St. Thomas 17, Gustavus Adolphus 16
Oct 02, 1999
ST. PETER, Minn. — St. Thomas claimed a hard-fought 18-17 victory against Gustavus spoiling the Gusties' Homecoming and handing Gustavus its first loss of the season. Oct 02, 1999
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St. Thomas
In a bruising physical battle that resembled games of years past, St. Thomas picked up what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown on a 2-yard run by Marcus Ludtke with 12:09 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Tommie defense stopped Gustavus on a fourth-and-2 from the Gustavus 30-yard line with 1:32 remaining to preserve the victory.
St. Thomas senior quarterback Greg Kaiser sparked the Tommies (2-2, 2-1) all day long as he completed 25 of 32 passes for 247 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. Kaiser was the architect of an offensive game plan that saw the Tommies control the ball for over 35 minutes in the contest compared to 24:31 for Gustavus (3-1, 2-1).
Kaiser completed four passes for third-down conversions and one fourth down conversion that later led to a Tommie touchdown in the second quarter. Junior running back Marcus Ludtke also had a busy day for St. Thomas as he carried 38 times for 85 yards and one touchdown.
St. Thomas opened the scoring with a seven-yard touchdown pass from Greg Kaiser to Jon Learn with 3:14 remaining in the first quarter, however, the extra point was missed to give the Tommies a 6-0 lead. Gustavus countered with a one-yard touchdown run by senior Travis Prunty at 11:02 of the second quarter and Christian White’s extra point gave the Gusties a 7-6 advantage.
The Tommies moved back into the lead later in the quarter when Kaiser hooked up with Brent Nelson for a three-yard touchdown pass. The extra point was missed again and St. Thomas led 12-7. Gustavus came right back with a nifty five-play 74-yard drive that ended with a four-yard touchdown pass from Joe Thorvig to Brent Olson with :10 remaining in the half and a 14-12 lead.
Gustavus missed a key opportunity to score when St. Thomas fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Gustavus recovered on the St. Thomas 15-yard line. The Gusties lined up for a 33-yard field goal with :02 remaining but it sailed just outside of the right upright.
The second half turned out to be a defensive struggle as the only points that were scored were a 20-yard field goal by Gustavus’ Christian White at 7:10 of the third quarter and Ludtke's winning touchdown run. The winning touchdown drive by St. Thomas was set up by an interception by linebacker Blane Tetrault at the Gustavus 31-yard line.
Andrew Hilliard led St. Thomas in receiving with eight catches for 111 yards. Travis Prunty, who entered the game ranked 10th in Division III in rushing averaging 151.7 yards per game, carried 19 times for Gustavus for 110 yards and one touchdown. Ryan Britz also had a big day on the ground as he carried 10 times for 86 yards and an average of 8.6 yards per carry. Quarterback Joe Thorvig completed 12 of 22 passes for 109 yards and one touchdown with one interception.