Bulldogs Drop Home Clash with St. Thomas on Snowy Saturday in Drake Stadium

Casey Shanaberger

20

Winner

St. Thomas (MN)
UST

7-3 , 5-2

13

Drake
DRK

6-3 , 5-1

Winner

St. Thomas (MN)
UST

7-3 , 5-2

20

13

Score By Quarters

Team	1st	2nd	third	4th	F
UST St. Thomas (MN)	7	3	7	3	20
DRK Drake	0	10	0	3	13

Game Recap: Football | 11/8/2025 3:37:00 PM | Drake Athletic Communications

Rain turned to snow as Drake acquired caught within the slush vs. UST

DES MOINES, Iowa – Drake soccer noticed its 6-game Pioneer Football League profitable streak come to an finish in opposition to a red-hot St. Thomas staff on Saturday. The Tommies got here up with a couple of key stops down the stretch as Drake, regardless of a exceptional effort, couldn’t overcome early miscues in a snowy 20-13 contest.

Drake (6-3, 5-1) acquired the opening kickoff to start out Saturday’s matchup and had its sights set on scoring first. The Bulldogs maneuvered down the sector with a pair splash completions from Logan Inagawa to Jackson Voth to maintain the drive alive. Drake’s floor recreation was ultimately thwarted, establishing a subject aim try by Harry Balke.

Balke by no means acquired his kick within the air, although, as Brett Welsing’s snap was excessive, forcing holder Luke Woodson out of his crouch. Woodson opted to try to choose up the conversion together with his toes, scrambling across the left finish, however St. Thomas (7-3, 5-2) got here up with the cease, turning the Bulldogs over on downs.

The Tommies took their flip marching in the direction of a rating and have been finally profitable for the primary rating of the afternoon. The Drake protection appeared to get a cease backed up in opposition to its personal endzone, however St. Thomas executed a faux subject aim to get on the board and take a 7-0 lead on the finish of the primary quarter.

Drake answered on the primary possession of the second stanza as Logan Inagawa discovered the nook and crossed the road for six. Inagawa’s sixth speeding TD of the 12 months knotted the rating at seven apiece.

The two groups then traded punts earlier than St. Thomas was in a position to join on a 25-yard subject aim to interrupt the stalemate.

Drake was in a position to reply once more on the following journey because the Bulldogs orchestrated a 9-play, 49-yard drive that sapped the remaining 3:48 left within the first half. Balke cut up the uprights with a 35-yard kick as time expired, night the rating at 10-10.

The Bulldog protection compelled a St. Thomas punt to open the second half however Drake gave it proper again to the guests. Inagawa lofted a fade down the sideline supposed for a streaking Jackon Voth, however UST’s Ryan Calcagno beat Voth to the ball and picked it off.

Kemani Wilson practically replicated the takeaway with a dropped interception of his personal, however St. Thomas couldn’t get the rest going as Preston Franklin punted once more.

The back-and-forth motion continued till St. Thomas was in a position to leap again in entrance after a brief Gabriel Abel scoring run. The Abel TD gave St. Thomas a 17-10 lead after three accomplished durations.

Drake tried to retaliate on its subsequent drive, however a botched flea flicker attempt set the Bulldogs properly behind the chains. A pair substantial positive aspects acquired the Dogs again in enterprise with a contemporary set of downs, however the Tommie protection made one other stand to maintain Drake out of the endzone. Balke entered and transformed one other subject aim, this time from 41 yards out, to make it 17-14 in favor of the Tommies with simply over 10 minutes to play.

St. Thomas tacked on one other 3-pointer later within the quarter after scraping its approach all the way down to the 1-yard line on Drake’s finish of the turf. The Bulldog protection stonewalled UST’s offensive push to pressure the profitable kick. St. Thomas led 20-13 with roughly three minutes remaining.

Drake began piecing a drive collectively because the 2-minute timeout got here and went. The Bulldogs acquired to midfield earlier than three straight incompletions prompted a do-or-die fourth down scenario. St. Thomas introduced strain as Inagawa tossed downfield towards Hank Foley’s outstretched arms, however Joseph Obeto poked the ball away on the final second, turning the Dogs over on downs.

Head coach Joe Woodley rapidly spent all three timeouts because the Tommies regained possession. One minute and 11 seconds have been left on the clock as St. Thomas was compelled to punt it again to the house squad.

Drake, now with no timeout to spare, needed to traverse 91 yards in underneath 60 seconds for an opportunity to tie. The Bulldogs strung a pair constructive positive aspects collectively, however the St. Thomas protection was too stringent because the Tommies compelled one other turnover on downs to safe the 20-13 win.

“We’ve got a special group of guys with great leadership, and I never thought there was going to be any kind of quit, but just wasn’t enough,” Woodley stated. “The opponent has a lot to do with it, St. Thomas is a really great football team and they’re on fire right now. We just have to look inward…where did we make those critical mistakes that cost us a football game. It seemed like we were on our side of the field for most of the second half, and just couldn’ t overcome it…felt like it was all uphill today. But that’s the nature of this game.”

Inagawa was 14-of-22 by means of the air with a choose however ran for 71 yards and a rating. Nick Herman added 60 yards on the bottom. Taj Hughes was Drake’s main receiver with 55 yards on eight catches.

Defensively, Garrison Codde and Sean Allison every logged a dozen tackles whereas the previous posted two for a loss and latter made a sack.

Drake might be on the street subsequent weekend for one more robust take a look at away from dwelling. The Bulldogs will battle Dayton on Nov. 15.