Box Score Sept. 26, 2009
Box Score
DAYTON, OHIO - Five-foot-ten, 172-pound quarterback Steve Valentino proved too much for Duquesne to handle as he ran-and-passed the Flyers to a 24-17 win over the Dukes at Welcome Stadium.
Valentino, who accounted for 348 of Dayton's 442 total yards, threw for 272 and ran for 76 more as the Flyers moved to 2-1 on the season. Duquesne, which was playing its third road game in as many weeks, dropped to 1-3.
Dayton outgained Duquesne 442-312, including a 236-118 advantage in the second half.
Duquesne scored on the first play from scrimmage when Larry McCoy, who finished with 118 yards on 14 carries, bounced outside and raced 67 yards down the right sideline to put the Dukes up 7-0 just 13 seconds into the game.
Dayton used a big play to tie it, when Valentino, who made Duquesne tacklers miss all afternoon, hit Justin Watkins with a 58-yard touchdown pass on 2nd-and-18 in the first minute of the second quarter.
The Dukes answered with a 14-play, 51-yard drive that ended with a 31-yard Eric Duale field goal to go up 10-7.
Dayton drove to the Duquesne 20, before Tyler Scruggs stepped in front of a Valentino pass and returned it nine yards. Duquesne, behind a 32-yard Connor Dixon-to-Michael Rasky pass play followed by a 21-yard McCoy run, quickly drove to the Dayton 15, but Eric Duale's 32-yard field goal attempt sailed wide with just over two minutes left in the half.
Dayton regained the lead on its first possession of the third quarter, when Valentino scrambled and found Luke Bellman for a 62-yard touchdown on 3rd-and-10.
Valentino then drove the Flyers 49 yards to set up a 32-yard Nick Glavin field that gave Dayton a 17-10 lead with 8:47 left in the third quarter.
Duquesne, which ran nine plays for minus five yards in the third quarter, survived a Glavin miss from 36 yards out to stay within seven at the start of the fourth quarter.
Brian Mack capped an 11-play, 71-yard Dayton drive with a five-yard run with 5:39 left to post the last of the Flyers' 17 unanswered points.
Kevin Rombach replaced Dixon and jump-started the DU offense as the Dukes drove 68 yards in nine plays to pull within seven on a five-yard Rombach-to-Rasky touchdown pass with 2:26 to go.
Duquesne took over at its own 18 with 1:56 left and drove to the Dayton 38 before time expired. Rombach completed 12-of-15 passes for 84 yards in two possessions.
The Dukes converted just three of 14 third downs.
Nathan Totino led the Duquesne defense with 12 tackles, while Dayton's James Vercammen led all defenders with 15 stops.
Duquesne returns to NEC play next Saturday when it hosts cross-town rival Robert Morris in a Homecoming match-up set for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff.
Scoring by Quarters
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| TEAM | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL
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| DUQUESNE | 7 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 17
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| DAYTON | 0 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 24
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LEADERS
Rushing (Att./Yds./TD): DU - McCoy (14-118-1); UD - Valentino (20-76-0)
Passing (Att./Comp./Int./Yds./TD): DU - Dixon (19-8-1-89-0), Rombach (15-12-0-84-1); UD - Valentino (29-19-1-272-2)
Receiving (Att./Yds./TD): DU - Spinks (5-45-0), Rasky (3-44-1); UD - Watkins (3-105-1), Bellman (3-103-1)
Tackles (Tot./Solo): DU - Totino (12/3); UD - Vercammen (15/7)
GAME NOTES
The Dayton win ended a two-game Duquesne series win streak ... UD now leads the series 4-3 ... redshirt freshman Larry McCoy (Wytheville, Ga./George Wythe) posted his second 100-yard game of the season with 118 yards on 14 carries ... McCoy, who topped the 100-yard mark on his tenth carry of the game late in the second quarter, scored on a 67-yard run on the game's first play from scrimmage ... junior quarterback Connor Dixon (South Park, Pa./South Park) completed 8-of-19 passes for 89 yards in his first start of the season ... senior quarterback Kevin Rombach (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) came off the bench to complete 12-of-15 passes for 84 yards on the Dukes' final two possessions ... senior wideout Michael Rasky (Irwin, Pa./Penn-Trafford) extended his streak of consecutive games with at least one catch to 24 with three receptions for 44 yards ... junior Nathan Totino (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton-La Salle) led the Dukes with 12 tackles ... it was his 13th career double-digit tackle game.
