St. Thomas’ home winning streak ends with a thud in blowout loss to Sioux Falls

Until very late Thursday night, St. Thomas owned a 31-game home winning streak that was the longest current one at any level of college football. They hadn’t lost at O’Shaughnessy Stadium since Dec. 3, 2016, and had won 42 consecutive regular-season games there dating to October 2014.

That all ended with a lopsided 34-13 loss to Division II Sioux Falls on a muggy, misty, delayed night when kickoff was moved back two hours to 8 p.m due to passing thunderstorms.

“I think it’s one of the worst games I’ve seen us play in 17 seasons,” St. Thomas coach Glenn Caruso said.

The Tommies intercepted a pass on the game’s third play and soon thereafter scored a touchdown before the game was two minutes old.

They never led again.

They had 2 yards rushing at halftime and were outdone by Sioux Falls in first downs 23-4 until the Tommies’ final drive of the game.

Both teams seemingly scored in the strangest of ways as they played onto nearly the stroke of midnight.

The Tommies trailed 11-7 at halftime, but even a St. Thomas quarterback switch from starter Tak Tateoka to Michael Rostberg couldn’t keep Sioux Falls from outscoring them 23-6 in the second half.

“As I told the guys, that’s what we are right now,” Caruso said. “The thing I love about football is that what you see on the field, that’s who you are. If I love it when we win or have a great season, I have to respect that’s who we are and it gives us an opportunity to respond. That’s who we are and how we respond is up to us.”

They don’t have much time. The Tommies play host to formidable Missouri Valley Football Conference rival Northern Iowa on Sept. 7. They will go forth with the 31-game home streak gone and another out there somewhere to start.

When asked if such a streak matters, Caruso said: “It doesn’t feel like it. You can ask the players, that’s not something we focus on.”

This time, there was no staying on the field following the game to sing the school fight song with the fans.

“The last time none of those players — including the guys in sixth year — ever came back in the locker room instead of being out there singing,” Caruso said. “That’s part of the journey. I’ve said to people sooner or later the streak is going to be done and it’s going to start over. It has not been a focal point, but I do think when you’re able to string together that much success, it speaks to the consistency of the players and their effort. That was not us out there tonight, for sure.”

The Cougars took an 8-7 lead on the final play of the first quarter. They fumbled the ball near the goal line, but it came out of a pile of players to quarterback Camden Dean. He scooped it up and scored, then they used a tricky two-point play for his team to take a lead it would never relinquish.

Sioux Falls built its lead to 18-7 midway through the third quarter. The Tommies responded by forcing a fumble deep in Sioux Falls territory, which St. Thomas defensive lineman C..J. Warren recovered and returned 6 yards for a touchdown. That made it 18-13, but on the two-point conversion attempt, Cougars linebacker Brendan Holt picked up a fumble and ran 86 yards for two points the other way, putting Sioux Falls ahead 20-13.

Dylan Rudningen then ran for two fourth-quarter touchdowns as the Cougars pulled away. Rudningen ran 23 times for 67 yards.

“I think if you gave me time, I could probably come up with one,” Caruso said when asked if he had seen as many unusual ways to score. “It was odd for sure. I don’t know if inopportune is the right word, unfortunate. As I said to the defense when they can off the field sad or mad, it’s about process, not result. If you get the team to turn the ball over, that’s something we have to feel good about.

“You don’t see those every day. It was very, very strange for sure.”