Football’s homefield advantage keys victory over Butler

Darren Feeney / The USD Vista

It was a record-breaking night at Torero Stadium Saturday as San Diego cruised to a 34-17 victory over Butler University (6-4, 4-3 PFL). John Matthews set two school receiving records and Sebastian Trujillo threw four touchdown passes, improving to a 6-2 record in the Pioneer Football League standings behind Dayton and Jacksonville both tied for first at 6-1.

Trujillo threw a pair of touchdowns to Matthews, who caught a school-record 14 passes for 187 yards. Matthews, a fifth-year senior, also set the San Diego single-season receiving yardage record with 1,317.
Matthews continued to make his case for being one of the nation’s top receivers and has now caught a touchdown in 13 straight games dating back to last season. Already the Toreros’ career leader in touchdown receptions, he also added to his single-season records for receptions with 89 and touchdown receptions with 20. He will need just 29 yards in his final game in Torero blue next week to become the all-time leader in receiving yards, a mark set at 3,482.

The Toreros struck first blood on their second possession of the game when Trujillo capped off a 12-play 77- yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass to senior Ben Hannula to put USD up 7-0. With 11:34 remaining in the second quarter, San Diego added to their lead as Matthews caught his first of two touchdowns on the evening, a 5-yard reception from Trujillo to give USD a 14-0 advantage.

Butler then found some rhythm responding with 10 points of their own, cutting the lead to four at 14-10 going into halftime. Butler scored its 10 points on a Jordan Quirox 28-yard field goal and a Matt Kobli 1-yard touchdown run that capped off a 10 play 82-yard drive for the Bulldogs.

San Diego added to their lead with a four-play 67-yard drive, resulting in a Hannula 8-yard touchdown reception from Trujillo, putting them ahead 21-10. USD would then extend their lead to a comfortable 17 with 6:29 remaining as Trujillo found his favorite target Matthews for his second 30-yard score. After Butler cut the lead to 10 on a Dan Bohrer 23-yard reception, San Diego put the game out of reach on a Matt Jelmini 14-yard touchdown run with 2:46 to go, putting the game at its final of 34-17. Jelmini had 104 rushing yards on the evening to go along with the touchdown. Trujillo completed 22-of-31 passes on the night for 258 yards to go along with four touchdowns and one interception.

Loka Kanongataa led the Toreros defense recording 11 tackles and Derek Pilkington added four. USD totaled 439 yards of offense to Butler’s 322.

Despite the successful regular season, both Jacksonville and Dayton were able to win their games on Saturday officially eliminating the Toreros from postseason contention.