University of Dayton Athletics

DELAND, Fla. – The University of Dayton football team traveled south to take on Stetson University Saturday afternoon and won a hard-fought 44-34 victory on the road.
 
The Flyers (7-1, 4-1 PFL) continue to control their destiny while the Hatters (1-8, 0-5 PFL) were able to take some positives away from the effort.
 
GAME RECAP
1^st Quarter – Dayton 3, Stetson 3

• The Flyers got the ball first and a short, squib kickoff gave Dayton great field position to start the game as the visitors easily moved the ball into Stetson territory on the opening drive.
• A huge run by senior Luke Hansen put UD at the two-yard line before some negative plays moved them a few yards back. That set up a 22-yard field goal by grad student David Maurer to put the Flyers up 3-0.
• On Stetson's first possession, they managed to eat up a lot of clock while marching down the field to the Dayton red zone. The Hatters had a touchdown, but a pair of great pass breakups by sophomore Jaz Boykin stopped the score. They were held to a field goal that tied the game up at 3-3 with just over three minutes to go in the opening quarter.
• UD used up the rest of the time of the first quarter while picking up a couple of first downs, threatening the Stetson redzone once again.

 
2^nd Quarter – Dayton 9, Stetson 16

• Dayton started the second quarter from the Stetson 26-yard line, but were held to another field goal attempt, this time a 46-yarder that went just wide-right.
• The Hatters worked quickly on the next drive and scored a 28-yard touchdown to take a 10-3 lead with 11:39 remaining in the half.
• The first punt of the game came at the 10:00 mark after a three-and-out by the Flyers. Then it was Dayton's defense's turn to force a punt by the Hatters on the following possession.
• Sophomore running back Noah Spencer brought in a change of pace at back and senior tight end Donovan Weatherly's yards after the catch helped UD get the ball into the Stetson redzone.
• The Flyers managed their first touchdown of the game but who else by Weatherly as he caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from senior Bryce Schondelmyer. The extra point was no good however as Dayton still trailed 10-9 with 4:40 to go in the second.
• On the first play of the next drive, the backup quarterback used a QB sneak to take it 61-yards. That started a physical drive for the Hatters that punched the Flyers in the mouth just before halftime. Stetson walked it into the endzone to add to its lead, 16-9.
• The Flyers hoped to strike again before heading in for halftime, but threw a pick with 1:15 to go, giving the Hatters the ball back.

 
3^rd Quarter – Dayton 23, Stetson 19

• On the second half kickoff, the special teams unit for the Flyers sniffed out the trick play and tackled the Hatters at their own four-yard line.
• Junior Jace Schaefer was able to get to the quarterback for Dayton's first sack of the game, forcing a fumble that was recovered by Stetson on that opening drive. That led to a fourth-down stop by the Flyers, giving UD back the ball at the Stetson 37-yard line and momentum with 11:49 on the clock.
• Schondelmyer then found senior receiver Michael Mussari in the back of the endzone, despite Mussari being held by Stetson defender, for the touchdown. Maurer's extra point was good to tie it up at 16-16 with 8:33 to go in the third.
• The running back duo of seniors Luke Hansen and Mason Hackett chewed up yards and clock on the ensuing drive. That set up a touchdown for senior receiver Gavin Lochow to put UD ahead.
• After a slow start to the second half, the Stetson offense woke up and worked its way down the field to set up a 25-yard field goal. That closed the margin to four, 23-19.

4^th Quarter – Dayton 44, Stetson 34

• Dayton responded with an efficient drive, capped off by a 17-yard touchdown run by Hackett. The extra point by Maurer made it a 30-19 UD lead.
• The Hatters answered again though with a 59-yard passing touchdown to cut the gap to four once again, 30-26.
• A nice kick return from junior Paul Kelly set Dayton up at the Stetson 41-yard line with 11:12 to go in the game. On the next play, Hansen ran it the rest of the way to give him his first touchdown of the game.
• Stetson's offense kept causing issues for the Dayton defense as the Hatters scored again and got the two-point conversion to make it 37-34 with 7:40 to play.
• With time becoming a factor, the Flyers hoped to use up as much of the clock as possible as they held a three-point lead. Hansen got the call again and took it to the house once again, this time 33 yards to give UD the 10-point lead with just under four to go.
• On the next defensive possession, sophomore Tallen Hulvey came in off the bench due to an injury to starter Javawn Brooks and made a couple of huge plays, including an interception as Stetson was threatening the redzone.

 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
188 – Gavin Lochow's touchdown in the third gave him 188 points, moving him into 17^th all-time in UD history in scoring.
79 – Donovan Weatherly's 79 yards were a new career high on a career-high six catches.
2000+ – Luke Hansen had his second 100+ yard rushing game of the season and went over 2,000 rushing yards for his career. He finished the game with 158 yards and two scores on just 12 carries for a 13.2 average.
70.4% - Bryce Schondelmyer had a 70.4 completion percentage while going 19-of-27 for 206 yards and three scores.
10 – Senior linebackers Joe Kingsbury and Sam Schmiesing recorded 10 tackles each to lead the defense.

UP NEXT
The Flyers will return home to host Valparaiso next Saturday, Nov. 7 at 12 p.m. at Welcome Stadium.
 
FOLLOW #UDFB ON SOCIAL
Follow Dayton Football on X @DaytonFootball; on Instagram at DaytonFlyers; and Facebook at Dayton Flyers Football.