Valpo lost their opener to St. Josephs 36-34
http://www.nwitimes.com/sports/football/college/st-joseph-s-rallies-to-beat-valparaiso-in-football-opener/article_bcdeb4c8-e56f-5592-ae12-1e2de4ef000f.htmlVALPARAISO | Modern technology hasn't intimidated Valparaiso coach Dale Carlson, who Tweets and spits out 60-second YouTube sound bites with the best of 'em.
He's talked all season about the improvement of his young team, trying to generate buzz for a program with a 2-31 record the past three seasons. A 29-game losing streak was finally snapped in the 10th game of the 2011 season, when the Crusaders upset Campbell.
The Crusaders opened a new season full of hope Thursday night before a crowd of 3,848 at Brown Field against St. Joseph's, but they suffered a crushing 36-34 loss in the final minute.
Led by junior quarterback Billy VandeMerkt, the Pumas marched 93 yards on 12 plays in the final three minutes, getting a 6-yard touchdown run from Cameron Crabtree with 24 seconds remaining to claim the victory.
"I'm not going to lie. I had complete trust and faith in our offense," St. Joseph's coach Cory Sanders said. "With Billy, I have one word to describe him. Warrior. I can look in his eyes and see the fight."
On the night, VandeMerkt was 21-of-38 passing for 303 yards with two touchdowns. He completed 8-of-9 passes on the final drive, including 24-yarder to Julian Walker who had monster game with 11 catches for 205 yards and two TDs.
St. Joe (1-0) got within 34-30 when freshman Gavin Voss, a Wheeler High grad, booted a 39-yard field goal with 7:14 remaining.
"He came up big under pressure," Sanders said. "That gave us a chance to win the game."
Carlson said the key was Valpo's offense not coming through on its final possession.
After the Voss field goal, the Crusaders (0-1) picked up a pair of first downs and had a second-and-3 at the St. Joe 29-yard line with about four minutes remaining. Running back Sterling Summerville lost nine yards on the play, and the Crusaders eventually had to punt.
"The big key was when we weren't able to run the clock out," Carlson said. "We had the ball in pretty decent field position ... and the offense has to run it out. But we let them go the length of the field, and that's inexcusable, too."
A back-and-forth first half ended in a 20-20 tie, with both teams missing one extra point.
Gabe Ali-El (15-84 rushing) scored the first of his two TDs for the Crusaders late in the first quarter for a 7-7 tie, a drive that was set up by a Dylan Storm interception.
VU's Jake Hutson later scored on a 2-yard run, and Ryan Lehr added a 1-yarder with 25 seconds left in the half.
Starting the third quarter, Valpo cornerback Devan Gadson stripped St. Joe's Crabtree and returned the ball 36 yards for a TD and a 26-20 Valpo lead.
Valpo kept things interesting behind the no-huddle offense directed by 6-foot-3 sophomore quarterback Eric Hoffman, who completed 23-of-44 passes for 221 yards.
But it was a tough finish for the Crusaders, who have to play at Youngstown State a week from Saturday.
"We left the defense out there for too many extended plays," Carlson said. "I think they're kind of shocked right now. I told them at the end of the game, you have to finish. It's not good enough just to be competitive.
"When you get in clutch situations you have to stop up and make plays."
It was the first-ever Thursday football game at Brown Field, and the third night game of all time.
Valpo opened with Thursday night road games in 2008 (St. Francis) and 2010 (Western Illinois).
Valpo athletic director Mark LaBarbera said playing a Thursday night opener is becoming quite a trend in college football.
"It just gives them a little more time to prepare for the next game," LaBarbera said. "With us having to prepare for Youngstown State (Sept.
, it gives the coaching staff more time to get ready.
"We thought we'd give it a try and see what happens."
LaBarbera said an effort was made to entice students, particularly freshmen, to attend the game.
"We want to get them familiar with what's going on," he said.
The Crusaders haven't had much recent success on the gridiron, playing at the Division I non-scholarship level. Valpo hasn't won a Pioneer Football League title since 2003, but LaBarbera is confident that Carlson has the program headed in the right direction.
"Dale and his staff have done a really good job of recruiting kids who can play football at the Pioneer Football League level who can also be successful academically," LaBarbera said. "I like the direction of the program, and trying to build a program at our level takes a little bit of time.
"They are bigger, and stronger because of our weight training program. They look a lot more like a football team than they have in the past."
