The Valparaiso University football team put together an impressive game-opening drive, but it was mostly St. Thomas from that point forward as the Beacons fell 55-17 at O'Shaughnessy Stadium in St. Paul, Minn. against a Tommies team that is notoriously tough to beat on its home field.
 
How It Happened

• The Beacons struck first, assembling a 10-play, 78-yard drive that finished with a 3-yard touchdown leap by Caron Tyler (Temecula, Calif. / Chaparral) to make it 7-0 with 9:04 left in the first quarter. Ryan Ricketti (Rocky River, Ohio / Rocky River) had three catches on the drive, while Michael Mansaray (Columbus, Ohio / Westerville South) had four carries for 24 yards on the opening series.
• A 44-yard catch by Quentin Cobb-Butler set up a 1-yard touchdown plunge by Joseph Koch as the Tommies responded right away, tying the game at seven with 6:35 left in the opening quarter.
• The second Valpo drive ended with an interception and a return to the Valpo 4-yard line. The defense did good work to force a fourth down including a big tackle for loss by Mark Johnson (Nashville, Tenn. / Lipscomb Academy) on third down, but the Tommies scored on fourth-and-goal from the four on a pass to Pat Bowen.
• The Valpo defense limited the damage in the red zone again to keep St. Thomas to a field goal on its next drive, as Ben Hoiland hit from 38, then the Tommies added a 20-yard rushing TD by QB Amari Powell that lifted the lead to 24-7 with 9:40 left in the first half.
• The Beacons were aided by two key St. Thomas penalties on their next drive, which finished with kicker Luke Scoma (Bellevue, Wash. / Bellevue) drilling a 39-yard field goal to make it 24-10 with 3:25 left in the second quarter.
• JaShawn Todd made a 56-yard TD catch to make it 31-10 with 2:33 left in the first half. They tacked on three more when Hoiland made a 43-yard field goal with 23 seconds remaining in the opening half.
• St. Thomas added on in the third quarter, building up a 48-10 lead before Chris Gundy (Smithfield, Va. / Smithfield) broke off a 94-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to make it 48-17 with 3:44. St. Thomas added one more score to account for the final.

Inside the Game

• Scoma's field goal was his fifth make of the season.
• Tyler's touchdown was his first on the ground this season and the fourth of his career.
• Gundy's kickoff return TD was the second by the Beacons this season. It marked his first career return TD and fourth overall score.  
• The team's top tackler was O.C. Nurse (Dumfries, Va. / Forest Park [Marietta]), who accrued eight stops. He over doubled his tackle total for the season as he had seven all year prior to Saturday.
• Mansaray ran for 121 yards on 20 carries to lead the team. He had his highest rushing total since the season opener vs. Virginia Lynchburg (134).
• The Beacons were hurt by turnovers, losing two fumbles and throwing two interceptions.
• Avoiding penalties continued to be a bright spot as the Beacons were flagged just twice. Valpo has committed more penalties than the opponent just once in seven games this season. This marked the fourth time this year that Valpo was flagged three times or fewer.
• Ricketti was the team's top receiver with career-high five catches including three on the opening drive. He finished with 64 yards through the air, also a personal best.
• Redshirt sophomore Nic Lendino (Naperville, Ill. / Neuqua Valley) had five tackles in the game, helping him cross the 100-tackle milestone for his collegiate career.
• St. Thomas improved to 36-4 in its last 40 home games.

Up Next
Valpo (1-6, 0-3 PFL) will host Morehead State as part of Homecoming and Family Weekend next week with a noon kickoff at Brown Field. For ticket information, visit tickets.valpoathletics.com.