St. Thomas Aquinas football head coach Randy Dreiling builds teams that are really good at running the football. But the Saints would appear, at least on the surface, like a team that is not built to quickly erase large deficits late in the game.

Appearances can be deceiving.

Aquinas erased a 20-point second-half deficit on Friday to earn a 29-26 victory over previously undefeated Bishop Miege.

“That’s who we are,” Dreiling said. “An 8-yard run is the same as an 8-yard hitch. They’re running hitches, we’re running 8-yard runs. … Once you get it rolling, you get the other team on their heels a little bit and that’s kind of what we did there in the second half.”

Dreiling said it doesn’t matter if you move the ball through the air or punish people on the ground, it just matters if you can get it in the end zone. 

Both offenses struggled with that early in this one.

Miege senior quarterback Mac Armstrong helped his Stags find their stride first. Armstrong reeled off a 34-yard run on the team’s second drive, getting the team across midfield even after moving back 10 yards because of a block in the back late in the play. Armstrong ended up finishing the drive a few plays later with a 3-yard touchdown pass to senior tight end Daegan Jensen.
 

Starting near its own end zone, Aquinas’ next drive stalled quickly. The Stags took advantage of good field position. Armstrong got the Stags across midfield with a 30-yard strike to Coppage and quickly moved them into the red zone. Senior running back DeAndre Beasley punched the ball in on a 2-yard rushing touchdown to go up 14-0.

Miege extended that lead to 20-0 with a 11-play, 60-yard touchdown drive out of halftime. Beasley struck again, this time on a 3-yard rushing score. Miege went for a 2-point attempt, but failed to convert.

That’s when Saints running back Sean Carroll got his team’s offense rolling.

Carroll rattled off runs of 9, 3, 1, 8, 3, 7 and 6 yards to go along with a 17-yard run from quarterback Aiden Skinner. Senior running back Jack Forge finished off the drive with a 26-yard rushing touchdown.

“We stuck to the game plan and trusted our coach,” Forge said. “It’s a great scheme and it works for us.”

And when it doesn't work, the team often just needs to make a minor adjustment. This time it was with the offensive line’s blocking scheme, which was more successful in the second half giving Carroll, Forge and the other backs better openings to reach the second level.

That offensive line includes Carroll’s younger brother, freshman Stephen Carroll. Dreiling said Stephen is the first freshman he’s started on the offensive line.

A quick three-and-out for Miege put the ball right back into Carroll’s hands, one of which the running back feared may have been broken during the game. He converted a fourth-and-short attempt near midfield. After Skinner achieved the same thing to get the Saints in the red zone, Carroll rushed for 19 yards on four carries, including a 2-yard rushing touchdown to cut Miege’s lead to 12.
 

Armstrong responded quickly by throwing a strike down the field to Jensen, who outran the Saints defense down the field for a 78-yard touchdown reception. 

Senior running back Jeremiah Penney returned the ensuing kickoff to the Saints 38-yard line, but Carroll was still gassed when he took the field. That didn’t stop him from scoring another goal-line touchdown.

Armstrong looked like he would follow up with another big-scoring drive, but an elusive first down run ended with the Saints delivering a hit that knocked the ball out of his hands into Aquinas’ possession.

Carroll pushed the offense down the field again on his way to a 3-yard rushing touchdown to give the Saints its first lead, which was extended to 29-26 with a Forge 2-point conversion catch. 

Miege looked poised to drive down the field for a chance to at least tie the game, but junior cornerback Wyatt Lewis jumped in front of a pass near the sideline. Lewis, who had dropped a potential interception on Miege’s third-quarter scoring drive, looked like he might take the ball all the way for the touchdown before getting pushed out of bounds at the Miege 39.

Dreiling said he wanted the defense to get a lot of credit for limiting this explosive Miege offense in the second half, although he did not get to see much of his team playing on that side of the ball.

“I don’t get to see the defense until I get home,” Dreiling said. 

But he knows the defense made plays based on the reaction of the crowd.
 

“I could always tell when our crowd was cheering that was good and when their crowd was cheering, it was bad.”

When the crowd erupted following the Lewis interception, Dreiling could not help but look.

“I got up and I saw him run,” Dreiling said. “I thought he was going to score that one. The crowd got the best cheer out of that one, I’d say.”

The crowd’s excitement helped Carroll, who was completely exhausted at that point, will his way back onto the field to pick up 12 yards for a first down, forcing Miege to burn its final timeout. A few plays later on a third-and-1 from the Miege 18-yard line, the Saints needed one more first down to end the game.

Dreiling called out two possible plays to run, but there was no doubt who would run it.

“He said it doesn’t matter, I am getting it,” Dreiling said. “That’s the kind of leadership that kid provides.”

Carroll sealed the 29-26 victory with a 5-yard run for the first down. He finished with 233 yards and three touchdowns on 40 carries, with 29 of those being in the second half.

“It was mentally draining for me,” Carroll said. “I was on the verge of quitting at least three times, but I just couldn’t.”

Carroll refused to let the injuries and fatigue stop him from coming through for his team.

“It was awesome and it was worth it in the end,” Carroll said.

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