Box Score Football is finally back and The Thunderbirds came to play. Despite allowing a couple of big plays to start the game, the Southern Utah defense played an outstanding game holding the St. Thomas Tommies to just 13 points Thursday evening. This coupled with consistent scoring by the T-Bird offense led to a big 44-13 victory to kick off the 2022 campaign and Coach DeLane Fitzgerald's tenure here at Southern Utah.
After a booming kick from Redshirt Senior Jake Garardi to start the game, the Tommies needed only two plays to reach the endzone. The drive consisted of a 60 yard rush by the sophomore running back #4 Hope Adebayo followed by a 15 yard dash to the endzone by #26 Shawn Shipman. This drive would account for just over 40% of the Tommies total rushing yards as the T-Bird defense would quickly tighten up the running lanes. Coach Fitzgerald said of the early score by the Tommies "Our players had to make an adjustment to the speed of the game… you have to make an adjustment to game speed quickly and that's what our guys did."
The Southern Utah offense would go 3 and out in the first drive but a well-placed punt started the St. Thomas offense deep in their own territory. The Tommies once again marched the ball out to midfield but a clutch tackle by Mitch Price led to a turnover on downs and gave the Thunderbirds a short field to work with and after 9 plays Southern Utah settled for a Jake Gerardi field goal.
After a 7 play 27 yard drive, The Purple were forced to give the ball back to the T-Birds who promptly marched the field. Aided by a 42 yard completion from #12 Justin Miller to #8 Isiah Wooden Southern Utah would finish the drive when running back #21 Bobby Cole would punch it in to make the score 10-7.
The Thunderbirds would never relinquish the lead, scoring in their first drive of the second quarter on a 64 yard pass to Isaiah Wooden. The 4 play 80 yard drive established a feeling of command for the Southern Utah Offense. The Tommies would turn the ball over on a fumble by QB #14 Cade Sexauer in the subsequent drive giving the T-Birds great field position. #30 Micah Petit would add another 3 points to the scoreboard for the Thunderbirds as he put in a 31 yard field goal to extend the lead to 20-7 before the half.
The Thunderbirds got the ball to begin the second half but were forced to punt after only 3 plays. Jake Gerardi booted a 71 yard punt to flip the field though and the T-bird defense came up big once again when #59 Cameron Dahle stuffed the Tommies on a 4th and 1 near midfield.
Grady Robison entered the game in the shotgun and after making a great read kept the ball for a big 19 yard run to put the T-Birds within striking distance once again. Justin Miller reentered the game and completed 3 straight passes including a 6 yard quick hit to #99 Mata'vaa Ta'ase for the touchdown.
St. Thomas answered with an 11 play 75 yard drive capped off by a 9 yard touchdown pass to #5 Josh Komis. The Tommies opted to try for the 2 point conversion though but the Cade Sexauer pass went through the hands of wide receiver #8 Wesley Juszczak. Keeping with the aggressive strategy St. Thomas tried an onside kick that was fielded by #20 Rand Jensen and returned to the Tommies 35 yard line.
Despite starting with great field position the Thunderbird drive stalled and Petit added another field goal from 23 yards out to make the score 31-13 in favor of the T-Birds. The third period came to a close as the Tommie quarterback forced a throw that was intercepted by #3 Rodrick Ward right at midfield.
The fourth quarter started when Justin Miller completed a pair of passes to Mata'vaa Ta'ase and Isaiah Wooden for 26 and 25 yards respectively. The latter of the two passes put the Thunderbirds up 38-13 after the Petit extra point.
Southern Utah and St. Thomas traded drives that covered little ground and in the second possession of the fourth quarter for the Tommies Cade Sexauer threw a pass that was intercepted by #5 Davin Wilson. The Redshirt Sophomore cornerback returned the ball 26 yards to the St. Thomas 16 yard line where Miller and crew had no trouble punching it in on a 1 yard run by #15 Elijah Burns to make the lead 44-13. The missed extra point by Petit sailed just left of the upright but the Thunderbirds had the game well in hand by this point and another 4th down stop was all it took for Southern Utah to seal the victory.
St. Thomas had 180 yards rushing with 282 yards passing in the contest. The Thunderbirds would finish with 117 yards on the ground and 372 through the air. Justin Miller would go 23-35 for 364 yards and 3 touchdowns. The leading receiver for Southern Utah was Isaiah Wooden who hauled in 5 catches for 142 yards and a couple of touchdowns. Josh Dunn and Roderick Ward led the SUU defense in tackles with 6 each.
"The story of the game is 4 turnovers to 0 turnovers… that is the difference in that football game." Said Coach Fitzgerald. Coach Fitzgerald praised the team a whole saying "there were 8 or 9 players who stepped up and who played really well." Southern Utah has not started the season with a victory since 2013. Coach Fitzgerald and his staff have started this season out on a high and we can look forward to some exciting football this fall.
The Thunderbirds will travel to Salt Lake City next Saturday to take on the #7 ranked University of Utah. Marking the first time the T-Birds have squared off with an FBS top 10 team.
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