St. Thomas routs Valparaiso to win eighth straight

Grif Wurtz returned a fumble 79 yards for a TD and Owen Kanzler returned a kickoff 89 yards for a TD to spark St. Thomas to a 34-7 Pioneer League victory over host Valparaiso on Saturday.

The victory was the eighth straight for the Tommies (8-1, 6-0), who remain atop the Pioneer Football League standings by one game over Butler, Dayton and Davidson with two conference games to go.

Wurtz's TD staked the Tommies to a 6-0 lead with 12:24 remaining in the first quarter.

Valparaiso put together a six-play, 75-yard drive midway through the third quarter to pull within 20-7. Kanzler returned the ensuing kick for a TD and restore the Tommies lead to 20 points.

Cade Sexauer ran for a TD and threw a TD pass and Hope Adebayo rushed for 128 yards in 12 carries for the Tommies, who play host to Stetson next Saturday.

St. Thomas' defense had eight sacks.

In other FCS games:

North Dakota State 56, Western Illinois 17: The No. 4 Bison rushed for 454 yards and seven TDs in the victory in Macomb, Ill. TaMerik Williams and TK Marshall each ran for more than 100 yards and had two TDs.

South Dakota 20, Missouri State 13: The Coyotes built a 20-3 lead and held on to top the visiting Bears.

Bethel 30, Augsburg 27: After Augsburg scored with 31 seconds remaining to pull within 28-27, Devin Williams returned an interception of the two-point conversion pass attempt 98 yards for two points as Bethel held on for the victory. The Royals will play at St. John's next weekend for the conference title.

St. John's 45, Carleton 16: Aaron Syverson passed for 276 yards and four TDs and Aaron Larson caught a career-high 10 passes for 125 yards and three TDs to lead the host Johnnies past the Knights. The three-TD game, Larson's second of the season, gives him 20 TDs for his career — a record for St. John's tight ends.

Concordia (Moorhead) 59, Hamline 0: Peyton Mortenson rushed for four TDs and Cooper Mattern threw three TD passes for the host Cobbers.

Macalester 54, St. Scholastica 35: Michael Nadeau threw for a school-record 556 yards and six TDs to pace the host Scots past the Saints. Ty Bruckner caught 10 passes for a school-record 265 yards and three TDs for the Scots.

Bemidji State 24, Northern State 14: Brandon Alt threw for 320 yards and three TDs to lead the host Beavers to their eighth consecutive victory.

Minnesota Duluth 34, Augustana 24: Kyle Walljasper threw four TD passes to lead the Bulldogs past the Vikings in Sioux Falls, S.D.

MSU Mankato 45, SW Minnesota State 24: Hayden Ekern passed for 262 yards and four TDs to help the host Mavericks pull away from the Mustangs. The Mustangs led 17-14 in the second quarter before the Mavericks scored 31 unanswered points to take a 45-17 lead.

MSU Moorhead 21, Concordia (St. Paul) 20: Jack Strand passed for 292 yards and three TDs to help the host Dragons outlast the Golden Bears. Connor Cordts passed for 260 yards and a TD and ran for a score for the Golden Bears.