DAVIDSON, N.C. – San Diego Football utilized a bye to get right ahead of a 40-28 road win at Davidson on Saturday.
The Toreros got the job done for their first win of October through a balanced offensive attack with three touchdowns on the ground and two through the air. San Diego closed out the game with a clutch field goal, touchdown and safety each in the fourth quarter.
The rest during the week eight bye was much for the Toreros as their top two running backs returned to the field and rushed for nearly 200 yards. Quarterback
Dom Nankil also took the gridiron again and passed for 288 yards at a 25-36 clip.
After entering the fourth quarter tied, the USD defense scored two more points than it allowed to see through the Toreros' 12-point road victory with its second shutout quarter of the game.
How it Happened
San Diego got its first score of the game via the ground and grad back
Matt Colombo, who returned to the field for the first time since Sept. 13. His 3-yard score on 4th-and-goal was the lone score of the first quarter.
After Davidson scored on the ensuing drive to start the second quarter, the Toreros answered right back with a 24-yard rush by
Adam Criter. For Criter, it was the senior running back's first game back from absence, too.
Again, the hosts answered the call, but so did the visiting Toreros with a fifth touchdown in as many consecutive drives between the two teams. USD junior quarterback
Dom Nankil and senior receiver
Cole Monach connected on a screen pass that saw Monach cut past three defenders for a 19-yard score.
The first half ended with three interceptions, two by the San Diego defense. Senior captain DB
Ruben Lopez intercepted his second pass of the season, eight of his career and senior corner
Ezekiel Swayne snagged his first career interception, both to stop the Wildcats in the endzone. Offensively, the interception thrown the drive before was the first all season by the Torero offense, seven games and almost two full quarters in.
To open the second half, it was Criter again, who found the endzone untouched. The Downers Grove, Ill. native scored from eight yards out up the middle to double USD's leas at 28-14.
After two touchdowns by the Wildcats to tie the game in the third quarter, the Toreros were unphased in the fourth quarter. First, sophomore
Emiliano Salazar hit the game's first field goal, a 23-yard make.
Then, inside five minutes remaining, the day's dynamic duo made it a two-score game as Nankil dropped one in the bucket for Monach in the endzone from 30 yards out, the pairs second touchdowns of the day.
To ice the game, the Torero defense came up big and forced a 4
th-and-30 on Davidson's own 5-yard line with three minutes left. Needing points, the hosts were forced to go for it, but junior lineman
Sean Scheck came up big with a sack in the endzone, a safety putting two more points on the board for the Toreros.
Notable
- Monach led the way with 113 receiving yards on six catches, two of which were for touchdowns, his fourth straight game with a score
- Criter rushed for 73 yards on 10 attempts, two of which broke through into the endzone
- Senior linebacker Tre Moore, son of head coach Brandon Moore, led the defense with seven total tackles, one for a loss
- Grad lineman Malachi Cooper had two of the Toreros' four sacks on the day, his second multi-sack game of the season
- On special teams, sophomore returner Christopher Hall had four returns for 116 yards and average of 29 yards and a long of 37
- In addition to a 23-yard field goal and being a perfect 5-5 on extra points, Salazar also punted twice for an average of 51 yards a long of 58
Up Next
The Toreros (4-4, 2-2 PFL) return home for a contest on Nov. 1 vs. the Dayton Flyers with kick off inside Torero Stadium set for 1 p.m., streaming live on ESPN+.
