Saturday, October 18
Davidson, N.C.
1:00 p.m.
Davidson College
22
vs
41
Dayton
Photo by: WG Sports, Willis Glassgow
Dayton Jumps Out to Early Lead, Tops Davidson Football
10/18/2008 4:56:31 PM | Football
DAVIDSON, N.C. – Dayton quarterback Rob Florian completed 21-of-24 passes for 200 yards and rushed for 51 yards and a score to lead the Flyers to a 41-22 Pioneer Football League victory over Davidson at Richardson Stadium Saturday afternoon.
Ryan Alexander led the Wildcats (2-4, 1-3 PFL) with 394 passing yards and three touchdowns. It was the seventh time the senior signal-caller has thrown for 300 or more yards in his career and the first this season.
Kirk Konert proved to be Alexander's favorite target and finished with a career-high 153 yards and two TDs. Florian threw to 10 different receivers for Dayton (6-1, 3-0 PFL) with Justin Millio leading the way with 57 yards. Ben Shappie rushed for 57 yards and a pair of TDs for the Flyers.
It was the 600th win for the Dayton football program, and Rick Chamberlin, who is in his first season as the coach of the Flyers, has been involved in exactly 300 of them as a player, assistant coach and now, head coach.
Dayton led 41-0 with 11:58 left in the game after Sean Heenan scooped up an Alexander fumble and rumbled 77 yards for a touchdown. Davidson scored the final 22 points of the contest and racked up 194 of its 401 yards in the fourth quarter.
On the first play from scrimmage following the fumble return, Alexander hit Konert for what looked like it would be a short gain, but the senior broke a few tackles and turned on the jets for a 66-yard touchdown.
After the Wildcat defense forced the first Dayton punt of the game, Alexander threw for 46 yards in leading a drive which resulted in a 10-yard TD to Konert. Davidson got its second straight two-point conversion and trailed 41-16. Alexander hit Justin Williams for a 12-yard TD pass with 1:12 to play for the final margin.
“We knew this was going to be a tough game, but I didn't think we executed very well on either side of the football,” said Davidson coach Tripp Merritt. “That's the most disappointing thing about today. Dayton is a team that executes. They don't do anything fancy, but what they do, they do very well.”
The Wildcats tried an onside kick to begin the game, and the ball bounced around for a while before Kevin Burns recovered it at the Davidson 30-yard line. Shappie scored from three yards out six plays later for the 7-0 lead. Florian led an 11-play, 84-yard drive on the Flyers' next possession and capped it with a 1-yard run to make the margin 14-0.
Davidson drove down to the Dayton 20-yard line late in the first quarter, but Ben Behrendt missed a 37-yard field goal. The Flyers took over and went 80 yards on 14 plays for a 21-0 lead with 8:09 left in the second quarter. Shappie hit Florian with a quarterback throwback play on 3rd-and-7 from the 11-yard line for the touchdown.
The Wildcats are back on the road for their next two games, beginning with a league contest at Drake next Saturday.
Game Notes: Dayton improved to 6-1 all-time against Davidson… The fumble return for TD was the first against Davidson since 2006… Konert's 66-yard TD reception was the third-longest for the 'Cats this season… After the next two games, Davidson will have played six of its first eight on the road… Mark Hanabury also had a career high with 64 receiving yards… Will Funderburg matched a career-best with 3.0 tackles for loss.
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