St. Thomas Rolls San Diego 50-17 Behind Nick Peipert
Nick Peipert accounted for five touchdowns, the last one early in the fourth, and St. Thomas beat San Diego 50-17 without ever trailing. He threw for three and ran for two, and the Tommies were up 36-7 by the 6:59 mark of the second quarter.
It started with a 4-yard pass to Pierce McCrary and a 75-yard bomb to Stefano Giovannelli, then a 57-yard run from Gabriel Abel and a 25-yard Peipert keeper for a 28-7 lead. San Diego had cut it to 14-7 when Dom Nankil hit Elijah Taylor from 31 yards out, but St. Thomas scored 22 points in the next few minutes. Kyle Winchester's 38-yard interception return (with a two-point conversion) made it 36-7. Take that pick-six away and it is still 28-7, so call it a 21-point game.
The second half was a formality. Nankil ran 16 yards for a score and Emiliano Salazar kicked a 30-yard field goal, but Peipert threw a 17-yard touchdown to Eli Paulson in between, and ran in a 7-yarder early in the fourth for 50-17.
The yardage was lopsided the other way in one place. San Diego threw for 323 yards and ran for 75, with 31 carries, while St. Thomas ran for 305 on 31 attempts and totaled 555. Nobody on the visiting side lost a fumble, but they threw one interception and were behind from the start. St. Thomas is 2-1, San Diego 1-3.
Fantasy takeaway: Peipert's 44.7 points were the best of the day, and Taylor's 113 yards were the best receiving line on the losing side.