Saturday, Oct. 22, 2011
DES MOINES, Iowa--Drake Quarterback Mike Piatkowski (Wheaton, Ill.) threw a career-best four touchdown passes and the Bulldogs' defense intercepted two passes while holding Valparaiso to 125 total yards in a 50-0 shutout of the Crusaders Saturday at Drake Stadium.
The win moved Drake to 6-2 on the season, 4-1 in the Pioneer Football League. Valparaiso fell to 0-7, 0-4 in the PFL.
"I was really pleased," said Drake head coach Chris Creighton. "The challenge was to come out and play well. This game couldn't come fast enough after last week. The thing is that it wasn't just a seven-day challenge, but that taste from last week is going to last for four weeks and one of those four weeks is done now and I'm really proud of how the guys came out and played."
Piatkowski threw touchdowns to four different receivers, all in the first half, as the Bulldogs built a 44-0 lead by intermission and cruised from there. He finished with 214 yards on 16-of-23 passing.
The four touchdowns represent a new career high for Piatkowski, who also set career bests for touchdowns and passing yards in a season with three games remaining to play. He has thrown for 2,202 yards and 17 touchdowns, surpassing his previous bests of 2,139 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2009.
"I felt pretty comfortable," Piatkowski said. "We had a great game plan, our offensive line was protecting, running backs were running the ball well, receivers were getting open, so it was a great game. I feel like as a team, offensively, we're seeing the field well, getting in the right plays. The defense is doing a great job getting us the ball and shutting down their offense."
The Bulldogs scored a touchdown on their opening possession for the third time this season, and found the end zone on each of their first five offensive possessions, in addition to a defensive touchdown. Piatkowski marched his team down the field and capped the opening drive with a 3-yard touchdown toss to junior Nick Rosa (Owasso, Okla.).
Rosa and wide receiver Jacob Dines (Osage Beach, Mo.) led the team with four catches apiece, and each scored his first career touchdown in the game. Dines' touchdown came in the second quarter on a 14-yard reception from Piatkowski to push the Drake lead to 42-0.
Junior Trey Morse (Elmo, Texas) led the Bulldogs' rushing attack with 60 yards on 16 carries (3.5) and scored his fourth rushing touchdown of the season in the second quarter on a 5-yard plunge. For the day, Drake rushed 46 times for 162 yards (3.5).
Leading 14-0 after the Morse touchdown, the defense got into the act when linebacker Jake Underwood (Cary, Ill.) intercepted an Eric Hoffman pass and returned it 65 yards for a touchdown. It was the first interception return for a score by a Bulldog since last year's San Diego game, Oct. 30 at Drake Stadium, when linebacker Ben Morrison returned one 95 yards for a score.
"When I caught the ball I saw that there were two offensive linemen and I figured I should outrun them," said Underwood. "Then I heard a couple, one of our guys actually, got clipped in the back but there were a couple of big blocks. Other than that (it was) just down the sideline with speed. It was a great feeling. Anytime the defense can score it definitely gets the team going and fires up the team."
The lead grew to 28-0 late in the first quarter when Piatkowski found Nathan Paddock (Lee's Summit, Mo.) for a 19-yard touchdown. It was Paddock's sixth receiving score of the season.
A 15-yard touchdown connection between Piatkowski and tight end Kevin Marshall (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) opened the second-quarter and pushed Drake's lead to 35-0. That touchdown was Piatkowski's 16th of the season, establishing a new career high. It was Marshall's second scoring reception of the year.
Valparaiso surrendered a safety late in the second quarter when a high snap sailed over the head of Crusaders punter Greg Wood and rolled out of the end zone. That made the score 44-0 at halftime, with the Bulldogs holding a 283-45 advantage in total offense, including 214 through the air. Drake managed 16 first downs in the half, and the defense held Valparaiso to just 45 yards and five first downs.
The only scoring in the second half came late in the third quarter on a 1-yard touchdown run by sophomore Jacob Schmudlach (Carthage, Ill.) with 27 seconds to play in the period. It marked the second week in a row that Schmudlach had found the end zone, for the first two scores of his career.
Linebacker Tyler Moorehead (Mason City, Iowa) led the Bulldogs with eight tackles (7 solo) and intercepted his second pass of the season, third of his career, late in the first half.
Defensive end Brandon Coleman (Cary, Ill.) pushed his season sack total to 9.5 with one today, and was joined by linebacker Jeff Grovak (Mt. Prospect, Ill.) and defensive end David Witkiewicz (Hales Corners, Wisc.) in recording sacks. Coleman entered the game tied for fifth in the FCS with 8.5.
"The challenge is going to be to not be an 'up one week, down one week, up one week, down one week' team," said Creighton. "We haven't been, that but I think that we're close enough to the end right now that I think everybody understands that when we're locked in and we're playing like we're capable, we're pretty good. When we don't, when we have lapses, whether it's a quarter or one part of the ball game or a half, we might not be able to overcome that against teams in our league. So that's a fun challenge. I'll take this team any time."
The Bulldogs travel to Marist next Saturday for their third road game in a four-week span, seeking to stay in the race for first place in the PFL. Kickoff is set for noon ET, 11 a.m. CT. Drake's win, coupled with a loss today by San Diego-which defeated Drake a week ago-leaves the Bulldogs and Toreros tied at 4-1 behind PFL leader Jacksonville (5-0).
"It was definitely great to see that (San Diego) ended up losing but nothing really changes for us," Piatkowski added. "We had to win out the last four games, so we still have the same mindset to win out these next three."
