Coming into the season as the unknown in its first year in NCAA Division II, the coaches picked the Thomas More Saints to finish dead last in the 10-team Great Midwest Athletic Conference in the preseason poll.
But the Saints ended up in sixth after concluding the regular season with a convincing 44-6 win Saturday over Lake Erie College. Thomas More finished 5-6 overall and 4-5 in GMAC action.
The Saints snapped a four-game losing streak with the win. Their last three losses against Hillsdale (35-33), Ashland (28-20) and Northwood (24-20) were by a combined 14 points.
“Obviously as a coach, you want to win them all, but also understanding this is a process,” said Chris Norwell, Thomas More head coach. “We are bought into the process and it’s all about having great people. I believe we have a great coaching staff. We have some guys playing that are very talented, come from great families and we got guys that love football. That can be a recipe for success.”
Thomas More outgained Lake Erie, 390-230 in total offense, including a 179-84 advantage on the ground. Running back Jaden Hall led the Saints on the ground with 79 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries.
“It’s about just being patient and trusting the offensive linemen to do their jobs,” Hall said. “You also have to trust every call the coach makes. It’s what our team is build off and it’s what we go by. I definitely think that taking advantage of every opportunity is critical on every play of every game.”
The Saints added balance with starting quarterback Rae’Von Hall completing 12-of-16 passes for 121 yards and a touchdown. Recent Simon Kenton graduate Chase Crone came on in relief in the second half to complete 8-of-10 passes for 90 yards and a touchdown in the spread offense.
Tight end Mike Kirch led the Saints with seven catches for 79 yards and a touchdown. Bobby Borneman added a touchdown catch and Freddie Johnson had a touchdown run as Thomas More tried to involve a number of skill position players.
“It feels amazing just to be able to put that many points up and let the skill guys do what they do,” said Kyle Hillerich, Thomas More offensive lineman. “We just did our part and they did theirs. It was awesome.”
Turnovers made the huge difference in this game as Lake Erie had five to just one for Thomas More. Tanner Lawrence, Ross Halverstadt and Wyatt Bullock recovered fumbles for the Saints with Del Thomas and Colton Sandhas picking off Lake Erie backup quarterback Kevin Costa and returning them a combined 40 yards.
Thomas More’s defense did a great job flying to the ball, limiting Lake Erie’s yardage after catches. Thomas led the Saints with seven tackles, Lawrence had five and Kolton Reeves added four.
“Our guys play hard all the time,” Lawrence said. “We played for each other, especially on Senior Day. Things happen throughout the season. But we’re there for each other and the team.”
Thomas More scored on its first three possessions to go up 21-0 after one quarter. Hall scored from four yards out before Vaden found Kirch for a 15-yard touchdown and Johnson scored from five yards out.
Neither team scored again until late in the second quarter when Lake Erie scored its lone points when Costa found Maliek Carter for a nine-yard touchdown with 1:30 to go. But Luke Iden booted a 22-yard field goal as time expired on the other end to put the Saints up 24-6 at halftime.
Hall scored his other two touchdowns in the third quarter from four then two yards out capping off long and sustained drives to extend the Thomas More lead to 37-6. The first one came after a Lake Erie dead ball unsportsmanlike conduct penalty gave the Saints a 1st-and-goal.
Thomas More capped off the scoring in the fourth quarter when Crone found Borneman for a 36-yard touchdown pass. The Saints started that nine-play drive at their own 27.
“I think in the first quarter we came out ready to play,” Norwell said. “In the second quarter, we kind of went flat for a little bit. But the guys really responded that second half and put it together for 30 minutes. It’s awesome to see our guys, especially our seniors go out on top.”
Thomas More lists three graduate students in Thomas, Jackson Gear and Trey Brausch on the roster along with two redshirt seniors in Zack Coleman and Halverstadt. The Saints last had a winning record at 7-3 in 2018.
Norwell just finished his second season as head coach. The Saints also finished 5-6 in his first season leading the way.
Box Score Link:
https://thomasmoresaints.com/sports/football/stats/2023/lake-erie-college/boxscore/5517