Special Teams Shines as Valpo Coasts to Season-Opening Victory

by | Aug 30, 2026 | Football Blogs

Special Teams Shines as Valpo Coasts to Season-Opening Victory

The Valparaiso University football team tied an FCS record with three punt-return touchdowns and also blocked a pair of punts, helping the Beacons roll to a 59-13 victory over Lawrence Tech on Saturday afternoon at Brown Field. Chris Gundy (Smithfield, Va. / Smithfield) picked up where he left off last season as a standout return specialist, taking two punts to the house to highlight the season-opening victory.

 

How It Happened

  • The Valpo defense had a pair of three-and-outs on the first two Lawrence Tech possessions. Valpo’s first two offensive drives resulted in a punt and a missed field goal, but the Beacons got on the board when Rowan Keefe (Park Ridge, Ill. / Maine South) and Marty O’Keeffe (Orland Park, Ill. / Brother Rice) established the Keefe-O’Keeffe connection with a 4-yard touchdown reception to make it 7-0 with 3:48 left in the opening quarter.
  • The Beacons got their first takeaway of the day when Jason Salman (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Thomas Jefferson [Marietta]) made an interception, allowing Valpo to take over at the Lawrence Tech 21-yard line.
  • A keeper by Keefe for 19 yards put the ball on the fringe of the goal line, then Cedric Benning III (Baltimore, Md. / Episcopal [Dickinson]) did the rest as he plunged into the endzone from a yard out to make it 14-0 with 1:38 to go in the first.
  • The first big special teams play of the day occurred when Bertrand Berry II (Gilbert, Ariz. / Highland) blocked a punt and recovered it in the end zone for a Valpo touchdown, extending the lead to 21-0 late in the first.
  • Early in the second quarter, Valpo’s defense again forced a punt after a sack for a loss of 15 by Alex Goworowski (Chicago, Ill. / Saint Patrick). Gundy returned the punt 59 yards for a touchdown, stretching the lead to 28-0.
  • Lawrence Tech got on the board with a 58-yard touchdown reception.
  • A 27-yard run by Ashton Allen (New Albany, Ohio / New Albany) followed by a 20-yard catch by Colin Hayes (Bloomington, Ill. / Bloomington Central Catholic) set up first-and-goal for the Beacons, and Michael Rumoro (Geneva, Ill. / Genova Community) broke the plane from three yards out to extend the edge to 35-6 with 5:48 left in the opening half.
  • The Blue Devils scored on a 33-yard run to make it 35-13, but the Beacons tacked on a 27-yard field goal by Luke Scoma (Bellevue, Wash. / Bellevue) to widen the gap to 38-13 at the break.
  • Valpo scored on its first possession of the second half thanks to a 56-yard pass from Keefe to Bryson Winbush (Columbus, Ohio / Bishop Hartley) to make it 45-13.
  • On the next Lawrence Tech possession, the Blue Devils went for it on fourth-and-6 and a pass breakup by Antony Morris (Cincinnati, Ohio / St. Xavier) forced a turnover on downs. The teams exchanged punts, and on the Lawrence Tech punt, Gundy went for his second punt-return score of the day, this one for 41 yards, to make it 52-13 through three quarters.
  • The Beacons tacked on another blocked punt, this time by Jayden Brogden (Cincinnati, Ohio / Lakota West), setting up first-and-goal at the 2. Quarterback Noah Ehrlich (Crown Point, Ind. / Crown Point [Marietta]), who spelled Keefe for the fourth quarter with the game at hand, kept it for a 2-yard score to make it 59-13, which stood as the final.

 

Inside the Game

  • The Beacons had three punt-return touchdowns in Saturday’s game – two of the traditional variety by Gundy and one that was a blocked punt picked up in the endzone by Berry. Valpo became just the fourth team in the history of Division-I FCS with three punt-return touchdowns in a game and the first since Sept. 22, 2011, when Hampton did so against Virginia State.
  • Gundy became the first player in program history with multiple punt-return touchdowns in a SEASON, let alone in a single game.
  • This season’s Beacons already rank tied for second in program history in punt-return TDs in a season. This marks the first time since 2000 that Valpo has had three or more punt-return touchdowns in a season. This season is already tied for second in program history with the 2000 season, behind only four punt return TDs in 1993.
  • Gundy totaled 108 punt-return yards on three returns. For reference, that would have ranked fifth nationally in FCS for all of last season. Although Valpo had a prolific 2025 season in the return game, most of that was on kickoffs as opposed to punts. The Beacons have already surpassed their total punt return yards from the 2025 season (73).  Valpo had one punt-return TD last season, Frank Bartell on Aug. 30, 2025 vs. Virginia Lynchburg.
  • Valpo’s 152 punt return yards on Saturday would have ranked second nationally in FCS all of last season.
  • Valpo had two blocked punts all of last season and already has two this season.
  • Sticking with special teams, freshman punter Will Orlando (Avon, Ind. / Bronsburg) averaged 41.3 yards per punt on three attempts in his collegiate debut, including a long of 50.
  • The Valpo defense recorded six sacks and eight tackles for loss.
  • Redshirt junior Max Samuel (Edina, Minn. / Edina) was the team’s leading tackler with seven stops including three solos and 1.5 tackles for loss.
  • Salman recorded the team’s first interception of the season and his first in a Valpo uniform. He also had one while playing for Marietta in 2024.
  • Valpo improved to 2-0 in season openers during the Andy Waddle heading coaching regime. The Brown & Gold have started the season in the win column in consecutive years for the first time since 2006 and 2007.
  • Keefe went 10-of-16 through the air for 133 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions before Ehrlich came in and went 4-for-6 for 27 yards plus two carries for 18 yards and a touchdown.
  • O’Keeffe had a team-high three receptions including his first collegiate touchdown. Winbush had two grabs for 58 yards with the bulk of his damage coming on a 56-yard TD, quite the play for his first collegiate catch.
  • Redshirt freshman Ashton Allen (New Albany, Ohio / New Albany) led the rushing attack with nine carries for 56 yards. Valpo had three rushing scores from three different players – Ehrlich, Rumoro and Benning. Ehrlich and Benning both scored in their Valpo debuts, while Rumoro enjoyed his first rushing touchdown as a Beacon as well. He did have one receiving score a year ago.
  • Valpo racked up 362 yards of total offense despite the special-teams scores that limited the Valpo possessions.

 

Postgame Press Conference

Click here for postgame press conference.

 

Up Next

Valpo (1-0) will be off next week before playing at Murray State on Saturday, Sept. 12 at 6 p.m. CT. 

 

—