USD Football 1998

1997 Season In Review---------21 USD Gridders Finish With Best Season Since 1981 !

targets included sophomores Jeff Prichard (52 catches for 630 yards, 11 TDs) and Dylan Ching (48 for 915 yards, school-record 12 TDs), and se– nior Chris Del Santo (36 for 645 yards and 5 TDs). Freshman tailback Joe Hampton, running behind an of– fensive line that was anchored by PFL

The Torero defense was spear– headed by USO co-Defensive Players of the Year -- senior safety Kujanga Jackson (84 tackles) and senior DL Buddy Brown (67 tackles). Also play– ing key roles were ILB Kevin Hawes (43 tackles), FS Wade Van Dusen (83 tackles), invert Travis Dellinger (76 tackles) and CB Kaeo Gouveia (66 tackles; 5 interceptions). Picked to finish last in the '97 pre-season PFL coaches poll, the Toreros powered through league play with road wins over Evansville and Valparaiso, and home victories versus Butler and Drake. The win over Drake was the program's first, while the team's lone conference loss came at perennial PFL champ Dayton. "We' re thrilled to finish sec– ond," stated Coach McGarry. "Hope– fully we earned a little respect, be– cause we beat some good teams along the way." Besides Roth, First Team PFL honors went to Mike Stadler and Dylan Ching on offense, and Buddy Brown on defense. Earning second team honors were OL Aaron Garrison and safety Kujanga Jackson.

The USO football team, under the direction of second year coach Kevin McGarry, finished the 1997 season with a record of 8-3. The Toreros became only the fourth USO squad to achieve 8 wins in 35 years of football, and it was the program's most victories since the 1981 season. Additionally, USO finished second in the Pioneer Football League (4-1 record), also its best mark since mov– ing to the NCAA Division I-AA ranks in 1993. With seventy new faces and just ten seniors on the roster, coach McGarry and his staff knew there would be some growing pains. How– ever, the youthful Toreros just kept getting better and better as the season progressed. Offensively, behind the ex– ploits ofsophomore QB Mike Stadler, and a trio of gifted receivers, the Toreros averaged 33.6 points per

game, second only to USD's '73 club second-teamer Aaron Garrison, fin– (9-2-1) that averaged 37.9. Stadler, ished strong with a team-leading 556 who just a year ago was USD's third yards and 4 rushing scores. Senior string quarterback, finished his stellar kicker Tim Roth (11-15 field goals; campaign completing 152-for-262 41.4 punting average) became the first pass.es for 2,287 yards and a school player to be named First Team All– record 30 touchdowns. His favorite PFL on both offense and defense.