Nate Ryan for The New York Times
ST. PAUL, Minn. — In Division III college football, few rivalries match the one between the University of St. Thomas and St. John’s University, two Catholic institutions in Minnesota. Their football games have long attracted some of the largest crowds and cheekiest T-shirts in Division III. That showed last month when an overflow crowd of 19,508 fans jammed Allianz Field, home to Minnesota United of Major League Soccer, for the annual game between the Tommies and the Johnnies.
On a warm, sunny fall day, the atmosphere sizzled. Enthusiastic St.