DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Gavin Lochow caught a touchdown pass and threw for another and the Dayton defense forced turnovers on the last three possessions as the Flyers opened the season with an 18-10 win over St. Francis (Pa.) on Saturday.
Lochow hauled in a 12-yard pass from Drew VanVleet midway through the first quarter to cap an 11-play, 28-yard drive on the Flyers’ first possession. That score was set up by Gideon Lampron’s strip sack of Nick Whitfield Jr. and fumble recovery. The Flyers converted on fourth down twice.
A 75-yard punt to the St. Francis 1 when the defense swarmed Markell Holman on the next play for a safety in the final minute of the first quarter.
The Flyers opened the second half with an eight-play, 74-yard drive, capped by Lochow’s 27-yard strike to Luke Brenner after he took a backwards pass from VanVleet. That made it 15-3 after the two-point conversion failed.
Dayton’s second lost fumble led to a 1-yard touchdown run by Markell Holman to pull St. Francis within 15-10 but the Red Flash’s next three drives ended by fumbles on the Flyers’ 5 and 32 and downs on Dayton’s 36. Finally, the Red Flash got to try a Hail Mary from Dayton’s 43 as time ran out.
Lampron led the defense for Dayton with 11 tackles, three for losses, and forced two fumbles. VanVleet was 15 of 22 for 129 yards.
Whitefield threw for 121 yards, completing 15 of 26 for St. Francis, which had 247 yards to total offense to 203 for Dayton.
St. Francis will also open the basketball season at Dayton on Nov. 4.
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