With a 3-0 record in conference play, head coach Mike Willis and Marist football had an opportunity to further cement themselves on top of the Pioneer Football League. The team standing in their way, St.Thomas, had a 5-0 all time record against Marist going into the game.
The Tommies extended their win streak to six.
Despite all the things Marist has done well this season, some things don’t change; St. Thomas still won this game handedly. After a strong first quarter, the Red Foxes were outscored 35-6.
St. Thomas won this game the same way they won many others, leaning on a strong run game to win the time-of-possession battle.
Play 1
To win this game, Marist needed to keep the Tommies out of the driver’s seat. Hitting a big pass like this to take the early lead put the Red Foxes in prime position to succeed early.
The design of the play is top-notch.
It’s a run-pass-option, meaning graduate student quarterback Sonny Mannino (No. 12), can either hand it off or pass it based on his read. The passing concept is especially interesting.
Junior wide receiver Zach Garmont (No. 5) motions inside then leaks back out into the flat, grabbing the defensive back, junior Kyle Winchester (No. 1). Winchester and the rest of the Tommies’ secondary were expecting Garmont’s motion to end with him on the other side of the formation, leaving Winchester one-on-one with redshirt freshman wide receiver Jayden Taylor (No. 14). Garmont coming back leads to Winchester now passing Taylor off to the safety.
That safety, junior defensive back Ty Nielsen (No. 9), was not on the same page. He expected Winchester to stay man on Taylor and leave Garmont. Because of the miscommunication, Taylor is wide open and Mannino hits him for a touchdown.
Garmont’s pre-snap motion on this RPO causes a miscommunication in the secondary and Taylor is left wide open for the early touchdown.
Play 2
This play doesn’t need much of a breakdown. It is a fumbled snap, a simple mishandling of a routine aspect of every play. What needs to be hit on though, is that Marist couldn’t afford this, not in this matchup.
St. Thomas wins by taking the lead and then pounding the rock to hold onto it. An early turnover putting the Tommies in prime scoring position to take the lead is a brutal mistake with the lead spot of the conference on the line.
St. Thomas averages 200 rushing yards per game. When they get the lead they chew the clock and make it difficult for opposing teams to get back in the game.
A golden opportunity like this put the Red Foxes in a spot where the defense needed to make a play. The question became: could this defense that has made so many great plays before do it once again against this strong of a run game?
Play 3
While St. Thomas’ true lead threat on the ground is the running back, a key reason for his effectiveness is the compliment of a dual-threat quarterback.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Nick Peipert (No. 10) is on the Jerry Rice Award Watchlist in large part because of his mobility.
St. Thomas offensive coordinator Jay MacIntyre loves the “plus one” run game. These are runs where the player taking the direct snap runs the ball. Sometimes he even has his running back take the snap to utilize these blocking schemes.
They’re called “plus one” blocking schemes because the player taking the snap carrying the football allows the offense to use an extra blocker. On this play, his extra blocker is sophomore running back Elijah Johnson (No. 32) who goes up to the second level and lays a low block on senior linebacker James Kratchovil (No. 59) to cut his angle.
The Tommies felt safe running the ball here because they still had a timeout to guarantee the clock wouldn’t run out before halftime.
Peipert is just a piece of the puzzle. Graduate student running back Gabriel Abel is the superstar ball carrier that really gave the Marist defense problems.
Play 4
The Tommies’ offense lives in the pistol formation, making sure that their running back can get their momentum moving forward as they receive the hand off.
They do this because they have a running back in Abel (No. 1) who can single handedly change games. With a talent of Abel’s caliber, a veteran coach like Glenn Caruso will do anything to get the most out of him.
Plays like this are an example of why.
This run isn’t designed to hit off tackle, but Abel quickly redistributes his downhill momentum to bounce the run outside when he sees the botched gap exchange between sophomore defensive back Chase Hatton (No. 21) and senior linebacker Kade Werner (No. 29). Werner not holding his contain in the place of the knifing Hatton opens the lane for Abel who hits the secondary at high speed.
When he gets to the secondary, Abel makes a highlight-reel stiff arm on freshman defensive back Reggie Bropleh Jr. (No. 37) after a quick outside cut.
Abel averaged 6.8 yards per carry going into this game, a mark that ranked tenth in the FCS. With 20 carries for 122 yards in this game, he reached his second highest rushing yard total of the year and had two rushing touchdowns as the cherry on top.
The Red Foxes have been a team that has prided itself on defensive playmaking, but the defense didn’t really create the game changing negatives it usually does besides an interception by junior defensive back Wayne Adair.
St. Thomas won the time of possession battle by nearly 19 minutes as a result of that and the turnovers.
This is only a turning point for the Red Foxes if they let it be, as they look to continue conference play against a strong pass-heavy San Diego team on Saturday. Kick-off is at 4 p.m.
Edited by Max Rosen
Graphic and photo by Jaylen Rizzo
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