Football 10/14/06 -- St. Thomas 47, Augsburg 21

BOXSCORE

ST. PAUL, Minn. (10/14/06) -- Sophomore quarterback David Sauer threw three touchdown passes, and sophomore Scott Brink had his first college 100-yard rushing game to lead St. Thomas (4-2 overall, 3-1 MIAC) to a 47-21 victory over visiting Augsburg (0-6 overall, 0-4 MIAC) Saturday in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football at O'Shaughnessy Stadium.

For the Auggies, sophomore wide receiver Royce Winford (So., Albertville, Minn./Osseo HS) scored a special teams touchdown and an offensive touchdown, and senior linebacker Mike Matson (Sr., Cedar, Minn./St. Francis HS) had a blocked punt, a fumble recovery and seven tackles -- which broke a string of 11 straight games of double-digit tackles for the All-American candidate. Defensive back Garrett Kratz (Jr., Jordan, Minn.) added a sack, two break-ups and five solo tackles, while Andrew Bergeson (Fr., Red Wing, Minn.) had a team-high nine tackles (seven solo).

Augsburg trailed 13-0 early in the second quarter when Matson blocked a punt, that Winford returned 25 yards for a touchdown for a 13-7 score. But St. Thomas then scored 21 unanswered points to break open the game.

Augsburg junior Arthur Minus (Jr., St. Paul, Minn./Humboldt HS) rushed 16 times for 92 yards with an eight-yard touchdown run. Auggie sophomore quarterback Jordan Berg (So., Gaylord, Minn./Sibley East HS) led an 87-yard scoring drive in the final seven minutes, capped by a six-yard scoring pass to Winford. Berg threw for 109 yards on 13-of-28 passing.

Wide receiver Ricky Schreier (Sr., Maplewood, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall HS) and tight end Andrew Neumann (Sr., Somerset, Wis.) each had five catches for the Auggies, with Schreier accumulating 40 yards and Neumann accumulating 32.

Ninth-year coach Don Roney notched his 50th career win for the Tommies, who won without three injured starters. Roney (50-34 career mark) saw his team build a 34-7 lead and stay in the MIAC title race with four games to play.

The Tommie starting defense picked off two passes, allowed just one touchdown, and surrendered only 114 yards of total offense in its three and a half quarters of play. The UST starting defense has surrendured just eight touchdowns in six games, allowed no gains of more than 30 yards. and has 12 interceptions.

Senior Justin Nwadiashi had his ninth career interception, junior Pat Sommerstad had his seventh career pickoff, and senior Mike Hara had two sacks among his three tackles for loss.

Sauer completed 13-of-21 passes for 227 yards with no interceptions and improved to 4-1 on his career as a starter. He connected with freshman Sam Moen for a 71-yard scoring play on the second play from scrimmage. Sauer also threw TD passes of nine and seven yards to senior Ian Lewis.

The Tommies had a 455-211 advantage in total offense. Brink, a transfer from Winona State, rushed 17 times for 128 yards and one TD.

The Auggies have lost 18 in a row at UST's O'Shaughnessy Stadium, since last winning here in 1970.

Both teams return to MIAC action next Saturday (10/21) at 1 p.m., with Augsburg hosting Carleton at Edor Nelwon Field and St. Thomas playing at Concordia-Moorhead.