USD Has Right Moves : Football: Momentum eventually dances with Toreros in 21-20 homecoming victory over Cal Lutheran.

Glossy eyes and glazed looks abounded, making it difficult to figure out who was celebrating victory and who was cursing defeat.

Both University of San Diego and Cal Lutheran players gave out deceiving body language Saturday afternoon as they roamed the football field in the aftermath of a contest that switched sides like a metronome.

The scoreboard eventually confirmed USD’s 21-20 homecoming victory, then so did the Toreros.

“This is great,” said receiver Scott Steingrebe, who caught a pass for the two-point conversion that gave USD a one-point lead with 2:33 remaining. “Especially because it’s homecoming.”

Quarterback Mike Bennett said the payback was especially sweet: “Anytime you can beat a team that beat you by the same score last year, it’s really satisfying.”

That fact was almost overlooked in the excitement.

When USD’s Steve Crandall intercepted a pass by Cal Lutheran’s Adam Hacker with 2:21 remaining, it virtually ended any hope the Kingsmen (0-3) had of winning. But when Cal Lutheran’s Tom Helmer blocked Robert Raye’s punt with 18 seconds left, the home crowd let out a collective groan.

“When they blocked that,” USD Coach Brian Fogarty said. “I thought we were in trouble. I thought they had a timeout left, but they didn’t.”

At least Cal Lutheran thought it could get its workhorse running back, Cassidy O’Sullivan, out of bounds. But a USD defender grabbed O’Sullivan by the jersey and pulled him down, forcing the Kingsmen to scramble and send in its kicker with the clock running. But the 34-yard attempt by Ben Schuldheisz flew wide to the left.

“We ran that sweep and tried to get out of bounds,” Cal Lutheran Coach Joe Harper said. “But someone grabbed him from behind and that took us further away from the field goal.”

Harper said it was out of character for Schuldheisz, who also failed on two extra-point attempts, to consistently miss.

No one was flawless, but both teams were impressive on their third- and fourth-down conversions. Two of Cal Lutheran’s touchdowns were scored on fourth downs, the other on third down. Not to be outdone, USD’s first-half scores were on third downs and its fourth-quarter touchdown was set up after Scott Sporrer came up with the critical first down after a fourth-and-one from the three-yard line.

Sporrer said it was Fogarty’s faith in the offense that contributed to the play-calling and the success.

Fogarty said the offense, which converted on seven of 16 third downs, proved it could deliver. But in several instances, there weren’t many other options on fourth down.

“We couldn’t afford to punt, and take a chance that they’d come down and score,” he said.

USD took several chances throughout the day, but none bigger than Fogarty’s decision to go for the conversion after Sporrer’s one-yard touchdown run up the middle pulled USD to 20-19. But Bennett found a wide-open Steingrebe in the middle of the end zone.

Cal Lutheran got on the board first, taking a 6-0 lead on a 10-yard run by Cassidy O’Sullivan, who rushed for 152 yards on 26 carries.

Although USD (3-1-1) had possession for 23 minutes 11 seconds to Cal Lutheran’s 6:49 in the first half, the Toreros only had a 13-6 lead to show for it, with Steingrebe hauling in a 10-yard pass from Bennett early in the second quarter and Sporrer running one-yard up the middle, 57 seconds before halftime. Sporrer’s touchdown culminated an 18-play, 99-yard drive that took 8:26 off the clock.

Cal Lutheran made some changes on offense in the second half. In the third quarter, O’Sullivan scored on a 12-yard run and Hacker found Len Bradley on the pass conversion to make it 14-13 Cal Lutheran, then Hacker (11 of 19 for 149 yards) connected with Robert Caulfield on a 16-yard pass play with 12:04 left in the game, giving the Kingsmen a 20-13 lead.

On the winning touchdown drive, which began with 8:07 left and took 5 1/2 minutes, USD faced a fourth-and-one on Cal Lutheran’s 31-yard line. But offensive tackle Eric Brown took out two defenders, giving Bennett time to find Sporrer up the middle on a 10-yard pass.