Oct. 24, 2009


VALPARAISO, Ind. --
A smothering effort by the University of Dayton defensive unit paved the way to the Flyers' sixth straight win as the Flyers easily defeated Valparaiso 38-7 Saturday on the road. The Dayton D allowed just two first downs, 60 yards in total offense and just 51 plays the entire game. UD improved to 6-1 overall, and remained tied for first place in the Pioneer Football League with a 4-0 record.

Flyer James Vercammen led UD for the seventh straight game in tackles, but the Dayton defense did such a good job of getting the Crusader offense off the field, Vercammen had half his season average in hits. Vercammen was in on six tackles. Five were solos and he also had one sack, two hits in the backfield and a pass batted down. End Brandon Wingeier had four tackles (three solo), recovered a fumble and returned an interception 57 yards for a touchdown. Safety Aaron Pugh had three hits, a forced fumble and returned an interception 43 yards to set up UD's last touchdown.

Dayton scored in every quarter, and led 14-0 when a fumble on its own 28-yard line set up Valparaiso's only score quarterback Nate Georgen connected with Nicholas Henton to bring the score to 14-7. That one play accounted for VU's only score, half of its first downs and almost half of its offensive yardage on the day.

UD quarterback Steve Valentino ran for three touchdowns and threw for one more. Valentino ran 17 times for a career-high 127 yards and completed 13 of 18 passes for 188 yards. Saturday in his team's commanding 38-7 win over Valparaiso. Running backs Dan Jacob (82 yards, 1 TD) and Brian Mack (61 yards) also had career highs. Justin Watkins led eight Flyer receivers with three catches for 50 yards. JMichael Jonard had two catches for 25 yards and went over 1,000 receiving yards for his career (he now has 1,012).

The Flyers return home to face San Diego on Saturday, October 31. The San Diego game is Military Appreciation Day, and is also UD's "Toys For Tots" game. Fans can donate a new and unwrapped toy and receive free admittance to the game. Fans already holding tickets to the game are also encouraged to bring toys to the game to donate to the U.S. Marine Corps Toys For Tots Campaign. Game time at Welcome Stadium is 1:00 p.m. ET.