St. Thomas Aquinas began the 2020 season with a 28-0 win at home Friday night over St. James, moving to 7-0 all-time against the Thunder.
The Saints (1-0) led 14-0 at halftime and 28-0 after three quarters.
"Any time you have a shutout, the defense must have played really well," said coach Randy Dreiling. "We also did a number of things on offense I was really pleased with. A number of guys on both sides of ball were physical all game, and that's obviously what we need from everyone."
The Aquinas defense held the Thunder (0-1) to 214 yards of offense, including 119 passing and 95 rushing. St. James converted just 3 of 15 third and fourth downs. 
Defensive end Cameron Penny led with five tackles, one for a loss, and three hurries. Sophomore linebacker, Jack Forge had nine tackles and a hurry. On the defensive line, Jalen Marshall had three hurries, two pass breakups, and recovered a fumble, and Sa'o Savi'i had two tackles for a loss. Safety Elias Carson had a pass breakup and a hurry.
"The defense tackled better as the game progressed, and the defensive line applied the pressure in the backfield we needed," said Dreiling.
The Saints offense gained 408 yards, including 379 rushing. Senior fullback, Tyron "Tank" Young rushed for 245 yards and two touchdowns yards on 26 carries. Senior quarterback, Blake Anderson, rushed for 63 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries.
"The offensive line was physical, and I thought we executed the quarterback running game well," said Dreiling. "And Tank had some big runs for us." 
Aquinas converted three fourth downs on its initial possession, a 63-yard scoring drive. Young ran two yards up the middle on 4th and 1 on the initial set of downs.
At the St. James 37-yard line, on 4th and 8, Anderson scrambled left out of the pocket and checked down in the flat to Young, who caught and juked back to the right twice, then accelerated upfield away from a tackler, plowing his way the final two yards to a first down.
After five more Young carries, Aquinas faced 4th and 4. Anderson hit Evan Kammerer on a 10-yard out route in the end zone on the near sideline. Aquinas led, 7-0, at the 5:26 mark of the first quarter.
After forcing a St. James punt, Aquinas faced 1st and 19 after a holding call. But Young ran for 19 yards on three carries to get a first down.
After another holding call, Aquinas faced 1st and 17. Anderson ran 11 yards around the right end. A St. James face mask put Aquinas at the Thunder 37.
A holding call and a false start backed Aquinas up again, but Kammerer caught a slant from the left side, and Anderson scrambled right for 17 yards, aided by a block on the near sideline by sophomore lineman, Morgan Simmons. 
Facing 3rd and 10, Anderson ducked a sack from the blind side and ran to the opposite corner of the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown run. Aquinas led, 14-0.
On the ensuing possession, St. James drove to the Aquinas 17-yard line. However, Bittner forced a runner out of bounds, Penny and Caden Reeves pressured the quarterback into an incompletion, and Penny and Reeves broke up a handoff, leaving Siavi'i to finish off the runner. St. James missed the field goal attempt.
Aquinas then punted, and St. James drove to the Saints' 5-yard line. Forge stopped the run for a two-yard loss, then Penny and Siavi'i combined for a stop in the backfield. Backed up to the 10, St. James threw incompletions on 3rd and 4th downs.
To start the third quarter, St. James went three-and-out after stops by Reeves, senior linebacker, Tommy Malicoat, and a hurry by Siavi'i. 
Taking over at their own 1-yard line after the punt, on 2nd and 7, Young ran 96 yards on a toss to the right, and Aquinas led 21-0.
St. James earned two first downs, but William Lange and Payton Ptasnik combined on stops, and Will Gavin broke up a pass on 4th and 3.
Taking over on downs, Aquinas went three-and-out, but so did St. James. Dajni Brooks returned the punt 26 yards, setting up on the next play a 42-yard, multi-directional touchdown run by Young. Aquinas led, 28-0.
Aquinas started the fourth quarter with a stop on 4th and 1 by Siavi'i. 
