Oct. 20 - Oct. 29, 2021 EDITOR: Jason Freund • sports@thedailyaztec.com
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The Daily Aztec
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No. 24 Aztecs get sweet revenge on San Jose State in double overtime By Austin Tarke STAFF WRITER
It took an ‘all hands on deck’ effort as the coaching, defense and special teams were the key ingredients for San Diego State football (6-0, 2-0 Mountain West Conference) to outlast the San Jose State Spartans (3-4, 1-2 MWC) in double overtime 19-13. After a spectacular interception in the second overtime by senior safety Trenton Thompson, senior quarterback Lucas Johnson threw the game-winning touchdown pass to junior receiver Jesse Matthews as the No. 24 ranked Aztecs improved to 6-0 for just the second time in the last 40 years. The game featured little excitement as no touchdowns were scored in four quarters of regulation. The Spartan crowd in CEFCU Stadium was electric as it was their homecoming night, which saw a lively crowd. Spartan alumni Krazy George was in attendance who invented “the wave” celebration to provide a spark for the Spartans. Senior quarterback Jordan Brookshire started the game and struggled, ending up with a passer rating of 18.1. After three quarters of throwing his hands up in the air in frustration and with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, SDSU head coach Brady Hoke made the change to put Johnson in at quarterback, who provided the team with its own spark plug. “We thought we were a little stagnant and we needed to do something different,” Hoke said. Johnson was dynamic in overtime as he showed off his legs running for a crucial first down and followed it with the first touchdown of the game — a 14-yard pass to Matthews. After the Spartans went scoreless on the first possession of double overtime, the
Photo courtesy of SDSU Athletics
SDSU’s defense was relentless against San jose State, not allowing a touchdown until overtime in the Aztecs 19-13 victory on Friday night.
Aztecs needed only a field goal to win the game. Instead of playing conservatively, Johnson — on his third pass of the game — threw a gorgeous second touchdown pass to Matthews to walk off the game. “I looked out there and I saw that Jesse was one-on-one again, so I checked it, and I was either going to get yelled at or it was going to win the game,” Johnson said. “Gutsy,” the coaches said when Johnson returned to the sideline. The game revolved around both defenses. The Aztecs came into the game ranked in the top 10 in FBS rankings in most defensive statistics and the Spartans have a defensive front that Hoke said he was intimidated by. Hoke also said that these are the ugly
games SDSU has to win the conference. “The game was physical, it wasn’t pretty,” Hoke said. After the Aztecs gave up their first touchdown of the game and their first rushing touchdown of the season in the first overtime, they were sent right back out in double overtime to make up for their mistake. The Aztec defense bounced back in a huge way as Thompson had a leaping one-handed interception. “We knew we just had to get them off the field and win,” Thompson said. “We call it ‘gotta-have it situations.’ He threw it up, and I just made a play.” Versatile junior kicker/punter Matt Araiza excelled once again, kicking a career long 53-yard field goal to score the Aztecs
first points of the game. Araiza said he ran to coach Hoke after the kick and thanked him for trusting him. “There’s a gut you have over the course of a game,” Hoke said, referring to the decision to kick the long field goal. In addition to his two field goals, Araiza had seven punts over the course of the game, including a spectacular 86-yard bomb that flew over the Spartan punt returner’s head and bounced all the way to the San Jose State three-yard line. Last season, SJSU handed the Scarlet and Black its first loss of the season in heartbreaking fashion, and went on to become MWC champions in 2020. Spoiling the Spartains homecoming in 2021 felt right for the Aztecs, and the locker room celebrated in a crazy fashion. “Coach Hoke tried to talk a couple times and we were all yelling,” Araiza said. “Part of it is coming to somebody else’s house and beating them in a close game.” The Aztecs record their sixth win of the year which makes them bowl eligible. However, the team is far from satisfied as they have their eyes on bigger achievements. “Our main goal is to win the conference championship,” Araiza said. “We don’t set our sights on a bowl game. We set our sights on the championship, the ring, and the trophy and all that.” The Aztecs now have Air Force (6-1, 3-1 MWC) on deck who feature a unique triple option. Hoke said he was jokingly upset as he wanted a few more moments to cherish the win instead of thinking about the difficulties of preparing for the Falcons offense. “They are a physical football team,” Hoke said.“The triple option, whether it’s true triple or not, they know what they’re doing.”
Men’s soccer scores last second goal to defeat Torerros By Adam Correa STAFF WRITER
The San Diego State Aztecs (7-3-2, 2-30 Pac-12) defeated the University of San Diego Toreros (1-11-0, 0-2-0 West Coast Conference) 2-1 as time expired on Friday night. The Aztecs end their three-game losing streak and pick up their first road win of the 2021 season. The Aztecs got off to a quick start in the sixth minute with some nifty passing by sophomore midfielder Iñigo Villaldea and freshman forward Alex Hjaelmof to set up fellow sophomore midfielder Andre Ochoa for the first goal of the game and his team-leading fifth goal of the season. According to head coach Ryan Hopkins, whenever the team scores first it is a confidence booster to keep doing well throughout the game. “First goal we score is a pattern,” Hopkins said. The Toreros only allowed one shot on goal in the first half and was keeping pace with the Aztecs. USD kept the pressure on in the first half and had two shots on goal that were stopped by sophomore goalkeeper Jacob Castro. USD took more quality shots on net in the first 45 minutes of play from 10 to 15 yards out. The Aztecs had many opportunities to take shots from that distance but didn’t. Hopkins said he would rather his
Photo courtesy of SDSU Athletics
Friday night’s game gave SDSU soccer a lot to celebrate as they took down cross-town rival USD 2-1.
players take quality shots from a shorter distance than from 30 yards out and not be efficient. “It was how central can we get on our shots,” Hopkins said. In the 66th minute, the Toreros came close to scoring with a quality shot from sophomore midfielder Rhys Gourdie that was stopped by Castro’s diving block. The ball then deflected to freshman midfielder Luke Pardoe who shot on goal but was stopped by the foot of an Aztec defender. In the 68th minute, Castro came to the end of the box to make an aggressive catch save but was fouled hard by Pardoe and he
ended up going down. Hopkins called the foul a “cheap shot.” Sophomore defender Elias Katsaros didn’t like the foul and got into a confrontation with Pardoe. Katsaros and Pardoe were given yellow cards after the incident. Castro got up and continued in goal. USD kept up their aggressive play and finally executed in the 88th minute when Tunbridge put a shot on goal from the right side of the net that deflected off of an Aztec defender and ended up off the crossbar then tapped in by sophomore midfielder Ross Johnstone, tying up the score 1-1 with two minutes left and the possibility of go-
ing into overtime. The Aztecs were eager to end the game before regulation and got their chance when an Aztec player was fouled by Gourdie to create a free kick opportunity from 15 yards out. The time showed 89:53 and Villaldea would take the free kick for the Aztecs that was sent into the box, headed by freshman defender Rik Regeling — making his first career start — and tapped in by junior midfielder Blake Bowen. With just five seconds left in the game, the Torero players fell to the ground with the emotions of frustration pouring out of them. “It feels good to get another [game-winner],” Bowen said in a post-game press conference. Hopkins was impressed with Castro’s goalkeeping. He made four saves on five shots on goal in the game and now has a save percentage of 0.880. “That is why he is the best goalkeeper in the country,” Hopkins said. The Aztecs go back into Pac-12 conference play Thursday against the Stanford Cardinals (4-5-2, 1-3-1 Pac-12) who are looking for revenge after losing in double overtime 1-0 on Sept. 19. “Two wins will get us to the NCAA tournament,” Hopkins said. The Aztecs — who are 2-3-0 in their conference — are looking to move up the ladder with a win at Stanford.
