The Valparaiso University football team went toe-to-toe with the preseason favorite to win the Pioneer Football League, but visiting San Diego prevailed 43-27 in a game that featured four lead changes and was closer than the final score would indicate as it was 36-27 with 15 seconds left. Ryan Ricketti (Ricky Rover, Ohio / Rocky River) had his second 100-yard kickoff return touchdown of the season and led the team with six catches for 58 yards in the receiving game.
 
How It Happened

• After Valpo went three-and-out on the game's opening drive, San Diego moved the ball 40 yards on 11 plays. The Beacons got a third-down stop thanks to a pass breakup by Alex Goworowski (Chicago, Ill. / Saint Patrick), forcing a 39-yard field goal attempt that Emiliano Salazar sent through the uprights.
• After San Diego took over on an interception, Valpo forced a turnover on downs with Goworowski playing a key role in a pair of stops near the goal line prior to an incomplete pass on fourth down.
• After a Valpo three-and-out, a 33-yard punt return set up a short field for the Toreros, who converted with an 11-yard touchdown pass to make it 10-0 with 46 seconds left in the opening quarter.
• Four different receivers caught passes as part of an 11-play, 75-yard drive that finished with a 28-yard touchdown reception by Devin Yeats (Hampshire, Ill. / Hampshire), making it 10-7 with 10:23 left in the second quarter.
• Valpo forced a punt, but then San Diego picked up an interception and turned good field position into points when Salazar connected on a 43-yard field goal to extend the lead to 13-7.
• The next Valpo drive started with a boost from a 39-yard kickoff return by Ricketti, only the opening act for his big return later in the contest. A 23-yard run by Noah Long (Liberty Hill, Texas / Liberty Hill) and 18-yard reception by Colin Hayes (Bloomington, Ill. / Bloomington Central Catholic) on consecutive plays highlighted a drive that finished with Michael Rumoro (Geneva, Ill. / Geneva Community) receiving a 3-yard touchdown from QB Rowan Keefe (Park Ridge, Ill. / Maine South) to give Valpo its first lead at 14-13 with five seconds left in the first half.
• USD regained the lead with a nine-play, 75-yard drive after receiving the second-half kick. That drive finished with a 9-yard TD run that made it 20-14 in favor of the guests.
• An immediate response came courtesy of Ricketti, who ripped off a 100-yard kickoff return touchdown to vault Valpo ahead 21-20.
• San Diego found the endzone again on its next drive, this time on a 23-yard run. The Toreros went for two, but the Beacons stopped the attempt to keep it 26-21 with 7:24 on the third-quarter clock.
• Valpo punted, then USD put together an 11-play, 52-yard drive that finished with a 21-yard field goal. O.C. Nurse (Dumfries, Va. / Forest Park [Marietta]) had a pass breakup on the third-down play to make sure the Toreros settled for three points. San Diego's lead grew to 29-21 with 14:54 left in the fourth.
• Valpo moved the ball into San Diego territory on the next drive including catches of 17 and 25 yards for Ricketti, but the series ended with USD's third interception.
• A 36-yard touchdown run for the guests extended the lead to 36-21 with 5:53 left.
• Grabs by Hayes of 25 and nine yards helped set up a 34-yard touchdown catch by Long. The PAT was missed, so the deficit was nine at 36-27 with 3:42 left.
• San Diego was able to successfully run out the majority of the clock, eventually scoring on a 2-yard TD run with 15 seconds left to make it 43-27.

Inside the Game

• Valpo led at halftime for the second time in league play, both coming in the last three weeks (Oct. 25 vs. Morehead State) and for the third time overall this season.
• Keefe passed for 234 yards, setting a career high for the second straight week. He completed 19 passes, also reaching a career best in that category for the second consecutive outing. Valpo's top two outputs this season in terms of team passing yards have come in the last two weeks.
• Saturday marked the team's highest total number of passing yards since also throwing for 234 on Sept. 23, 2023 vs. Marist. This tied the team's highest number of passing yards since 323 on Oct. 29, 2022 at Dayton.
• Ricketti's 100-yard return marked the team's third kickoff return touchdown of the season. This is the first time in program history that Valpo has returned three kickoffs for scores in a single season.
• That marked Ricketti's second kickoff return touchdown of the season, making him just the second different Valpo player with multiple kickoff return touchdowns in a season and the third time total that the feat has been achieved in program history. Bailey Gessinger had two kickoff return touchdowns in 2016 and again in 2018.
• There have only been nine 100-yard kickoff returns in the FCS nation this season, and Ricketti owns two of them. He is the only player in the FCS nation and one of two players in the Division-I nation with multiple 100-yard kickoff return touchdowns this season, joining Notre Dame's Jadarian Price.
• Ricketti became the first FCS player nationally with multiple 100-yard kickoff returns in the same season since 2022, when Weber State's Abraham Williams remarkably had four of them.
• Ricketti finished the game with 198 kickoff return yards, the most of any player nationally in FCS this season and the second most in all of Division-I in a single game this season, behind only Western Michigan's Devin Miles, who had 218 on Oct. 25 vs. Miami (Ohio).
• Ricketti finished with 256 all-purpose yards, the 13^th most nationally in FCS in a single game this season. He paced the team with six catches for 58 yards, with the six receptions marking a single-game career best.
• Yeats and Rumoro both scored their first career touchdowns. Long's was his second overall and first through the air.
• Valpo's nine touchdown receptions this season have come from nine different players, with no Beacon owning multiple TD grabs.
• With his three passing scores on Saturday, Keefe is up to seven this season and 13 in his career.
• Hayes had three catches for 52 yards after entering his career day with three catches for 48 yards through the first nine games of the season.
• The Beacons were shorthanded once again with WR Chris Gundy, RB Michael Mansaray and LB Max Samuel among the numerous key players out with injuries.
• Redshirt freshman Anthony Feltrinelli (Westfield, Ind. / Westfield) topped the team's tackle chart, posting 12 tackles for his third double-figure output of the season and second straight. Mark Johnson (Nashville, Tenn. / Lipscomb Academy) secured a season-high nine stops and De'Andre Wilborn (Chicago, Ill. / Westinghouse [Georgetown]) had a career-high eight.
• A 3-0 deficit in the turnover battle was one factor that plagued the Beacons in a strong effort.

Up Next
Click here for postgame press conference.
 
Up Next
Valpo (1-9, 0-6 PFL) will hold Senior Day next Saturday at Brown Field prior to a noon kickoff vs. Stetson. Arrive early to enjoy a pregame Senior Day ceremony. For ticket information, visit tickets.valpoathletics.com.