DAVIDSON, N.C. – The University of Dayton football team fell in a heartbreaker Saturday, losing 24-23 at Davidson.  

Dayton scored with 14:18 left in the fourth quarter to pull to within one, but the timing was off on the PAT and it was low and wide.  The Flyers moved to the Wildcat 23 with 5:09 left in the game, but the Davidson line blocked Sam Webster's potential game-winning field goal.

Dayton finishes the season 8-3 overall, and 5-3 in the Pioneer Football League.  Davidson is also 8-3 and 5-3.  The Flyers and Wildcats finished tied for second in the PFL.  With league champion St. Thomas not eligible for the FCS playoffs as a transitional institution, Davidson will receive the league's autobid to the playoffs.

1st Quarter – Dayton 7, Davidson 7

• Dayton took the opening kickoff and drove 64 yards in eight plays to open the scoring.
• Jake Chisholm ran it in from the 15 for the touchdown.
• Davidson needed five plays to drive 83 yards to tie the game.
• The TD was a three-yard run by Coy Williams, but the big play was a 72-yard run by Dylan Sparks to the four-yard-line.

2nd Quarter – Dayton 10, Davidson 10

• Davidson's Caden Bonoffski kicked a 35-yard field goal on the first play of the half, and Dayton's Sam Webster put one through from 28 with 1:29 to go in the half, but the rest of the quarter belonged to the defenses.
• Dayton stopped one Davidson drive on an interception by Cole Hildebrand, and another on downs.
• Davidson came up with a fumble recovery near midfield to stop the Flyers.

3rd Quarter – Davidson 24, Dayton 17

• Jeremy Jonozzo's interception gave Dayton the ball on its own 39, and nine plays later Jake Chisholm ran it in from three yards out to put Dayton up 17-10 with 7:31 left in the quarter.
• Twelve seconds later it was tied 17-17 when Spark scored on a 75-yard run.
• Davidson used another big play to go ahead when Maxwell Weaver went high in the end zone to haul in Jayden Waddell's 35-yard pass.

4th Quarter – Davidson 24, Dayton 23

• UD continued on with a seven-play, 85-yard drive, scoring on the second play of the quarter when Shane Hamm took it in from 17 yards out.
• The PAT was missed and Dayton forced a Davidson 44-yard file attempt that was wide.
• The Flyers drove 50 yards in 10 plays to set up Sam Webster's potential game-winning 40-yard field goal, but the Wildcats' Tyreece White was able to jump up and get a piece of the kick.
• Davidson got the ball back with 5:01 to go, got a big first down on fourth-and-one but had to punt the ball back to UD with 1:05 to go.
• The Flyers had the ball on their own 16 with no timeouts and could only run six plays before turning it back to Davidson for one kneel-down. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• Coming into the game, Davidson averaged 35.6 points and 360.1 yards in total offense in Pioneer Football League games.  The Dayton defense held Davidson to 24 points and 281 yards rushing (with more than half – 147 yards – coming on two plays).
• Linebacker Ben Schmiesing was the game's top tackler with 14.
• Safety Cole Hildebrand had 10 hits (5 solo) and an interception.
• Cornerback Jeremy Jonozzo also intercepted a pass, and led UD with 1.5 tackles in the backfield among his three tackles.
• Jake Chisholm led the Flyer attack for the final time with 90 yards rushing on 19 carries and two TD.
• He finished the season with 1,050 yards, making him the first Dayton runner to have three 1,000 yard seasons.
• Quarterback Shane Hamm was 9-of-17 passing for 123 yards.
• Joey Swanson had three receptions for 33 yards, while Luke Brenner had two for 50.
• Punter Drew Neiman punted three times for a 44.7 yard average, with one inside the 20.  In 41 punts this season he had one touchback.

Please return to DaytonFlyers.com for a more complete recap.