JOLIET, Ill. --- Aided by another record-setting day from Sam Tumilty, the University of St. Francis football team rallied from an early 13-0 deficit with 38 unanswered points to gain a 38-13 Mid-States Football Association Midwest League victory over Olivet Nazarene University on Saturday afternoon at Joliet Memorial Stadium.

Tumilty set single-season school records for rushing touchdowns (20), total touchdowns (20) and total points (122) with his third four-touchdown game of the year and fifth of his career.  Daniel McLaurin added a 52-yard scamper to wrap up the scoring shortly after the Saints posted their second safety of the season.

Olivet Nazarene (5-4, 2-2 MSFA) jumped out to its 13-0 lead after only four offensive plays and just 5:47 into the contest on a pair of 20- and 94-yard pass plays from backup quarterback Christian Dhue-Reid.  USF's defense, however, shut the Tiger offense down the rest of the day.

After giving up 152 yards on those first four plays, defensive coordinator Thomas Miller's unit yielded just 136 yards on 47 plays over the final 54 minutes of the contest.  Eight tackles for 53 yards in losses, including six sacks for 50 yards, and three takeaways fueled the shutout the rest of the way.

Pat Strocchia recorded nearly half of the sacks with his 2.5, while Michael Torres and Karsen Hansen each posted a pair of TFLs and one sack.  Also a part of the sack attack was Curtis Reeves with one.

On the takeaway team were Trey Sayers (fumble recovery), Nick Mabutas (interception) and Nathen Choute (interception).  The former two plays set up a pair of touchdowns, while Choute led the team in tackles with ten.  Sayers added six tackles, forced a pair of fumbles and broke up one potential touchdown pass.

Redshirt freshman punter Adrian Guerrero was also a crucial piece to putting Olivet Nazarene in difficult spots offensively with four of his six punts falling inside the 20-yard line.  He also had one punt go for 54 yards.

St. Francis (7-2, 3-1) wasted little time in erasing the initial deficit, doing so 2:15 before the end of the first quarter with scoring drives of 62 and 33 yards.  Another 9-play, 79-yard march in the second quarter sent the Saints to a 22-13 lead at the break.

Tumilty scored from 24, 4 and 10 yards out on each of his first three touchdowns, while completing a 9-of-10 pass attempts for 70 yards on those combined drives.  For the game, he made good on 19 of his 30 pass attempts for 145 yards and rushed for better than 100 yards (139 on 19 carries) for the second week in a row.

After a scoreless third quarter, the Saints broke things open in the final stanza with 16 more points, sandwiching a 33-yard touchdown run by Tumilty and the 52-yarder by McLaurin around the safety.  McLaurin finished his day with a career-high 81 yards on just ten carries.  He added another seven yards on one reception.

Leading the St. Francis receiving corps was Joey Tumilty with six catches for 77 yards.

USF outgained Olivet Nazarene 409-288, including 264-26 on the ground.  The Tigers finished with less ground yards than carries (27) on the day.  Through the air, they were 14-of-24 for 262 yards.

Notes: The Saints improved to 22-1 in their last 23 games when scoring four times in a contest.  They have also totaled no less than 31 points in each of their seven wins this season … USF has scored at least 23 unanswered points in six of their seven victories this season, including the 38 on Saturday … Sam Tumilty broke his own record of 16 rushing touchdowns, while surpassing John Larsen (17 total touchdowns, 106 points in 1989) in the other two categories … Despite playing with a club-like pad on his one hand, Sayers both forced and recovered a fumble on the same play, which eventually led to the Saints' second touchdown and put them in the lead for good at 15-13.  He would add another forced fumble later in the game, as well … Choute led the team in tackles for the first time this year … Mabutas' pick was his third in four games and tied him for the team lead with three on the season.  He also blocked one PAT kick … The seven wins marked the third straight season in which the Saints have reached that number.

Up Next
The Saints wrap up the regular season hosting Marian University (Ind.) next Saturday (Nov. 16) at 1 pm.

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