Was it a dream, or did Thomas More really run up a 21-0 lead – in the first quarter — on a good Bluefield University team Saturday?
Not a dream. But not the last word, either, as Bluefield’s talented Rams ran off the next 35 straight points, then had just enough to hold off the Saints at the wire to survive a 42-35 shootout in TMU head coach Chris Norwell’s debut.
“Turnovers,” Saint after Saint lamented with a shake of the head at the thought of what might have been had they not coughed up the football. A team might be able to survive three turnovers, although probably not.
But five? Not happening. You can’t score enough points to do that.
Although Thomas More tried, using a two-quarterback system much as the Saints did last year with Blaine Espinosa and Rae’Von Vaden each responsible for a pair of touchdowns while barely surviving the furious Bluefield blitzers. And the numerous resulting hits, before and maybe a bit after the whistle as it was Game 1 for the officials as well.
On the night, Thomas More outdid Bluefield on offense, 420 total yards to 401 with 24 first downs to 20. But the Rams managed three home run plays – scoring passes of 50 and 52 yards to newcomer Thomas Lee, a 6-2, 210-pound Division I-type athlete, and the game-winner from 40 yards to All-American JaQuan Ebron with 8:54 left.
TMU receiver Roques Dowdy had his own moment in the spotlight on a 63-yard TD strike from Vaden in the Saints’ three-TD opening blitz in just 6:16 of the first quarter for a 21-0 lead. Three drives for 195 yards on 20 plays with Espinosa, a redshirt sophomore out of Cookeville, Tenn., engineering two of them, and Vaden, from Louisville Moore, the third.
“That was a wild game,” Norwell said of the amazing swings in momentum. “We showed what we could do when we’re operating the way we can . . . That was a helluva game tonight. But what ups and downs.”
The Saints just showed a bit too much of the downside of that coin after establishing the big lead and then giving up five straight scores to a Bluefield team they beat 45-33 on the road a year ago.
“We’re going to learn from this and get better,” Norwell told his players, starting with Monday’s game film session. “You guys good with that?”
“Yes sir,” the Saints responded.
“We’ve got some young guys out there,” Norwell said. This is about “learning how to put yourself into good situations.”
Those five turnovers (three pass interceptions, two lost fumbles) did exactly the opposite. “We gotta’ figure it out,” said Vaden, who completed six of 13 passing with that 63-yard TD to Dowdy balanced against one interception. He also ran it 12 times for 37 yards and one score.
Espinosa, who started, also ran it 12 times for 36 yards and two TD while completing 17 of 31 for 218 yards. A great night’s work – except for those two interceptions.
But note that was 24 carries for 73 yards by the TMU quarterbacks. The Saints’ running backs, on 21 carries, netted just 14 yards as the still-young TMU offensive line had little luck against the Rams up front.
And yet, TMU managed to run 89 plays to the Rams’ 64 and in one of those stats that often doesn’t mean much, dominated in time of possession, 34:20 to 24:17.
Now for the real challenge, Norwell told his team. “Next week, we go on the road,” Norwell said, “we’ve got three straight on the road.”
How they respond is up to them. One way they’re not going to, said sophomore safety Colton Sandhas, who led the Saints with a pair of interceptions, is by looking too far ahead. “We just want to go 1-0 this week,” the 6-foot, 200-pounder from Cincinnati Elder said.
And yes, he expects to see receivers like Lee and Ebron all year. “There are a lot of good receivers in the Mid-South (Conference),” he said. Maybe not all with a gun-slinger quarterback like Nathan Herstich who hit on 22 of 40 passes for 339 yards including 10 to Ebron and Lee for 272 yards and four TD — two to each.
And yet TMU’s Dowdy had the best individual night of the three, with seven catches for 167 yards and that 63-yard TD on the night’s single best catch. “He’s a superstar,” Vaden said. “Superstars make superstar plays.”
The next three weeks TMU heads off to Kentucky Christian Saturday in Grayson, then to Pittsburgh for Division I Duquesne Sept. 10 and finally to Campbellsville Sept. 17 before returning to Republic Bank Field Oct. 1 for 2020 national champ Lindsey Wilson.
BOX SCORE
BLUEFIELD 7 14 14 7 – 42
THOMAS MORE 21 0 0 14 – 35
TM: Espinosa 2 run (Curran kick)
TM: Jarrett 9 run (Curran kick)
TM: Dowdy 63 pass from Vaden (Curran kick)
B: Lee 50 pass from Herstich (Dales kick)
B: Lee 52 pass from Herstich (Dales kick)
B: Thomas 4 run (Dales kick)
B: Ridgel 22 INT RETURN (Dales kick)
B: Ebron 6 pass from Herstich (Dales kick)
TM: Espinosa 1 run (Curran kick)
TM: Vaden 2 run (Curran kick)
B: Ebron 40 pass from Herstich (Dales kick)
