing his career total to 3,977 yards. Tim Schmitz owned the school mark with 3,933 yards from 1974-77.

St. John's scored 28 unanswered second-half points after taking a 23-7 lead into halftime.

Senior defensive back Randy Perez capped the scoring with a 39-yard interception return. The Johnnies forced four turnovers, three interceptions and a fumble.

Junior linebacker Carter Hanson had eight tackles, including three solo and 2½ for 8 yards in losses, and forced the fumble.

Wisconsin-Oshkosh 48, St. Scholastica 0: The third-ranked Titans (10-1) didn't have any trouble with the Saints (9-2) in their first round matchup. Sophomore running back Dylan Hecker had three short scoring runs (1, 1 and 2 yards) as the Saints accumulated 560 yards of offense.

Sophomore quarterback Brett Kasper completed 20 of 32 passes for 336 yards and two touchdowns.

Their defense held the Saints to 221 yards.

St. Scholastica was making its fifth consecutive playoff appearance.

STAFF REPORTS