St. Norbert Routed by St. Thomas in NCAA Playoffs

From Sports Information Director, November 17, 2012 | Football
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

ST. PAUL, Minn. - St. Norbert College gave up four second-quarter touchdowns for a 27-point quarter by the University of St. Thomas, and that was all the Tommies would need in a 48-17 win over the Green Knights in a first-round NCAA Division III Playoffs game at O'Shaughnessy Stadium.

The Green Knights (8-3) fell to 1-10 all-time in the NCAA Division III Playoffs. St. Thomas (11-0) will face Elmhurst in a second-round game next weekend in St. Paul.

Following a scoreless first quarter, the Tommies broke the game open with three touchdown runs by Brenton Braddock and a 10-yard touchdown pass from Matt O'Connell to Logan Marks for a 27-0 lead at intermission.

Matt Allen caught a 1-yard touchdown from O'Connell early in the third quarter gave the Tommies a 34-0 lead. St. Norbert got on the board with 2:17 left in the third on a 5-yard touchdown pass from James Tringali to Brian Fliess.

Randy Hill's 34-yard field goal early int he fourth quarter cut it to 34-10, but the Green Knights would get no closer. St. Thomas got an 82-yard touchdown run by Braddock and a 9-yard scoring run by Kyler Anderson sandwiched around an 80-yard touchdown pass from Tringali to Austin Williams.

St. Thomas outgained St. Norbert 536-228, as the Green Knights had just nine net rushing yards. Tringali completed 15 of 32 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. Williams had 27 yards on 15 carries to lead St. Norbert on the ground. Mark Villers caught four passes for 56 yards. Josh Vanden Heuvel turned in a 15-tackle performance with three tackles-for-losses.

Braddock rushed 24 times for 166 yards and four touchdowns and the Tommies gained 295 yards on the ground. O'Connell completed 15 of 25 passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.