USD tramples Stetson

Football earns comeback victory over the Hatters 34-10 on Senior Day

Maria Watters / Asst. Sports Editor / The USD Vista

The University of San Diego’s football team dominated the winless Stetson Hatters on senior night at home on Saturday. 

Despite being heavily favored to win the contest, 3-1 USD got off to a slow start against the Hatters. Despite trailing 3-10 at the end of the first half, the rest of the game was all USD. The Toreros held Stetson scoreless for the entire second half, while proceeding to score 31 points to win the game. 

Saturday’s matchup against the Stetson Hatters was a fight for redemption for the Toreros. USD faced their Pioneer Football League rival Davidson Wildcats one week earlier, losing 31-25. Both teams entered into the contest undefeated in conference play this season, but USD was strongly favored having not been defeated by the Wildcats since 2009. But more than that, the Toreros had not lost to a conference opponent in 39 games. However, the streak was broken after USD was unable to make a second half comeback. 

In addition to the Toreros’ motivation to redeem themselves after losing their 39-game conference win streak, leading up to Saturday’s game, USD had never lost to Stetson in their eight matchups since 2013. The Toreros have dominated the Hatters at every meeting, with Stetson scoring a mere 10 points on average to USD’s 45. This, in addition to the advantage of playing on their home field, made USD the favorite to win the contest. 

USD received the kickoff to start the first quarter and began their opening drive on their own 37 yard-line. The Torero offense would get off to a rough start, as they were held to a mere two yard gain after three plays, forcing them to punt at 4th and 8. But the USD defense came out firing, forcing the punt after sacking Stetson’s redshirt junior quarterback Alex Piccirilli for a loss of six yards. 

Stetson drew first blood after nine minutes of scoreless play. Starting at the USD 46 yard-line, a 19-yard run from Piccirilli and 17 total rushing yards from sophomore running back Jordan Young-Humphrey got the Hatters into the red zone. However, the USD defense held strong and kept Stetson out of the end zone. At fourth and goal, the Hatters’ redshirt first-year kicker Cameron Gillis successfully kicked a 22-yard field goal, giving Stetson a 3-0 lead entering the second quarter. 

It wasn’t until late in the second quarter that USD was able to get on the board. After their last drive ended with a fumble in the red zone, the Toreros forced the Hatters to punt from their own 15 yard-line. USD’s redshirt senior quarterback Mason Randall kicked off the drive with a 31-yard pass to redshirt sophomore wide receiver Michael Carner. USD got to the Stetson seven yard-line, but had to settle for a field goal, tying the score 3-3. 

The Hatters were quick to respond with the first touchdown of the game. A 40-yard pass from Piccirilli to sophomore receiver Connor Becker to set up an 18-yard pass to sophomore receiver Quinton Lane for the touchdown. After making the extra point, Stetson closed out the first half with a 10-3 lead over USD. 

Once again, the USD Toreros found themselves trailing at half time. They would have to manufacture a way to swing the momentum in their favor in order to steal the lead and secure the win. 

Stetson received the kick off to start the second half. Despite a 32-yard pass from Piccirilli to Becker, the USD defense forced the Hatters to punt at 4th and 13. 

Starting from their own 20 yard-line, the Toreros began marching down the field. At first and 10 on their own 47 yard-line, Randall completed a 45-yard bomb to Carner who was taken down at the Stetson eight yard-line. Unable to get into the endzone, the Toreros had to settle for yet another field goal, cutting the Stetson lead down to 10-6. 

Unlike the last time USD scored, Stetson was unable to put together a scoring drive in response. The Torero defense put pressure on Piccirilli, resulting in an intentional grounding penalty that forced them to punt at the USD 30 yard-line. 

From their own five yard-line, USD’s senior running back Emilio Martinez ran for 84 yards before being taken down on the Stetson 11 yard-line. The massive run by Martinez set up a six-yard pass from Randall to redshirt sophomore wide receiver Christian Brown for the Toreros’ first touchdown of the game. After a successful extra point kick, USD stole the lead from the Hatters, going up 13-10. 

Stetson began their next drive at their own 25 yard-line, but with one minute left in the third quarter Piccirilli’s pass was intercepted by USD’s senior cornerback Michael Hawkins. The Toreros would get to start their next drive on the Stetson 40 yard-line. 

Randall capitalized on the interception with a 55-yard pass to Brown. Senior running back Terrence Smith topped off the drive with a four-yard run into the endzone, making this the Toreros’ third scoring drive in a row. After another successful extra point kick by sophomore kicker Brandon Eickert, USD further increased their lead to 20-10. 

With three minutes left in the game, the Toreros added insult to injury by driving 49 yards before Randall completed a 26-yard pass to Carner for another San Diego touchdown. 

The Toreros hammered the final nail into Stetson’s coffin after two sacks by redshirt senior defensive tackle Kevin Glajchen for a combined loss of 11 yards, the Toreros got the ball on the Stetson 24 yard-line with just over two minutes left in the game. Smith took advantage of the defensive effort, rushing for 24 yards to score USD’s fourth touchdown. 

The final whistle signaled the end of the game and USD secured an impressive 34-10 win over Stetson. With this comeback victory, the Toreros improved to 4-1, and redeemed themselves from their conference loss the week before. 

With only one game left in their season, the Toreros will be looking to secure the conference championship for the seventh year in a row. However, the streak is in jeopardy with the loss to Davidson. To win the title, USD will need to win their next game against Valparaiso on Saturday, April 17 in addition to Davidson losing their next game, against Stetson that same day.