Saturday, September 24, 2005

Two late scoring passes were not enough for Valparaiso on Saturday afternoon as the Crusaders fell 48-17 to Davidson at Brown Field.

The visiting Wildcats raced out to a 48-3 lead late in the third quarter before the Crusader offense found its stride. Ryan Doerffler (Fort Wayne, Ind./Concordia H.S.) threw a 17-yard scoring strike to Jeff Horton (Saint Louis, Mo./Lutheran North H.S.) with 1:05 remaining in the quarter to cap a 7-play, 73-yard drive for the Crusaders for Valpo's first passing touchdown of the season.

On the next possession, Doerffler hooked up with Joe Blahowicz (Buffalo, N.Y./Alden H.S.) for a 59-yard pass down the right sideline for the final touchdown of the game with 13:19 to play.

Davidson's Ryan Alexander threw four first half touchdown passes for the Wildcats, including strikes of 53, 79, and 73 yards as the Wildcats built a 31-3 halftime advantage. Valpo's Andrew McCawley (Omaha, Neb./Creighton Prep H.S.) connected on a 27-yard field goal with 11:08 left in the half to cut the deficit to 9-3 for the Crusaders' lone points of the first half.

Davidson (2-2) tallied 603 yards of total offense, including 362 through the air in the victory. Alexander was 15-of-20 for 343 yards while Ryan Hubbard caught five passes for 165 yards and two scores.

Valpo finished the game with 240 yards passing but was held to -10 yards on the ground. Doerffler was 16-of-32 and hooked up with Blahowicz for a team-high 88 yards on four catches.

Valparaiso (1-3) will look to end its three-game skid next Saturday as the Crusaders face Austin Peay in Clarksville, Tenn. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.