When the defense forces a third-down situation, Valparaiso’s players on the sidelines instantly come to life.
The Crusaders jump up and down and flash the “money sign” popularized by Johnny Manziel. It has become a common sight at Brown Field the past two seasons.
This time, though, it was San Diego’s offense that was money on third down. The Toreros converted 11 times in 16 chances and cruised to a 38-6 victory in Saturday’s Pioneer Football League opener.
“We’ve got to get off the field right there,” strong safety Kellan Hughes said. “Those are big plays for us.”
San Diego (2-1, 1-0) also went 2-for-2 on fourth-down chances. Valparaiso coach Dave Cecchini called his team’s lack of success on critical defensive plays “embarrassing.”
“We could not get pressure on their quarterback even though we were bringing five and sometimes six rushers,” Cecchini said. “In the second half, we lost too many of the one-on-one matchups.”
Quarterback Dalton Stokes suffered a right shoulder subluxation on the second play of the second half and did not return. Ryan Clarke spent the remainder of the game under center for the Crusaders (0-3, 0-1) and went 9-for-20 for 130 yards.
“Our plan was to rotate both quarterbacks early on and give them drives,” Cecchini said. “Dalton was doing a good job. We feel like we have talented quarterbacks, but there are no shortcuts for consistency.”
The Toreros limited Valparaiso to 18 rushing yards on 22 attempts. Wide receiver Jarrett Morgan was the leading rusher with one carry for 9 yards. Jake Hutson (8 yards), Brandon Hall (8 yards) and Grayson Bastin (4 yards) were all shut down.
“You can say what you want about the missed opportunities in the pass game, but if we cannot effectively run the football with the talent that we have at the tailback position, it’s going to be a very long year,” Cecchini said. “We cannot expect to have offensive success if we can’t rely on handing the ball off.”
The Valparaiso defense stood tall in the first half, keeping the Crusaders down by only seven at the break.
Hughes, who made two interceptions, has moved his way up the depth chart after being projected as a reserve.
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“Each day that Kellan Hughes goes out there, he does something that I didn’t know he could do,” Cecchini said. “He’s really earned his way into the starting rotation and has allowed us to move our safeties to other positions.”
The Crusaders missed several opportunities to take the lead in the first half. Bastin dropped a pass on a wheel route, Clarke overthrew Griffin Norberg on a would-be TD pass and Chris Mercer had the ball ripped out of his hands for an interception.
“With the defense not being able to get off the field and the offense continually shooting itself in the foot, the game got away from us,” Cecchini said. “We’ve showed signs, we’ve just got to do it on a more consistent basis.”
Brandon Vickrey is a freelance writer for the Post-Tribune.