SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (Oct. 30, 2010) – Authoring perhaps their best offensive performance this season, the Saint Francis football team went toe-to-toe with the #22/20 Cal Poly Mustangs, falling 41-33 after the Red Flash's final onsides kick attempt failed with 1:17 remaining in the contest.

The Red Flash fall to 1-7 overall, while the Mustangs improve to 6-3 overall.

The drama came to pass after quarterback John Kelly (Frederick, Md./Tuscarora) (Frederick, Md./Tuscarora) recorded his third touchdown pass of the game, hitting a leaping Dane Domonkos (Windber, Pa./Bishop McCort) (Windber, Pa./Bishop McCort) in the back of the end zone from 23 yards out.  Domonkos acrobatically leapt over a defender and managed to drag his feet in for his first touchdown of the season.  That pulled the Flash to within one score, at 41-33.

The kick, however, bounced off a Red Flash player before traveling 10 yards.  As Cal Poly recovered, they declined the penalty and ran out the clock for the win.

“Tonight was a total team effort, and we nearly upset one of the best teams in the country,” said Red Flash head coach Chris Villarrial.  “We have to keep things in perspective, because we still lost.  But I'm very proud of the way the team battled tonight.  They played well.”

As is often the case, the game did not follow the script many imagined before kickoff.  Cal Poly entered the contest as a rushing juggernaut, averaging nearly 250 yards a game on the ground with their triple-option attack.  Instead, the Mustangs elected to balance their attack, with quarterback Tony Smith going 19-for-24 through the air with one score.

Smith's quarterbacking counterpart, SFU's Kelly, responded with his best game of the season.  Kelly completed 26-of-41 passes for a total of 242 yards and three touchdowns, all season-highs.  Kelly also logged a team-high 71 rushing yards, keeping the Mustangs guessing throughout the game with his sharp decision-making and accurate passing.

Kelly also did a good job of spreading the wealth amongst his receivers; Kelly completed passes to nine different pass-catchers.

Cal Poly opened the scoring at 4:12 of the first quarter, when Jordan Yocum recorded the first of his three rushing touchdowns in the game from two yards out.  The Red Flash responded exactly four minutes later, when Kevin Parker (Monessen, Pa./Monessen) (Monessen, Pa./Monessen) made an excellent grab in the back of the end zone, wrestling a tipped ball away from a defensive back to complete a nine-play, 66-yard drive.  The extra point was missed due to a bad hold, and the score was now 7-6  in favor of Cal Poly.

Yocum would score again to open the second quarter and make it 13-6, but Michael Brown (Ambler, Pa./William Penn Charter School) (Ambler, Pa./William Penn Charter) blocked Jake West's extra point to keep it a seven-point game.  

With less than a minute remaining in the second quarter, Jude Yearwood (Elkridge, Md./Howard) (Elkridge, Md./Howard) nearly provided the equalizer when he scored on a three-yard touchdown run.  However, a procedure penalty on the extra point pushed the Flash back, and Josh Thiel (Leesburg, Va./Heritage) (Leesburg, Va./Heritage) missed the second kick.

The turning point of the game came at the beginning of the third quarter, when Cal Poly scored on runs of four and five yards from fullback Jake Romanelli to make it 27-12.  Dan Conley (Burgettstown, Pa./Burgettstown) (Burgettstown, Pa./Burgettstown) pulled SFU to 27-19 on a 4th-and-goal run with 4:11 in the third, and Omar Winston (Cleveland, Ohio/Cleveland South) (Cleveland, Ohio/Cleveland South) made his sixth touchdown grab of the season at 9:28 of the fourth quarter to make it 34-26.

Winston finished with a team-high six catches for 69 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, Matthew Parker (Darlington, PA/Blackhawk) (Darlington, Pa/.Blackhawk) became Saint Francis's second member of the 400 Tackles club, recording 11 stops to reach 406 for his career.  He is just the fifth player in Northeast Conference history to reach the mark, and needs 11 more stops to reach fourth place on the conference's career tackles list.  Parker also added 1.0 tackles for loss and one quarterback hurry.

Classmate Scott Lewis (South Fork, PA/Bishop McCourt) (South Fork, Pa./Bishop McCort) had a game-high 13 tackles to reach 100 for the fourth consecutive season.  Jerome Mathews (Pittsburgh, Pa./Schenley) (Pittsburgh, Pa./Schenley) had six tackles and a pass deflection.

NOTES:  Parker and Lewis are now just one of two pairs in NCAA Division I (FCS) history to have recorded 400 tackles apiece… Lewis moved into sole possession of third place on the FCS career tackles list.  Lewis now has 487 career tackles, and needs three more to move into sole possession of second.  He needs 13 tackles to become jus the second player in history with 500 stops… two Red Flash players, Dane Domonkos (Windber, Pa./Bishop McCort) and Kevin Parker (Monessen, Pa./Monessen), caught their first career touchdown passes against the Mustangs… freshman receiver Jacob Novicki (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton-La Salle Regional) (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton-LaSalle) caught his first career pass against Cal Poly.  Novicki finished the game with three grabs for 35 yards… Omar Winston (Cleveland, Ohio/Cleveland South) needs three more touchdowns to pass Luke Palko for fourth on SFU's career touchdown receptions list… Taylor Holby (Nanty-Glo, Pa./Blacklick Valley) (Nanty Glo, Pa./Blacklick Valley) was the Red Flash's leader in all-purpose yardage, posting 141 yards… there were no turnovers by either team in the game… next Saturday's game against Bryant will kick off at 1 p.m., and there will be a Senior Day ceremony before the game begins.