Sept. 19, 2009
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(San Diego, CA) - The USD Toreros (2-1; 1-0 PFL) dealt visiting Marist (1-2; 0-2 PFL) a 17-10 defeat in San Diego's home and PFL opener at Torero Stadium this afternoon before 2,423 fans. Down 10-3 at halftime the Toreros rallied behind the play of redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Scudellari who tossed the winning touchdown to TE Patrick Doyle for 26-yards with forty-one seconds left in the game. Scudellari, who replaced starter Sebastian Trujillo at the start of the second half, finished 5-of-7 for 108 yards and one score.
"The first half was not USD football," said head coach Ron Caragher. "I was not proud of the first half, I thought from an execution and an effort standpoint. We just really challenged them at halftime to come out and play with energy and great enthusiasm, and I thought the team responded. Whether we came out with a win or not, the energy was there that I wanted to see, so I was proud of that."
Marist, from Poughkeepsie, New York, is in its first year in the Pioneer Football League. The Red Foxes are no stranger to USD however as the Toreros improved their series record against the visitors to 5-0. Marist got on the scoreboard first on a 45-yard field goal by Kevin Pauly with 3:58 left in the first quarter. The Toreros knotted the score on their next possession as Mike Levine converted his 28-yard field goal with 2:17 left in the quarter. In the second quarter Marist strung together an 8-play, 65-yard drive that culminated with Ray Fiumefreddo's 1-yard burst with 5:36 to go.
In the second half the Toreros started executing better and getting into a pattern on offense. On their second possession the Toreros put together a 12-play, 65-yard drive that took just over six minutes that was capped off with JT Rogan's 2-yard TD run. During the drive Rogan carried the ball eight times, while Scudellari completed two first down plays to Godfrey Smith (14 yards) and Eric Fiege (8 yards).
Added Caragher, "We were not executing, and it was not any one individual's fault, but Sam (Scudellari) came in there and brought a lot of energy to the position. It was good to see him execute how he did in his first half of college football."
The Torero defense continued their solid play into the 4th quarter where they limited Marist to two long field goal attempts that missed from 47 & 50 yards. The Toreros took over their final possession with 2:36 left in the game. Scudellari hit WR John McGough up the middle for a huge 43-yard completion down to the Marist 24-yard line. After back-to-back JT Rogan rushes the Toreros faced third and 12 from the 26-yard line. Scudellari took the snap and rolled to his right, and immediately looked back left and connected with TE Patrick Doyle who was wide open. Doyle sprinted up the left side into the end zone untouched for the game winner.
The Red Foxes last play of the game, a pass from QB Joe DeSimone, was caught and lateralled four times before being scooped up by LB Zach Dunaj to end the game.
Offensively for USD, JT Rogan finished with 50 yards rushing on 19 carries. John McGough caught 3 balls for 51 yards, while Patrick Doyle caught two for 32 yards and the game-winning score. Rogan averaged 47 yards on two kickoff returns, including a season-long 67-yarder. Kyle Negrete punted five times for an average of 44.2 with a long of 53 yards. Defensively the Toreros were paced by Loka Kanongatta (9 tackles), Derek Pilkington (8 stops), LB Joe Martin (7 tackles, 1 QB sack) and safety Mike Bogard (6 tackles, 1 pass breakup).
The Toreros have a bye next week, then return for back-to-back PFL road contests at Butler (Oct. 3) and Valparaiso (Oct. 10).
