Sept. 18, 2010

Final Stats

(San Diego, CA)- Playing their second straight scholarship program from the Great West Conference, the Toreros (0-3) battled the visiting UC Davis Aggies (1-2) to the end but came up shy in a hard-fought 38-24 loss. Sophomore QB Mason Mills (Coronado, CA) earned his first collegiate football start and turned in a solid first-time effort completing 24-of-40 passes for 221 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Toreros will look to get in the win column this coming Saturday, September 25th, when they open up PFL play with the Butler Bulldogs in a 6:00 p.m. contest.

"I loved the team effort tonight, and I felt Mason Mills did a nice job for us in his first start at quarterback," said head coach Ron Caragher. "He showed me a competitiveness and spirit. As a team we'll need to focus in on protecting the ball better as we head into PFL play and do a better job in the red zone. I thought the defense did a great job of creating turnovers and keeping us in the game."

The Aggies jumped out to a 14-0 lead early in the 2nd quarter, but with 3:42 to go in the first half, freshman RB Sam Hoekstra took a hand off and pulled up and tossed a 44-yard pass to Godfrey Smith for USD's first score. Stanley Shurson, who missed on a 24-yarder in the 1st quarter, converted from 25 yards with 2:03 to go to pull San Diego to within 14-10. UC Davis took care of business before halftime as they marched 60 yards on 7 plays that culminated with a 22-yard TD pass completion from QB Randy Wright to WR Steven Dunston.

In the second half UC Davis extended their lead to 28-10 on a 17-yard run by Josh Reese that completed a 6-play, 71-yard drive. But the Toreros answered once again 3 ½ minutes later as FB Jon Harris hauled in a 5-yard pass from Mills for a score to make it 28-17. In the 4th period, UC Davis added a 35-yard field goal and a 2-yard passing play for a 38-17 advantage, but with 1:45 to go Mills connected with Sean Ricucci for a 3-yard scoring play on a 4th-and-goal for the final margin.

For the second straight week the Toreros' defense came up with some big plays. Captain Al-Rilwan Adeyemi led the way with 10 tackles and 1 interception. Robbie Beathard chipped in with 8 tackles; LB Mike Calahan 6 stops; free safety Fred Obi with 5 tackles and 1 interception (30-yard return); and Mario Kurn with 2 QB sacks.

For the game USD totaled 296 yards of offense to UC Davis' 390 (186 rushing). UCD was paced by RB Josh Reese (104 yards), QB Randy Wright (14-23 for 202 yards) and receivers Sean Creadick (5 for 67) and Dean Rogers (4-for-71, 2 TDs).