Sept. 22, 2007
Final Stats
A 69-yard TD pass from Kevin Hoyng to Nick Ruhe proved to be the difference in Dayton's 31-24 win over Fordham Saturday in the Bronx. Ruhe's TD's came two plays after Fordham had come back from 24-3 down to tie the game, and one play after the emotional Ram defense had sacked Hoyng. The win lifts UD to 4-0 on the season, and drops Fordham to 2-2.
The two teams exchanged punts to open the game, and then Flyers drove 70 yards to dent the scoreboard first. Jack O'Dell scored on an end-around to give UD a 7-0 lead after one quarter. Dayton then capitalized on Fordham turnovers to score a pair of short-field touchdowns. Hoyng hit Matt Champa for a 19-yard score, and then Rob Florian found Jack O'Dell right at the back of the end zone to put UD up 21-0. Fordham has was able to score a field goal with 15 second left in the second quarter to make the halftime score 21-3.
The only scoring in the third period was a Dayton 21-yard Matt Swartz field goal, but the Fordham offense began to find itself, starting an 84-yard TD drive that ended in the fourth quarter. Then the Flyers fumbled away the ball on back-to-back offensive plays, giving the Rams two short-field (33 and 32 yards) scoring drives of their own, and tying the game 24-24.
The Hoyng-to-Ruhe long-distance connection ended the scoring with 5:44, but hardly ended the action. After an exchange of punts, the Fordham defense held the Flyers again, but O'Dell's rugby-style punt hit a Fordham player, and Dayton junior Austin Roseberry fell on the ball. UD got the ball back, but just as importantly, forced Fordham to burn its remaining timeouts. The ensuing Dayton punt gave the Rams the ball on their own nine-yard line with a minute 1:16 to play.
Brandon Cramer made it academic when he intercepted a Fordham pass and downed himself at the 29-yard line. The Flyers lined up in the "Victory" formation, took two knees, and took home a hard-fought 31-24 win.
Hoyng was 15 for 28 for 261 yards and two TD's. Matt Champa (5 catches for 71 yards) and J Michael Jonard (5 for 59), and Ruhe added three receptions for 118 yards. O'Dell had a rushing touchdown and receiving touchdown, and punted the ball six times for a 41.2 yard average.
Defensively, Brian Kelly, Steve McDonald and Corey Vossler shared team honors with eight tackles. The Dayton D came up with six turnovers in the game. Corey Vossler had two fumble recoveries, and David Walbright added one. McDonald had the other interception. Six different Flyers were credited with sacks - Walbright, Bobby Burger, Kalen Hemmelgarn, Scott Vossler and Frank Kohstall.
UD will open the Pioneer Football League season next Saturday at Morehead State.
