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DAYTON -- The University of Dayton football team broke open a close game with four unanswered second half touchdowns, leading to an important 42-19 home victory over the Valparaiso Crusaders Saturday at Welcome Stadium.  The Dayton defense got the job done with four turnovers and the Flyer offense capitalized with 21 points off those turnovers. 

The win clinched UD's 37th winning season in the last 38 years, but perhaps more importantly positioned the Flyers as one of three teams with one loss in the Pioneer Football League.  Dayton is now 6-2 overall and 4-1 in the PFL.  Valparaiso fell to 2-7, and 0-5.

Senior running backs Connor Kacsor and J.J. Greenwood paced the UD offense.  Kacsor had 19 carries for 92 yards and two touchdowns, while Greenwood ran 10 times for 82 yards and a TD.  Quarterback Will Bardo was 11 of 18 for 128 yards and two scores.  Wideout Ross Smith led UD with five catches for 41 yards and a score.  The other TD went to Cory Stuart, who had two receptions for 24 yards.

Safety Danny Leach paced the defense with 13 tackles and one of Dayton's three interceptions.  With leading tackler Christopher Beaschler sidelined with an injury, his running mate Mitch Sanders stepped up with a career-high 10 hits.  Jack Crain added nine tackles and three passes broken up in his first career start.  Ryan Schwenke and Zach Elias had UD's other two interceptions, and Christian Searles added a fumble recovery on a kickoff in the first quarter.

Kacsor's two touchdowns came before Valparaiso ran a play thanks to Searles, and the Flyers led 14-0 after one quarter.  A pair of Valparaiso field goals by Jacob Newman made it 14-6 at halftime. 

The Crusaders took the second-half kickoff and drove 73 yards to make it a 14-12 game, but the two-point conversion pass fell incomplete and Dayton scored the next 28 points.  UD took advantage of great field position and a 21-mile-an-hour wind at its back in the third quarter to score on drives of 21, 57 and 38 yards to make the score 35-21 after three periods.
Dayton scored again in the fourth before Valpo scored with 1:04 to go, making the final score 42-19.

Brandon Hall led Valparaiso with 20 carries and 108 yards before leaving the game with an injury in the third quarter.

Dayton is home on back-to-back weeks for the only time this season, hosting Drake on Nov. 8 at 1:00 p.m. ET.