College football: Joseph Koch’s 5-TD day paces Tommies to victory

Joseph Koch accounted for five of the Tommies' eight touchdowns as the St. Thomas football team let loose on Drake, 55-35, at O'Shaughnessy Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The junior running back from Menomonee Falls, Wi., more than doubled his total 166 rushing yards on the season with 233 yards on 32 carries. His five scores greatly boosted his 38-carry total of one touchdown heading into Saturday.

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To put Koch's day in perspective, his 233 yards on Saturday amount to just over 27 percent of what he had compiled over three seasons in purple and silver, which stood at 859 heading into the day. The afternoon vaulted him over 1,000 yards career rushing at 1,092 yards with 13 touchdowns for his Tommies career so far.

However, there was more to the Tommies' offensive onslaught. Quarterback Anthony Policare threw for 283 yards and two touchdowns — including first-quarter scoring strikes of 80 yards to wide receiver Quentin Cobb-Butler in the and 69 yards to tight end AJ Boarman — in addition to sneaking in a 1-yard run for six points. Cobb-Butler led St. Thomas with 83 yards receiving, that coming on just two catches.

It was an active day for kicker Ben Hoiland, who missed his lone field goal opportunity, but hit all seven of his extra-point attempts (the Tommies attempted one two-point conversion, which failed).

On defense, linebacker Nash Tichy logged two sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss, while lineman Walker Owens notched one sack and 1.5 tackles for loss. Defensive back Peyton Himley led UST with six solo tackles while defensive backfield mates Preston Franklin and Sam Shaughnessy intercepted two and one Drake pass attempts, respectively.