Hjavier Pitts and Luke Zajac both rushed for more than 100 yards and scored two touchdowns to lead the Thomas More football team to a 48-12 win over St. Lawrence University in a non-league game in front of a large Family Weekend crowd on Weeks Field at Lecknoby on Saturday afternoon in Canton.
Thomas More jumped out to a 17-0 lead halfway through the second quarter, and the Saints rallied for two straight touchdowns to cut the lead to 17-12 after the opening drive of the third quarter, but Thomas More's running game eventually wore the Saints down, as they closed the game with 31 unanswered points.
"They are a good football team," said head coach Dan Puckhaber. "They came out and had a good game play against us offensively. It took us a little bit to figure out what the right plays were going to be today."
Zajac opened the scoring with a five-yard scoring run in the first quarter, and Cole Mathias pushed the lead to 10-0 with a 35-yard field goal early in the second quarter. Pitts plunged into end zone for a 1-yard touchdown run four minutes later to push the Thomas More lead to 17-0.
Aaron Ruthman, starting at quarterback in place of Tyler Grochot who was out due to injury, connected with Travis Marnell for a 26-yard touchdown pass with 4:05 left in the half to cut the lead to 17-6. Mike Cognetta stopped Thomas More on the following drive with an interception deep in Saints' territory and gave the Saints a chance to get within one score with a 40-yard return to the Thomas More 45, but Ruthman was picked off at the Saints' 6-yard line with less than a minute left in the half.
St. Lawrence carried momentum into the second half with a 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to open the third quarter. Jamie Battaglia capped the drive with a 9-yard touchdown run, seemingly powering through the entire Thomas More defensive drive one play after Marnell kept the drive alive with a 15-yard reception on a 4th-and-4 play.
"We were able, a couple of times, to get some momentum and turn one completion into another completion, flip the field, and get down in the red zone," said Puckhaber. "Any time you can move the ball and flip the field like that, that was good to see."
Thomas More, however, dominated the final 26 minutes of the game. D'Marco Canty caught a 43-yard touchdown pass from Justin Post, Dillon Powell scored on a 3-yard run, Pitts scored on a 13-yard pass from Post, Zajac scored on a 10-yard run, and Mathias capped the scoring with a 32-yard field goal.
Thomas More dominated the time of possession, keeping the Saints' defense on the field for 38:44 of the game and outgaining the Saints on offense 600-243.
Pitts finished the game with 142 rushing yards on 26 carries, while Zajac had 117 yards on 18 carries.
Ruthman led the Saints on the ground and through the air, going 24-for-46 passing for 191 yards and gaining 40 yards on seven carries. Anthony Ferraro (39 receiving yards) and Travonte Wheeler (34 receiving yards) both had a game-high seven receptions for the Saints.
Post was 16-for-27 passing for 266 yards for Thomas More; Logan Walker made four catches for 69 yards.
Pat Vandermark led the Saints' defense with 14 tackles, while Cognetta and Tyler Burns both added 12.
Cody Coffey had six tackles to lead Thomas More, which improved to 4-1 on the season; Adam Guard made five stops with two behind the line of scrimmage.
St. Lawrence has completed its non-conference schedule with a 1-4 record, and will open the Liberty League portion of its schedule next Saturday at the University of Rochester.
"We've faced some pretty good opponents," said Puckhaber. "The four losses, every single one of those teams was bigger and more physical than us. So we realize where we've got to be and what our goal is in the offseason. Now, starting league play, it's going to be a little better matchups for us. We'll be seeing some teams that physically are going to be comparable to us."
"I'm just really looking forward to league play, starting season 2," Puckhaber continued. "If this was a Netflix series, we might not be getting to season two, but thankfully it's football, so season two starts next week."