Valpo Edged by Butler in Hoosier Helmet Heartbreaker

by | Sep 27, 2026 | Football Blogs

Beacons Edged by Butler in Hoosier Helmet Heartbreaker

The Valparaiso University football team held a 14-3 first-half lead, but visiting Butler stormed from behind to prevail 33-28 in Saturday’s Pioneer Football League opener, also the Homecoming game at Brown Field. Valpo trailed 33-21 after Butler scored with 2:44 to play, but the Beacons scored a late touchdown and nearly came all the way back as a pass attempt to the endzone that would have won the game fell incomplete with all zeros on the clock.

 

How It Happened

  • Butler made an interception on the first drive of the game, but the Valpo defense held strong with stops on the next three plays to force the Bulldogs to settle for a 41-yard field goal, which went through the uprights to make it 3-0 Butler with 12:26 remaining in the opening quarter.
  • That stood as the score until Valpo QB Rowan Keefe (Park Ridge, Ill. / Maine South) plunged into the endzone from 3 yards out to put the Beacons ahead 7-3 with 4:22 left in the first quarter. Chris Gundy (Smithfield, Va. / Smithfield) and Micah Mackay (Zionsville, Ind. / Lutheran) each had 11-yard catches as part of that scoring drive.
  • After the defense forced a three-and-out late in the first, the Beacons started the second quarter in style. On the first snap of the period, Michael Rumoro (Geneva, Ill. / Genova Community) broke off a 78-yard touchdown run to make it 14-3 in favor of the hosts.
  • Butler drove into the redzone on the next drive, but missed a 37-yard field goal to keep it a 11-point Beacon lead with 8:04 left in the second quarter.
  • The Bulldogs got a stop and then reached the endzone for the first time when QB Gabe Passini completed a 35-yard pass to Nick Munson that made it 14-10. The game was delayed due to a Butler injury late in the half before 14-10 stood as the halftime score.
  • Butler scored on its first second-half drive on a 40-yard TD pass from Passini to Munson to take a 17-14 lead with 11:03 left in the third quarter.
  • The Beacons put together a 75-yard drive that included a 24-yard catch by Gundy after a pair of third-down conversions. Valpo converted on third down for the third time on the drive, this time with a Keefe 7-yard TD pass to Devin Yeats (Hampshire, Ill. / Hampshire) to seesaw the hosts back in front at 21-17 with 3:44 left in the third.
  • Butler scored early in the fourth on a 14-yard Munson TD catch to go back ahead by a 24-21 score.  
  • The Beacons could not convert a fourth-and-6 from the Butler 23, and the ensuing drive resulted in a 40-yard field goal that doubled the gap to six at 27-21.
  • After a punt and a Valpo penalty, Butler took over at the Valpo 40, and took advantage of the field position by eventually scoring on a 17-yard TD run by Desmin Jackson that made it 33-21. The 2-point conversion failed.
  • An 81-yard kickoff return by Kaiser Wilhelm (Mason, Ohio / William Mason) ignited a drive that saw Keefe find Mackay for a 15-yard touchdown to shrink the lead to five.
  • The Valpo defense made a big stop as Jason Salman (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Thomas Jefferson [Marietta]) made a tackle on third-and-1 from the Valpo 45, and a short Butler punt gave the Beacons an opportunity as they took over at their own 35 with 1:36 to play.
  • Keefe completed his first four pass attempts of the drive including a 10 yarder to Yeats, then a targeting penalty against Butler gave Valpo first-and-10 at the Butler 17. After an incomplete pass and three-yard run, Keefe completed a pass that was deflected and caught by an offensive lineman. Valpo had time for one more heave to the endzone on fourth-and-8 from the Butler 15, but the pass was broken up, and the Bulldogs retained the Hoosier Helmet rivalry trophy.

 

Inside the Game

  • This continued a history of one-score games between these two teams as Valpo has dropped the last five head-to-head meetings with all of those coming by 10 points or fewer including four one-score games.
  • Eight of the last nine Hoosier Helmet rivalry games have been decided by 10 points or fewer.
  • Nine of Valpo’s last 10 Homecoming games have been decided by seven points or fewer.
  • Rumoro had the first 100-yard rushing game of his collegiate career, with the bulk of damage coming on his career-long 78-yard run, his second touchdown of the season.
  • Keefe found the endzone with his legs, his second rushing touchdown of the season and the fifth of his career. The Valpo QB threw for two scores and now has six passing TDs this season and 24 in his career.
  • Keefe went 24-of-35 passing for 187 yards, setting a career high in completions for the third straight week.
  • Mackay’s TD grab was his first of the season and the second of his career, while Yeats hauled in his first in 2026 and the fourth of his career.
  • Gundy and Mackay shared the team lead with six receptions apiece, while Gundy led the way with 59 receiving yards.
  • Redshirt junior Nic Lendino (Naperville, Ill. / Neuqua Valley) was the team’s top tackler with a career-high-tying 13 stops. He accumulates his highest tackle outputs against the arch rivals, as his previous 13-tackle game came in the 2025 season finale at Butler.
  • Redshirt junior Max Samuel (Edina, Minn. / Edina) had 1.5 sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss on Saturday, and is up to a team-high nine tackles for loss and team-high 3.5 sacks on the season.
  • Redshirt sophomore Anthony Feltrinelli (Westfield, Ind. / Westfield) was second on the team with eight tackles, his second time in the last three games with eight or more.
  • Wilhelm’s 81-yard kick return was the team’s longest so far this season.
  • Punter Will Orlando (Avon, Ind. / Brownsburg) averaged 45.5 yards per punt on four attempts with a long of 51.
  • Valpo had its best third-down offense of the season, going 7-of-14 for 50 percent.
  • Penalties were a bugaboo on Saturday, as Valpo’s 119 penalty yards marked the team’s most of the Waddle Era and most since the final game of the 2021 season.
  • Valpo lost the opening coin toss for an improbable 15th straight game.

 

Postgame Press Conference

Click here for postgame press conference.

 

Up Next

Valpo (1-3) will play its first PFL road game of the season next week, visiting Morehead State in Morehead, Ky. for a game that kicks off at noon CT on ESPN+. 

 

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