Lauren RabainoIt may have been Senior Day, but Cal Poly football’s elder statesmen were joined by juniors, sophomores and even a freshman or two in turning their season finale Saturday into an end-of-the-year bash for their departing colleagues, and of Iona, 55-7.
“You couldn’t ask for much more to go out on than 55-7,” said linebacker Jason Relyea, one of 16 Mustangs whose Cal Poly football careers were completed.
Though the Mustangs (7-4, 2-2 Great West Football Conference) waved goodbye to their veterans while drumming the Gaels (7-4, 2-1 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference), only one was a starter on an offense that finished the year as the No. 1 unit in the Football Championship Subdivision – and he was in street clothes for the entire game.
That left guard Daniel Bradley had to watch from the sidelines with an injury didn’t hurt the Mustangs as several blockers rotated in for a shuffling offensive line that cleared the way for 11 ball carriers amassing 358 rushing yards.
More importantly, though, every Mustang who started the game offensively can pick up right where they left off beginning next year.
“I already want to play the first game of the next season,” said junior quarterback Jonathan Dally. “But I’m glad we were able to end on a good note for our seniors.”
Five of those seniors who started on defense – defensive ends Louis Shepherd and Adam Torosian, Relyea, cornerback Michael Maye and free safety Mark Cordes – were greeted by a surprise early when they found Iona senior Dustin Croick starting under center in place of sophomore Nick Rossetti.
However, it turned out to be a pleasant turn of events for the Mustangs as they held Croick’s offense to just two first downs and 42 yards in the first quarter.
Cal Poly’s stonewalling of Iona paid off when the defense stuffed running back Dane Samuels on a fourth-and-1 run at his own 48-yard line.
On the ensuing play, Dally lofted a spiral down the center of the field to wide-open junior wide receiver Ramses Barden for the score with 5:04 left in the opening period.
The strike was the first of eight unanswered Mustangs touchdowns, five of which Dally either threw or ran for.
Directing the team’s first campaign with the triple-option offense, Dally finished the year second in the subdivision in passer efficiency rating, completing 54.2 percent of his passes for 2,238 yards and 29 touchdowns with five interceptions. He also ran 182 times for 763 yards and 12 scores.
“We were all rookies to this offense,” Dally said. “The big thing is we’ll have another year with the same guys playing in the same offense and we can work on perfecting it.”
After two straight 7-4 seasons and the program’s first five-year streak of at least seven wins in its 93-year history, expectations should be higher than ever before for next season.
“The more chances you get to play in games like we had this year, the more experiences those young players will have to draw from for next time,” Relyea said.
Dally can’t wait.
“Quarterbacks around the country lick their chops for a supporting cast like this,” he said. “I’m very fortunate to have it.”