San Luis Obispo Tribune Logo

Cal Poly football team finishes on winning note | San Luis Obispo Tribune

×
  • E-edition
  • Home
    • Customer Service
    • Contact Us
    • Mobile & Apps
    • Submit an Event
    • Buy Photos
    • News in Education
    • FAQ
    • Activate Digital Subscription
    • Manage Account
    • Newsletters

    • News
    • Local
    • Crime
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Investigations
    • California
    • California Weed
    • Nation & World
    • Lottery
    • Weather
    • Weird News
    • Submit a News Tip
    • Columns
    • Photos from the Vault
    • Weather Watch
    • Joetopia
    • That's SLO Weird
    • Sports
    • Outdoors
    • High School
    • Cal Poly
    • MLB
    • MLB Scores & Stats
    • NBA
    • NBA Scores & Stats
    • NFL
    • NFL Scores & Stats
    • Politics
    • The California Influencer Series
  • Business
    • Living
    • Food & Drink
    • Wine & Beer
    • Home & Garden
    • Travel
    • Columns
    • Linda Lewis Griffith
    • Pet Tales
    • Entertainment
    • Arts & Culture
    • Comics
    • Puzzles & Games
    • Horoscopes
    • Restaurants
    • Events Calendar
    • Movies
    • Music
    • TV
    • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Viewpoints
    • Influencers Opinion
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Submit a Letter
    • Columnists
    • Tom Fulks
    • Andrea Seastrand
  • Obituaries
  • The Cambrian

  • Contests
  • Today's Circulars
  • Classifieds
  • Jobs
  • Moonlighting
  • Cars
    • Homes
    • Real Estate Weekly
  • Place An Ad

  • About Us
  • Work For Us
  • Mobile & Apps

Cal Poly

Cal Poly football team finishes on winning note

Zac Kennedy - Special to The Tribune

    ORDER REPRINT →

November 19, 2011 11:53 PM

MOBILE, Ala. — Cal Poly presented its own brand of hard nosed, smash-mouth football as it forced three interceptions from South Alabama quarterback C.J. Bennett and capitalized on short-field opportunities all game en route to a 41-10 dismantling of the Jaguars in Saturday’s nonconference football game.

Cal Poly (6-5) rushed for 226 yards and added insult to injury with the win, as it handed South Alabama (6-4) its first home loss in 20 games. The game was the season finale for the Mustangs.

“I thought for the first time all season long both the offense and defense showed up and played well,” Cal Poly head coach Tim Walsh said. “They also played well early — not just for one drive, either. I haven’t seen us run the ball and play that fast all season. It was good ‘southern’ football.”

Cal Poly received the opening kickoff, but stalled in its first possession. After only two defensive plays, the Mustangs forced the first of four South Alabama turnovers when Nick Dzubnar knocked the ball out of Jaguars running back Kendall Houston’s hands and Sullivan Grosz recovered on the Jaguar 31-yard line.

SIGN UP

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to The Tribune

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

The Mustangs scored four plays later at the 11:19 mark in the first quarter, with Deonte Williams taking an option pitch 16 yards down the sideline and into the end zone.

The first quarter ended with Cal Poly leading 7-3 after South Alabama’s Jordan Means converted on a 32-yard field goal.

A series of hard, short runs by Williams and Mustang quarterback Andre Broadus, plus an illegal substitution penalty by South Alabama, led Cal Poly to the Jaguar 11-yard line early in the first possession of the second quarter, but the Mustangs had to settle for a James Langford 28-yard field goal to extend the lead to 10-3 with 10:30 remaining in the half.

After another home-team punt — one of six for the Jaguars — Cal Poly drove 76 yards midway through the second stanza into the red zone, where the Jaguars committed another defensive blunder on an offside penalty, setting up Williams for his second score — a 5-yard option scamper to make it a 17-3 contest.

The Cal Poly defense sacked Bennett on first down of the ensuing possession and forced a punt, which left the Mustangs with a 59-yard field to navigate with only minutes left in the first half. However, the Jaguars’ defense swallowed quarterback Andre Broadus in the backfield to force a long fourth down.

The teams the traded interceptions to end the first half, as Mustang reserve quarterback Doug Shumway was picked off by Jaguars defensive back Gabe Loper, and Cal Poly safety Greg Francis recorded his fourth interception of the year, snatching a Bennett pass across the middle.Cal Poly opened the second half by getting a Kennith Jackson interception and the Mustangs took advantage of a short field to score on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Broadous to Willie Tucker.

James Langford hit a 37-yarder with 4:58 left in the third to extend the lead to 27-3.

After forcing one of five South Alabama three-and-outs on the next possession, Broadus, who finished the night 9-of-12 passing for 150 yards, recorded his 18th touchdown of the year with two seconds remaining in the third quarter, leading the Mustangs 75 yards in seven plays and finding the end zone on a 1-yard dive.

South Alabama marched to the Cal Poly 16 to open the fourth period, but Johnny Millard’s sack snuffed out the drive.

Mark Rodgers, who ran for 118 yards on 14 carries for Cal Poly, put the game out of reach with a 1-yard touchdown run following a Troy Shotwell interception.

Cal Poly held South Alabama to only 60 yards rushing, tied for the lowest total in the Jaguars’ three-year history.

“It was a good way to end this season because it’s been a pretty dramatic one,” Walsh said. “We lost a lot of energy after the loss to UC Davis weeks ago, but last week’s (triple-overtime) loss (to Eastern Washington) actually gave us some energy because our offense played well. I told our defense that they would be the ones to step up this week, and they did, in a big way.”

Jake Romanelli gained 49 yards on 21 carries, surpassing the 1,000-yard mark for the season late in the third quarter for Cal Poly. The Templeton High School graduate finished the year with 1,015 yards, becoming the 14th Mustang ever to crack the 1,000-yard mark in a season. James Noble was the last one, accumulating 1,009 yards in 2006.

Langford’s two field goals give him a school-record 15 field goals this season. The old mark of 14 was set by James Tuthill in 1995 and matched by Nick Coromelas in 2005.

  Comments  

Videos

Cal Poly Rodeo team hosts benefit for Jack’s Helping Hand and Cal Poly Police dogs

Meet the man who left the priesthood to pursue his pro baseball dreams

View More Video

Trending Stories

‘There is a wall of gum. Just FYI’: Dwight from ‘The Office’ stops by Bubblegum Alley

February 18, 2019 11:13 AM

Police: More than a dozen people rescued from SeaWorld ride

February 18, 2019 11:53 PM

Gavin Newsom’s housing lawsuit put 47 California cities on notice. Is yours on the list?

February 19, 2019 12:00 AM

Dear Trib: Bring back ‘Non Sequitur’

February 19, 2019 01:39 PM

SLO County is the 7th least affordable place to buy a home in the entire United States

February 19, 2019 06:47 PM

Read Next

Cal Poly is on pace for a historically bad year. Is there light at the end of the tunnel?

Cal Poly

Cal Poly is on pace for a historically bad year. Is there light at the end of the tunnel?

By Scott Middlecamp

    ORDER REPRINT →

January 18, 2019 03:47 PM

The Cal Poly men’s basketball team has posted a 4-11 record halfway through the 2018-19 season, losing its first two Big West Conference games despite returning six players and three starters from last year.

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to The Tribune

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE CAL POLY

Cal Poly names longtime assistant new volleyball head coach

Cal Poly

Cal Poly names longtime assistant new volleyball head coach

December 21, 2018 04:08 PM
Successful Cal Poly women’s volleyball coach leaving to head UC Berkeley’s program

Cal Poly

Successful Cal Poly women’s volleyball coach leaving to head UC Berkeley’s program

December 19, 2018 08:00 PM
Cal Poly lands transfer from Pac-12 and Arroyo Grande High kicker on signing day

Cal Poly

Cal Poly lands transfer from Pac-12 and Arroyo Grande High kicker on signing day

December 19, 2018 03:10 PM
Cal Poly football lands a Pac-12 showdown with 2019 schedule

Cal Poly

Cal Poly football lands a Pac-12 showdown with 2019 schedule

December 12, 2018 12:48 PM
‘Devastating, heartbreaking’: Cal Poly shocked in 1st round of NCAA volleyball tournament

Cal Poly

‘Devastating, heartbreaking’: Cal Poly shocked in 1st round of NCAA volleyball tournament

November 30, 2018 09:51 PM
Cal Poly volleyball is in the NCAA Tournament again. How one brave decision made it possible

Cal Poly

Cal Poly volleyball is in the NCAA Tournament again. How one brave decision made it possible

November 29, 2018 02:37 PM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

San Luis Obispo Tribune App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Pay Your Bill
  • Rewards
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
  • Archives
Advertising
  • Place a Classified Ad
  • Advertise with Us
  • Local Deals
  • Public Notices
Copyright
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story