No. 3 St. Thomas will bring a 13-0 record to Perkins Stadium on Saturday

St. Thomas seniors quarterback Dakota Tracy and wide receiver Fritz Waldvogel used their experience to lead the St. Thomas football team to a 45-10 victory over St. John Fisher. After three years of bowing out in the NCAA quarterfinals, the team will finally get to experience the semifinals.

The Tommie seniors will leave the comforts of Palmer Field for good as UST travels down I 94/90 to Whitewater to play the two-time defending NCAA Division III national champion UW-Whitewater Warhawks with the winner of Saturday’s game earning a berth in the December 16th Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl in Salem, Virginia.

After three straight games in O’Shaughnessy Stadium in St. Paul, the Tommies will hit the road to play a Whitewater team that Caruso calls “the standard” in Division-III football.

“We are working hard to be in the position that Whitewater is in,” Caruso said. “This is such an enormous step for us because if we want to get there, we’ll have to go through them.”

The Warhawks have won the national championship three of the last four years and are undefeated and largely unchallenged this season.

Whitewater senior running back Levell Coppage has 1,919 yards and 27 touchdowns this season behind a big offensive line.

“They have a legitimate run game,” Caruso said. “Their offensive line is a lot like ours. Coach K (Wallie Kuchinski) and our defense are going to have their hands full this week.”

Whitewater advanced to its seventh consecutive berth in the semifinal round with a 34-14 victory over Salisbury (Maryland) Saturday afternoon at Perkins Stadium.

To view video highlights of the Tommies 45-10 quarterfinal win over St. John Fisher CLICK HERE

What has the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's Tom Haudricourt written about UWW's win over Salisibury?

Tom Haudicourt is one of the top Major League Baseball writers in America. The veteran baseball writer attended a game at Perkins Stadium during the regular season and indicated he'd be back to cover a Hawk game professionally. Haudicourt has been front and center in the Perkins Stadium press box the past three Saturdays.

To find out what Haudricourt has written about UW-Whitewater's 34-14 national quarterfinal win over Salisbury (Maryland) CLICK HERE

Warhawks join St. Thomas, Mount Union and Wesley in NCAA Division III semifinal

Next Saturday's NCAA Division III semifinal games are set as UW-Whitewater, St. Thomas, Mount Union, and Wesley picked up quarterfinal victories Saturday.

Levell Coppage ran for 213 yards for UW-Whitewater and Matt Blanchard threw for 134 and ran for 62 more as UW-Whitewater defeated Salisbury 34-14. The Warhawks, who won their 43rd consecutive game overall, held the Sea Gulls' option offense to 244 yards rushing and 293 yards overall.

St. Thomas defeated St. John Fisher 45-10 to advance to play UW-Whitewater, reaching the national semifinals for the first time. The Cardinals were held to just 82 yards of total offense after a 51-yard drive to open the game gave St. John Fisher a 3-0 lead. But the Tommies got two touchdown catches from Fritz Waldvogel and Colin Tobin ran for 159 yards.

The Tommies will travel to Whitewater on Saturay. It will be the first national semifinal game in UST history.

Jeremy Murray returned for Mount Union and carried 25 times for 152 yards and two touchdowns as the Purple Raiders defeated Wabash 20-8. Mount Union has been in the semifinals 17th consecutive years. Neal Seaman got back on the field at quarterback this week, completing six of 10 passes for 36 yards, while Matt Piloto was 6-for-8 for 40 yards and Kevin Burke was 2-for-4 for 24. Mount Union held Wabash to 31 yards rushing.

Wesley held off a second-half comeback to win 27-24 at Mary Hardin-Baylor. The Wolverines rolled out to a 21-3 halftime lead before the Cru came back. UMHB's final drive was stopped on an incomplete pass at the Wesley 41-yard line. Shane McSweeny completed 15 of 22 passes for 253 yards and four touchdowns and ran for 114 yards in the win.

Mount Union will host Wesley in the other Division III semifinal game.

The NCAA is expected announce gametimes on Sunday

Whitewater and Mount Union are seeking a seventh consecutive matcnup in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl