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Poughkeepsie, N.Y. -- The University of Dayton football team ended the season with a 21-17 win at Marist on Saturday in UD’s season finale. The Flyers battled back from a 1-4 start to win five of their last six, ensuring their 36th winning season in the last 37 years. UD also finished 5-3 in the Pioneer Football League.
Dayton benefitted from two great defensive performances, one individually and one collectively, to secure the win. UD senior cornerback Kyle Sebetic was matched up one-on-one with the most dangerous receiver in the PFL, Marist’s Michael Rios. Rios came into the game averaging 27.4 yards per catch with six TD’s of 40 yards or longer
On Saturday, Rios was held to four catches for 59 yards, nearly half his average per game. But the 35-yard TD he scored came when he was moved into a slot receiver position, and the Flyers switched late to zone coverage. When Sebetic covered Rios, Rios was held to three catches for 24 yards, and it was a Sebetic’s wrestle-away interception with 1:57 left on Marist’s last drive that won the game.
As a team the Flyers faced down the most efficient passer in the league, Chuckie Looney, who came into the game completing 60% of his passes, averaging 247 yards a contest and throwing just four interceptions all year. The Flyer defense hounded him into 12 of 21 passing for 135 yards, with three interceptions, three sacks and nine QB hurries.
In addition to Sebetic, freshman Ryan Schwenke and Matt Pfleger also picked off passes. Pfleger, starting his 30th and final college football game returned his 21 yards. Clay Krafft, Brannon Dunn and Pat Dowd all had sacks, while Victor Kaczkowski had five hurries and Austen Alber had three. Colin Monnier led UD with eight tackles, including 1.5 in the backfield. Dowd also forced a fumble.
Offensively, Robert Washington led UD with 73 yards on 16 carries. Dan Jacob also ran the ball 16 times, gaining 64 yards and scoring UD’s first TD. Will Bardo threw TD strikes for Dayton’s final two scores, a 15-yarder to Jordan Boykin in the first quarter and another 15-yarder to Ross Smith in the second. Smith had three catches for 43 yards to lead UD. Robert Strong also had three for 32.
Dayton led 21-7 in the first half despite turning the ball over three times. The Flyers converted all three first-half trips into the red zone against a team that only allowed its opponents to score 58% of the time when they move the ball inside the 20. A missed field goal in the third quarter kept UD from being perfect on the day.
