Following delayed kickoff, St. Thomas falls 34-13 to D-II Sioux Falls in season opener

Sioux Falls 34, St. Thomas 13

The Tommies intercepted a pass on the game’s third play and led 7-0 with just 1:44 seconds gone. Then they never did again on a rainy/misty night after kickoff was pushed back from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. because of passing thunderstorms. Sioux Falls, a Division II team, scored in about every way imaginable. They outscored the Tommies 23-6 after halftime on a night St. Thomas coach Glenn Caruso lost a home opener for the first time since he arrived on campus in 2008. He’s now 16-1 in home openers and 16-2 in season openers. The only other loss was to Southern Utah in 2022.

The end of St. Thomas 31-game home winning streak, the longest current one of any team at any level of college football. The Tommies had not lost at O’Shaughnessy Stadium since Dec. 3, 2016. They had won 42 consecutive regular-season games there dating to October 2014.

Camden Dean, Sioux Falls’ junior quarterback. He commanded the game with his feet and scooped up a red-zone fumble and ran it in for the go-ahead score and an 8-7 lead at first quarter’s lead that his team never lost.

In a game filled with odd scoring plays, St. Thomas’ Luke Herzog sacked and forced a fumble from Dean back against his own end zone with 6:37 left in the third quarter. CJ Warren ran it in, cutting the deficit to 18-13. Next play, Tommie Gabe Abel fumbled an attempted two-point conversion that Sioux Falls’ Brendan Holt scooped up and ran back the length of the field for a 20-13 lead.

Thursday was St. Thomas’ first night game in their four years of Division I play and the first August home game in their history. They played at night at in their 2022 season opener at Southern Utah and couldn’t play before Labor Day when they were in Division III.

Sioux Falls had 23 first downs, St. Thomas had four until one last drive. The Tommies had two yards rushing in the first half.

The Tommies play the Missouri Valley Football Conference’s formidable Northern Iowa — which opens its season Saturday at home against Valparaiso — on Saturday, Sept. 7 at O’Shaughnessy Stadium. Kickoff is 1 p.m.