MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (November 18, 2023) - The campus of St. Thomas University (STU) was the place to be at on Saturday. The tone was set by the Bobcat Football team who had the first game ona three game slate for home playoff contests. St. Thomas came out in their first playoff game against a veteran Reinhardt team and absolutely dominated. This marks the first playoff win in program history for the Bobcats. The energy at AutoNation Field was much like that of the first game in program history, old faces coming out to support, new faces added to the mix, it was a great day to win a football game. St. Thomas took the game 55-7 over the Eagles and now advance to the Second Round of the NAIA Football Championship Series.

Alejandro Prado scored the first points on the board for the Bobcats with a 28-yard field goal. He extended the lead on the final drive of the first with a 31-yard field goal to give STU a 6-0 lead. None other than Rontavious Farmer was the first Bobcat to put it through the end zone. Both first touchdowns in program history have been from running backs. Farmer had a seven-yard run to start out the second quarter and give STU a 13-0 lead. STU had scored on all three of their first three drives. The second quarter was an electric one with STU putting up 22 points. Keely Watson found David Hayes in the end zone 12-yards out for the second touchdown, first passing. The Bobcats went for two and were successful with Watson finding C'quan Jnopierre. The half ended with Farmer scoring his second touchdown this time a six-yard rush. 

The defense was just as locked as the team forced two straight punts for the eagles and then Armond Anderson came up big knocking the ball loose for Kendall Wilson II to recover and get the offense back on the field. The momentum did shift as this led to three straight 3-and-outs for the Eagle offense. The quarterback had no where to go and no way out with the pressure of the front line. Donnell Bennett II, Kahlill Bryan, Reginald Beauliere, and Jhaqwori Austin all had a sack before the first half. STU went into the half up 28-0.

In trying to stay up with the fist half pace, STU defense came out and continued the pressure. Dustin Vinas forced a fumble that found the hands of Caleb Walker who took it 58-yards to score another touchdown. Reinhardt would get on the board halfway through the third quarter to make it 35-7. Those would be the only point on the board for the Eagles. 

St. Thomas went on to score 20 more points to close out the game. Farmer got his third touchdown of the game with a one-yard carry. Ashton Davis came in and scored a touchdown of his own on a five-yard carry. Ty'Quan Wiggins closed out the scoring with a four-yard quarterback keep carry. 

Alejandro Prado hit five-of-six point after attempts with the two field goals. Rontavious Farmer was the Offensive Player of the Game with 35 carries for 179 rush yards and three touchdowns. Kendall Wilson II ws the Defensive Player of the Game with nine tackles, one for loss, a pass break-up, and a fumble recovery. 

As a team STU had 26 first downs compared to the Eagles nine, they also had double the offensive yards with 406-223. The defense held the rush to just 55 yards and had seven sacks. 

St. Thomas will now advance to play Sun Conference foe, no. 3 Keiser on the road, Saturday, November 25, kickoff is set for 1 p.m. from the Keiser Multipurpose Field in West Palm Beach.