INDIANAPOLIS IND. – Butler rallied from a 21-point deficit in the second half, but came up six points short and dropped a 27-21 decision to San Diego at the Butler Bowl on Saturday, Oct. 18.  The loss was the second straight for the Bulldogs, now 3-4 on the season and 1-3 in the Pioneer Football League.

Quarterback Malcolm Weaver and running back Guy DiBalsamo helped spark the Bulldogs' second half rally. Weaver, getting his first collegiate start, passed for a pair of touchdowns after intermission and guided the Bulldogs on three scoring drives.  His final touchdown pass trimmed San Diego's lead to six points with just over two minutes remaining.

DiBalsamo tallied a pair of second half touchdowns, the first coming on a 17-yard pass from Weaver and the second on a 57-yard run.

And Butler's defense came up with a clutch stop late in the fourth quarter to give the Bulldogs a final shot with 1:11 remaining.  But time ran out on the comeback attempt with the ball at midfield.

"We competed.  We played hard, and we responded to a lot of balls bouncing the other direction and never gave in," said Butler head coach Jeff Voris after the hard-fought game.  "But we didn't make enough plays to win."

The Bulldogs found themselves in the come-from-behind situation, after San Diego (5-1, 3-1 PFL) exploded for 21 points in the final seven minutes of the first half.  The PFL preseason favorite Toreros broke the scoreless deadlock with a four-yard Keith Williams to Ross Dwelley touchdown pass, and then took advantage of a short Butler punt to make it 14-0 on a two-yard touchdown run by Chris Campano with just over three minutes remaining in the half.

And then, with what wound up as one of the biggest plays of the game, the Toreros came up with a fumble recovery and turned it into a 21-yard touchdown run by Parker Mays just before half.

"When we got behind the sticks, because of a penalty or a poor play or them making a play, (when we got in third and long) we had trouble," noted Voris.  "That's what happened in the second quarter.  We had the holding penalty and then we had a false start, and we just weren't good enough today to overcome those situations."

"When we moved the ball, we were on schedule and making first down yardage," added the Butler coach.

The Bulldogs moved the ball in a second half that belonged to the home team.  Butler's defense limited San Diego to just 32 rushing yards, 133 total yards and two field goals in the final two periods.  And the Butler offense picked up the pace with three touchdowns.

The Bulldogs' defense started things rolling when linebacker Ethan Brunhofer returned a pass interception to the San Diego 17-yard line.  Weaver found DiBalsamo from there with Butler's first touchdown with 13:08 remaining in the third period.

DiBalsamo then answered a 34-yard field goal by David Last with his long touchdown run to make it 24-14 at the end of the third quarter.  Last added a 24-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, and then Weaver wrapped up the scoring with a 25-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Derek O'Connor, his third touchdown catch of the season.

Weaver finished the day with a career-best 208 passing yards, and he added 35 yards on nine rushing attempts.  DiBalsamo led all players with 72 rushing yards on five attempts, and he added 17 yards on a pair of pass receptions and 59 yards on three kickoff returns.  Wide receiver Brandon Collins had four catches for 57 yards.

Linebacker Sean Horan finished with a game-high 11 tackles, including a quarterback sack and one forced fumble.  He had one of three Butler sacks on the afternoon.  Safety JoJo Ciancio joined Brunhofer with a pass interception on the afternoon.

Butler will try to snap its two-game skid when it visits Drake for a PFL contest on Saturday, Oct. 25.  That game at Drake Stadium will start at 1 p.m. (CT).