Oct. 31, 2009

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The University of Dayton Flyers continued their PFL dominance on Saturday, defeating the University of San Diego 21-14 in front of 3,471 fans at Welcome Stadium. The win was the seventh in a row for the Flyers, and keeps them tied atop the Pioneer Football League with 5-0 records.

The Flyers had a chance to strike first on their second possession of the game, but a fumble by senior Steve Valentino at the San Diego four-yard line ended the drive. The game remained scoreless after one period.

The Toreros started the scoring early in the second quarter. Freshman quarterback Bo Stompro, seeing his first college action with a start on the road, hooked up with Kyle Warren for an 82-yard touchdown pass.

Dayton would respond later in the quarter. Valentino ran for 29 yards and threw for 22 in a 52-yard drive for the touchdown. The drive was capped off with an 11-yard pass from Valentino to senior wide receiver Nick Collins to tie the score a 7-7 with 1:09 left in the half.

But San Diego would squeeze a scoring drive of its own to grab a 14-7 halftime lead. The big play was a 46-yard run by USD senior running back J.T. Rogan to the nine, and two plays later Stompro completed the drive with an eight-yard touchdown pass to John McGough.

As they have all season, the Flyers came out of the locker room strong to start the third quarter. UD took the second-half kickoff and drove 73 yards on 11 plays to tie the score again. On the eighth play of the drive, Valentino rushed three yards on a fourth-and-two at the San Diego 32 to keep the drive alive. On the next play, a facemasking penalty on another Valentino run gave the Flyers the ball at San Diego's 15-yard line. Valentino then rushed 15 yards into the end zone for the game tying touchdown.

The Flyers have outscored their opponents 59-3 in the third quarter this season.

Dayton would score the winning touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Valentino threw a passes to senior Anthony Papp of 17 and 13 yards to account for almost half of the 61-yard drive. Then a 15-yard run by Valentino plus a late hit personal foul, and then a short run by Valentino with another facemask penalty, and Dayton had the ball at San Diego's two-yard line. Brian Mack gained one yard and then Valentino kept it himself to give the Flyers the go-ahead touchdown.

Valentino had a huge day running the ball, leading the team with 107 yards on 17 carries. He also passed for 185 yards on 13 of 33 passing. Senior Justin Watkins had four catches for 64 yards, and Papp added four for 43. On defense, senior James Vercammen led the team in tackles with a career-high 19. Matt Smyth added 10 hits, and Kevin Burns had an interception.

Stompro was 12-of-24 passing for 169 yards and the two TD's. Rogan gained 130 of USD's 154 rushing yards on 27 attempts.

The win improved Dayton's record to 7-1 overall, while San Diego dropped to 3-5, and 2-4 in the PFL

The Flyers are tied for first in the PFL with Butler and Drake. All three teams will play each other in the final three weeks of the season, beginning with Butler coming to Dayton next Saturday for a 1 p.m. ET kickoff. Dayton is at Drake on Saturday, November 14, and Drake will finish the season at Butler on November 21.

Written by Dan Vohden '11