Oct. 27, 2012

Final Stats

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Quarterback Mason Mills and wide receiver Sam Hoekstra led the Toreros (5-3, 4-1) to a 41-9 win over Dayton (4-5, 3-3) with record-breaking performances to extend the Toreros home win streak to eleven games.

Mills set a USD and PFL record with 511 passing yards, while Hoekstra etched his name into the USD record book with 246 receiving yards to help the Toreros earn their third consecutive win.

While Mills and Hoekstra were breaking records, the Torero defense hounded Dayton quarterback Will Bardo all evening, holding him to 70 yards on 8-26 passing.

The Toreros were able to score on their opening drive with an Ernie Collins 25 yard field goal, but were held scoreless for the remainder of the first quarter.

In the second quarter Mills started heating up, leading the Toreros on three consecutive touchdown drives. The first touchdown came after a 13 play 90 yard drive that lasted nearly eight minutes when Mills found Brandon White in the endzone from four yards out to put USD up 10-0 early in the second quarter.

After allowing a 28-yard field goal to Dayton, Mills quickly marched the Toreros down the field on a seven play 75 yard that ended with a 34 yard Hoekstra touchdown catch.

After forcing the Flyers into a three-and-out, the Toreros added one more touchdown before halftime when Kenn James scampered into the endzone from one yard out to give the Toreros a 24-3 lead with just seven seconds remaining in the first half.

At half, the Toreros had outgained the Flyers 332-97 in total yards and Mills had already racked up 301 passing yards.

Mills picked up right where he left off in the second half, connecting with Hoekstra on passes of 53 and 26 yards before finding Reggie Bell for a seven yard touchdown to extend the Toreros lead to 34-3 with 3:35 left in the third quarter.

Bell caught another Mills touchdown from 29 yards out with just under nine minutes remaining in the game. Bell finished with seven catches for 107 yards and two touchdowns.

The Flyers were able to find the endzone with 5:07 remaining on a Robert Washington 13 yard touchdown run, but the game was out of hand at that point.

Mills finished 31-41 with four touchdowns and two interceptions and his 511 passing yards put him ahead of DeWayne Ewing from Butler for the PFL record. Ewing threw for 497 yards against San Diego in 2000.

Hoekstra broke the USD record for receiving yards in a game with 246, passing Nick Garton who hauled in 234 yards against Davidson in 2003.

Kenn James and Dallas Kessman paced the Toreros ground attack with 45 and 43 rushing yards respectively.

Defensively, the Toreros put down the clamps on a Dayton squad that came to San Diego averaging 523 yards of offense over its three straight PFL wins. By allowing just 9 points and 263 yards of offense, the Torero defense has been dominating of late, surrendering just 16 points over its three consecutive wins. Against the Flyers, USD was paced by Zach Devaney (5 tackles and 1 sack for -7 yards), Steve Gargiulo (4 solo stops, 1 sack for -6 yards, 1 quarterback hurry and 3 tackles for loss), Matt Miller (4 tackles), Fred Obi (4 tackles) and Michael Ruffino (4 stops). Defensive captain Dustin Geyer chipped in with 2 stops and a forced fumble, and Drew Harris corraled his team-leading 3rd interception of the season.

The Toreros look to build on their current three game win streak next Saturday when they travel to take on Marist (3-5, 2-3). Kickoff is at 1:00 p.m.