After replacing starting quarterback Tak Tateoka during the first two games of the season — and finishing both — St. Thomas redshirt freshman Michael Rostberg will start for the Tommies at O’Shaughnessy Stadium on Saturday against the Division II Black Hills State Yellow Jackets with the opportunity to take ownership of the position.

After beating out junior Amari Powell for the No. 2 spot with strong spring and fall camps, Rostberg was pressing Tateoka for the starting job as the season began. Now, it’s his to run (and pass) with.

“We still need to develop our quarterback room collectively, because it’s very young,” Tommies head coach Glenn Caruso said. “We’ll take our opportunities to do that, but Michael is starting.”

He’s earned it.

“When given the opportunity he makes the most of it. He highlights his strengths and negates his weaknesses. And he makes the guys around him better.”

The 6-foot-4, 214-pound Rostberg played his high school football in West Fargo, N.D., where he was a two-time, first-team all-state quarterback. While he became North Dakota’s career leader in passing yards, completions and touchdowns, St. Thomas was his only Division I offer when he committed to the Tommies prior to his senior season.

“It just felt like home,” Rostberg said. “I came here for a visit during winter of my junior season and then I came here for camp in the summer. I just felt like I belonged here. I think coach Caruso not only coaches players, but coaches players into young men. That was big for me.”

Caruso considers Rostberg “a great fit.”

“What we have here, he was looking for; what we needed, he embodies,” Caruso said. “He’s a very talented young man; very thoughtful and very hard on himself and driven. Those seem to be a lot of qualities that the players who grow into really good football players here have.”

Rostberg also played basketball and baseball in high school, with baseball being his favorite sport growing up. He had surgery on his non-throwing shoulder his junior year, which cost him his junior year of baseball. But by then his focus had turned to football.

Rostberg, who expects 15 family members and friends to be in attendance on Saturday, said he doesn’t believe there will be any added pressure from moving into the starting role.

“I’ve prepared a lot for this moment,” he said, “and I think both coach Caruso and coach Corrill (offensive coordinator Caleb Corrill) have done a great job with preparing me for this moment.”

Statistically, Rostberg took a step forward from Week 1 to Week 2. He completed 15 of 23 passes for 104 yards and a touchdown last week against Northern Iowa after completing 9 of 22 passes with an interception in the opener against Sioux Falls.

“You could tell in a short period of time how the game slows down for him,” Caruso said. “The way you saw him move in the pocket to create some space and time. Also, the way you saw him pull the ball down and make first downs.

“He ran the ball four times. Two of them were for first downs and another one got us to second and short.”

Rostberg said the whole team played better against Northern Iowa than it did in the opener.

“In the first game we made a lot of mistakes and kind of came out flat,” he said. “Week 2 we came out strong and cleaned up some of the mistakes.”

Rostberg, who named arm strength and accuracy as the two strengths in his game, said he also has focused on being a leader.

“You’re always looking for your quarterback to be a leader,” he said. “To try to step into that role has been big for me. Even though I’m a redshirt freshman, doing what I can to lead will really help.

“I’ll do everything in my power to be a leader for these guys.”

Despite falling to 0-2 on the season with the loss to Northern Iowa, the Tommies showed the type of effort and ability that was expected of a team that has made an immediate impact in the Pioneer Football League. Discouraged by what he saw in the loss to Sioux Falls, Caruso was encouraged by the response in Week 2.

“Was that who we were for that day or is that who we are?” Caruso said. “This game will give us a pretty good indicator to that.”

Injury report

Caruso believes cornerback Branden Smith and defensive tackle Emmanuel Olagbaju will be lost for the remainder of the season after sustaining injuries last week. Wide receiver Jacob Wildermuth is expected to miss his second consecutive game due to injury.

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