EARNIE GRAFTON / Union-Tribune USD's Al-Rilwan Adeyemi returns an interception 57 yards for a first-half touchdown Saturday night at Torero Stadium. The Toreros built what seemed like a comfortable 22-13 halftime lead, only to see Dayton score 17 unanswered second-half points for a 30-22 Flyers victory -- USD's first home loss since 2004.

The Dayton Flyers stared down a 22-13 halftime deficit, then ran off 17 unanswered points to defeat the Toreros 30-22 last night, ending USD's 28-game home winning streak – the longest in the nation. The honor falls to Oklahoma with 22 home wins.

It's USD's first home loss since Sept. 25, 2004, when the Toreros fell to Princeton and their first Pioneer Football League home loss since 2002 – also to Dayton.

“It's frustrating because I know we are capable of playing better,” said USD coach Ron Caragher. “We expect more. We demand more. We demand more from our kids and we didn't get it and that's frustrating.”

With the loss, the Toreros (6-2, 4-2) are likely out of contention for a fourth-straight conference title. Compounded with last week's PFL loss to Jacksonville, the Toreros are behind Dayton (8-1, 5-0), Jacksonville (6-3, 4-1) and Butler (6-2, 4-1) in the standings.

“(Dayton) may go on and win the conference and we positioned them by our performance tonight to be able to do that,” Caragher said. “We had a chance. We missed a golden opportunity, and it's frustrating.”

The Flyers, owners of the PFL's No. 1 defense, were as advertised, collaring the league's top offense and holding the Toreros to 226 total yards – well below their average of 426.1 yards per game. They also held USD to a season-low 10 rushing yards.

“They were a better team than us tonight,” said wide receiver John Matthews, who caught 11 balls for 104 yards and a touchdown. “They came to play. They outplayed us. They deserve to win. Nothing more to it than that.”

After USD quarterback Sebastian Trujillo fumbled the ball to Dayton on the Toreros' first drive, the Flyers marched it down to the San Diego 2, but settled for a 30-yard Nick Glavin field goal.

USD responded with a nine-play drive that ended with a 35-yard touchdown pass from Trujillo to Matthews. But USD, which has had problems kicking of late, had the PAT blocked, allowing the Flyers to tie the score on their next drive on Glavin's second field goal.

The punting game contributed to USD's next score. Kyle Negrete booted a 62-yard kick to pin the Flyers at their 2. Unable to convert a first down, Dayton punted and gave USD a short field. The Toreros capitalized with a 21-yard touchdown from Trujillo to John McGough.

USD added another touchdown when defensive back Al-Rilwan Adeyemi returned an interception 57 yards for the touchdown. It would be USD's last points of the game.

But Dayton trimmed the lead to 22-13 at the half with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Rob Florian to Bart Bergfeld.

In the second half, the USD defense loosened and offense tightened.

“I didn't expect to slow them down that much,” said Dayton coach Rick Chamberlin. “It was a great effort. I thought we had good coverage and I think we got them out of sync a few times.”

Dayton scored on three straight possessions in the second half, totaling 397 yards of total offense.

“We didn't get it done,” said Adeyemi, who had two interceptions. “I missed a couple of tackles and we didn't get it done as a defensive unit. It just didn't happen.”

His second pick gave USD one last chance with 3:11 to play. But a couple of unsuccessful Hail Marys later and Dayton was dancing at midfield.

Kevin Gemmell: (619) 718-5304; kevin.gemmell@uniontrib.com