Maybe it was the 2 p.m. kickoff? The overcast skies? Turbulence in the stock market? No one seems to know.
Whatever it was, the first 30 minutes of yesterday's Pioneer Football League game between USD and Valparaiso were – according to one player – not very USD-like.
But you'd never know from the final score, a 42-14 USD win at Torero Stadium. With the victory, USD (5-0, 3-0) extends its national-best home win streak to 27 games.
On the opening drive, the Crusaders (1-3, 0-1) marched 70 yards on 12 plays – all on the ground – capped by Jake Riedel's 3-yard run.
“They sort of hit us in the mouth with that,” USD linebacker Derek Marten said. “I don't want to say they caught us off guard. I really don't know what it was.”
The last 30 minutes, however, were more to USD's liking. Marten and Co. blanked the Crusaders and held them to 64 yards of offense. Playing with swagger and panache, the USD defense forced four punts and a turnover on downs.
“The coaches challenged us at halftime to start playing USD football,” said Marten, who led the Toreros with eight tackles, two for a loss.
USD's offense also had some first-half hiccups. The Toreros answered Valpo's opening score with a 29-yard strike from quarterback Sebastian Trujillo to Ben Hannula.
There were opportunities for more points in the first, but drives stalled on a failed fourth-down conversion at the Valpo 3, a missed field goal, and one that never got started when Hannula fumbled a punt return.
“You can't afford to turn the ball over,” USD coach Ron Caragher said. “ . . . We don't take to that very well.”
Hannula, the backup quarterback, made up for the fumble in the closing minutes of the first half. He took a pass from Trujillo behind the line of scrimmage, then tossed a 37-yard touchdown to Godfrey Smith.
“There were some little things we did wrong,” said Hannula, who finished with four catches for 46 yards. “But we made the adjustments and picked it up.”
Valpo tied the score at 14-14 with one second left in the half on a Warren Arnold quarterback sneak.
USD's offense came out with a little more pep in the second half – a lot of which started with an aggressive block on the kickoff return from Smith, who drove a Valpo player to the ground. It led to a holding penalty and some shoving and jawing, but it also ignited the offense.
The Toreros scored on their next two possessions – a 46-yard touchdown pass from Trujillo to John Matthews and a 2-yard Matt Jelmini run.
Trujillo finished a crisp 20-of-25 for 295 yards and three touchdowns. Matthews caught seven balls for 144 yards and two scores.
Trailing 28-14, the Crusaders made a fourth-quarter push following a fumble by USD running back Phil Morelli. With second-and-goal at the USD 1, Valpo failed to score on a quarterback sneak, then consecutive penalties pushed them to the 11. USD's defense held and forced a turnover on downs.
Two plays later, Jelmini scampered for 87 yards to the Valpo 8, which led to a 1-yard touchdown run from fullback Vincent Atofau.
“I think I got a little lucky,” said the 5-foot-7, 180-pound Jelmini, who rushed for 130 yards on seven carries. “I'm a little guy so I can just hide behind the big guys.”
Trujillo and Matthews hooked up again for a stat-padding 35-yard touchdown with 3:44 remaining.
Kevin Gemmell: (619) 718-5304; kevin.gemmell@uniontrib.com
