Coach Glenn Caruso and the Tommies celebrate their victory.
St. Thomas beat St. John's 20-17 at Target Field on Saturday, holding off a late rally from the Johnnies for the program's fourth straight victory in the historic rivalry.
Tens of thousands of St. Thomas and St. John's students, alumni, staff, family and friends descended on Target Field for the 87th edition of the Minnesota matchup. In fact, 37,355 people were on hand, more than doubling the previous record for Division III attendance.
The Newsroom was on hand before, during and after the game to talk with Tommies about the excitement of the historic day.
Let us know what your favorite moment of the day was in the comments section.
St. Thomas students in the front row show their excitement at Tommie-Johnnie.
It’s going to be fantastic to see him on the field. To watch your son out on Target Field? Wow. – Dave Slavik, father of football player Grant Slavik
We’re just excited about what the team’s capable of this year; we’ve got a great run game. … And it’s just crazy that it’s at Target Field. – David McGoff, senior
It’s pretty cool. It’s such a big rivalry. – Chris Anderson, senior
I’m excited to be here, and really blessed to be here. … We’re very proud of the unity this program has and what it stands for. – Patricia Jones, mother of football player Ronnie Jones, who flew from Pleasonton, Calif. to be at today’s game
President Julie Sullivan greeted fans on the Target Field plaza before Tommie-Johnnie.
I’m really excited about the game. …. It’s awesome the team’s had so much success, and it’s really all about the community this builds. – Jon Soldar ‘07
My brother’s the punter and this is my first game I’ve come to watch. This is a lot more people than I ever expected and it’s so cool to see so much excitement. – Kansas City native Ally Petitjean
Tommie gives a hug to a young fan on the plaza outside Target Field.
We didn’t want to be mean, but we just have a lot of Tommie pride. This is our time to shine. It’s a great school and I’m proud to be a Tommie, so you have to show that off today. – Senior Nick Sable, who brought a sign reading, “Johnnies don’t cry watching ‘Marly and Me.’”
Our son’s a freshman, so this is a first. It feels more like we’re going to a Vikings-Packers game than anything else. You have to love this rivalry. – Scott Ruud, father of football player Alexander Ruud
Tens of thousands of fans were on hand at Target Field for the 87th Tommie-Johnnie football game.
This is history, man. Thirty-five thousand people? That’s just cool. It’s great to see the smaller schools get the big stage. – Jeff Straub, uncle of football player Alexander Ruud
All these Tommies and Johnnies together, it’s a great event. … This is definitely bigger than anything it’s ever been before. – John Bannigan ’81, St. Thomas development staff
St. Thomas players huddle before the game.
No matter where you’re from or where you’re going, Roll Toms! – Junior Allie Phillips
Tommie-Johnnie is just such an exciting event. A lot of people are worried about not having home field advantage, but we’re in the Twin Cities so we’re good to go. – Gretchen Chatt, junior
No Division III football game has ever drawn as many people as Tommie-Johnnie at Target Field.
To double the all-time attendance record is really cool. – Eric Haney ’93, whose daughter is starting at St. Thomas next year
I’m excited about the fact this is the most people ever for a Division III game. … This whole thing is just really cool. – undergraduate student Emily Isaacson
St. Thomas quarterback Jacques Perra drops back to pass.
I’m from out of state so learning about all the tradition of this rivalry has been awesome. I work in an emergency room and all week the doctors and nurses have been talking about this, so it’s cool to see that connection is still so strong. – Senior Katie Stadheim, Mason City, Iowa native
It’s a great rivalry. My brother went to St. John’s and my son’s a senior at St. Thomas, so we’ve got some family split. – Joe Hartman (who was wearing a St. Thomas hat and shirt)
A giant American flag was unraveled on the field before kickoff of Tommie-Johnnie.
We made it out of enemy territory driving down from St. Cloud. – The Heck and Fenstad families, who both have a daughter attending St. Thomas
My daughter was a freshman last year and on the way to the game at St. John’s their bus broke down 15 minutes out of the cities. So this is the redo; they’re so excited. … It’s a hoot and a holler. – Colleen Sauter, Opus College of Business staff
We go to all the playoff games and love it, so we thought, ‘We’ve got to be here. It’s historic.’ – Jim Block ‘80
