VALPARAISO, Ind. – The Drake football team continued its late season surge with a dominant 24-0 shutout of Valparaiso at Brown Field on Saturday (Nov. 19). The Bulldogs (3-8, 3-5) closed the 2022 campaign on a three-game win streak.
 
Valparaiso (5-6, 4-4) marched into Drake territory halfway into the first quarter, when the Bulldogs turned the Beacons back at the 12-yard line. Brian Bartholomew yanked the 29-yard field goal to the right at the 5:28 mark of the opening quarter.
 
Taking over at the 20-yard line, Luke Bailey threw a slant over the middle to Brandon Langdok, who streaked up the field for an 80-yard touchdown connection. The Bulldogs took the ball right back when Tanner Pollock intercepted Mark Appel's pass and returned it to the Valpo 44-yard line. Drake turned the turnover into points with a 21-yard field goal by Luke Williams for an early 10-0 advantage, just seconds into the second quarter.
 
Playing in his last game as a Drake Bulldog, Ryan Kriceri forced Aaron Dawson to fumble at the Drake 41-yard line, where the ball was recovered by Connor Groff for another takeaway. The Bulldogs came up empty on the ensuing possession, but they were not done scoring.
 
After a poor punt and 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty against Valparaiso, Drake had prime field position at the Beacon 33-yard line. Dorian Boyland found a seam and glided into the end zone with a 33-yard score on the ground. The Bulldogs controlled a 17-0 lead with 5:02 left in the second quarter and took that shutout into halftime.
 
With 11:05 remaining in the fourth quarter, tight end Sam Rodriguez was wide open in the right side of the end zone to catch an 18-yard touchdown pass from Luke Bailey.
 
The Drake defense continued to stifle the Beacons in the fourth quarter limiting them to 216 yards of total offense (44 rushing yards). The Bulldogs were impressive from wire-to-wire for their first shutout of the year in the season finale, 24-0.
 
NOTES

• 26 degrees was the temperature at kickoff (coldest kickoff temperature this season). Wind was from the southwest at 20 mph.
• Drake led at halftime for the second time this season (back-to-back games).
• Drake led 17-0 at halftime, its largest halftime lead since Sept. 2, 2021, against West Virginia Wesleyan (35-0).  
• In his final collegiate game, Ryan Kriceri made a game-high 12 tackles (eight solo), 1.0 tackle for loss and forced a fumble.
• The 80-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Langdok was Drake's longest play from scrimmage this season.
• Six different Drake tight ends have caught touchdowns this season.
• Drake football has won three consecutive games for the first time since 2019, when the Bulldogs won four games in a row from Sept. 28-Oct. 26 of that year.
• Today's win snapped a two-game losing skid versus Valparaiso.
• Drake leads the all-time series, 26-5.