That was not supposed to be the football finale for this often un-Saintly rivalry, but COVID-19 and the Tommies’ move to Division I made it so. The series ended with the Johnnies holding a 53-35-1 advantage, thanks to having the all-time winningest coach in college football, John Gagliardi, for 60 of those contests (43-17 vs. St. Thomas).
When it comes to football, which school should have missed the other the most?
I was convinced the answer was St. Thomas, playing in the non-scholarship Pioneer Football League, without any opponent that resembled a rival.
Bethel has risen over the past 20-plus years to give St. John’s an outstanding competitor beyond Glenn Caruso’s Tommies in the MIAC. And there were also old grudges for the Johnnies to resolve with the Concordia Cobbers and Gustavus Adolphus.
The Tommies’ neighborhood rival in the PFL is Drake, and it’s a 250-mile bus ride to Des Moines.
I was sitting next to former Tommies athletic director Steve Fritz at O’Shaughnessy Stadium for a Pioneer game. It was fall break weekend for Tommies students, and there couldn’t have been more than 2,000 people there.