ARDEN HILLS — Senior cornerback Kris Kopp had a pickoff and two fumble recoveries on a big day for the Tommie defense as No. 10-ranked St. Thomas scored a 19-10 MIAC football victory over Bethel on a sunny Saturday in Arden Hills.

Coach Glenn Caruso's Tommies (8-1 overall, 7-1 MIAC) have won 10 of their last 11 games dating back 366 days. They shut out the Royals in the second half and took a large step toward an NCAA playoff berth. UST also locked up a top-two conference finish.

St. Thomas closes the regular season at home next Saturday against Northwestern College. With a win, the Tommies will likely land the school's first NCAA playoff berth since 1990. 

It's just the second time in 18 seasons that a Tommie football team has started 8-1, and the first time it has posted back-to-back wins over the Royals since a stetch in the early-to-mid 1990s

The Tommies never trailed and limited Bethel (6-3, 5-2) to 10 first downs and 241 yards of offense. Kopp, who began his career as a QB, covered all three Bethel turnovers and added four solo tackles, including a fourth-down tackle that stopped an early BU drive inside the St. Thomas 25-yard line.

UST's Tommy Becker had eight tackles, Zach Sturm had seven tackles and a forced fumble, and Wyatt Delgado had seven tackles.

Tommie sophomore QB Dakota Tracy threw short TD passes -- all in third-and-goal situations -- in crowded end zones to Jake Friederichs, Tony Margarit and Nick Gleisner. Tracy, in his first road start, completed 11-of-18 passes for 105 yards. For Friederichs, its his 21st career catch and ninth touchdown.

Junior Ben Wartman rushed for 133 tough yards on 32 carries, including six consecutive runs and two first downs on the final drive that drained the clock. Wartman now has surpassed 100 yards for the 15th time in the last 17 games, and UST is 14-1 when he eclipses 100.

For the ninth game in a row, the Tommie running backs had no lost fumbles, and Wartman has 344 consecutive touches without a fumble. Bethel came in with 26 sacks in eight games but had none, as UST still has allowed just two sacks on the season.

Fritz Waldvogel drew plenty of BU attention. The sophomore KR-WR was held in check but managed six catches for 66 yards and had 105 all-purpose yards on 11 touches. 

Bethel blocked a field goal after a low snap and blocked two PAT kicks. Former Tommie LB Ross Petterson had an inteception in the red zone and 14 tackles to lead the Royals.


Click here for box score:

http://www.sidearmstats.com/bethel/football/

Press release submitted by St. Thomas on Nov 07, 2009 at 06:14 PM Eastern