Des Moines, Iowa — The Drake University football team made some big plays on both sides of the ball, but a late rally fell short in a 21-14 loss to St. Thomas at Drake Stadium on Saturday.
St. Thomas leads the Pioneer Football League in total defense and scoring and showed why in spoiling the Bulldogs’ Senior Day. The Tommies, new to the PFL after moving up from Division III, intercepted five passes, blocked a punt and a field goal and recorded three sacks.
But the Bulldogs (2-7, 1-5), who rank second in both defensive categories, came up with key stops of their own to stay in the game after falling behind 14-0 at halftime. Wide receiver Brandon Langdok’s 3-yard touchdown run and Ian Corwin’s 6-yard TD toss to Caden Meis left Drake trailing 21-14 with 5:26 remaining.
The Bulldogs never got a chance to get closer. St. Thomas (6-3, 5-2) picked up three first downs after the ensuing kickoff, enough to run out the clock in Drake’s home finale.
Drake forced three turnovers to keep St. Thomas at bay — fumble recoveries by Kieran Kohorst and Danny Morales and an interception by Alex Rogers. Linebacker Will Kulick disrupted another possession with a sack, but the Bulldogs could not turn any of those plays into points.
Corwin battled through the interceptions to complete 17 of 31 passes for 166 yards, including connections of 30 yards to Colin Howard and 32 yards to Zach Drummond to set up Langdok’s touchdown on an end-around, which capped a seven-play, 74-yard drive and cut the lead to 14-7.
St. Thomas answered with Nick Price’s 28-yard TD run, but the Bulldogs came up with fourth-down stops on the Tommies’ next two possessions and cashed in after the second one, driving 61 yards in 10 plays to get Corwin’s TD pass to Meis, who caught the ball inside the 5 and fought his way into the end zone.
Drake finished with 239 yards of offense after getting only 60 in the first half against the Tommies’ stubborn defense. Meis led the running game with 49 yards in seven carries while Matt Hartlieb caught five passes for 40 yards.
St. Thomas rang up 359 total yards but had only 137 after halftime as Drake’s defense stiffened. Rogers sparked that defense with 10 tackles, while Morales and Jake Hoper each recorded nine.
Drake concludes the season next Saturday, Nov. 20 at Davidson. Kickoff is noon CST.
