DAYTON, Ohio – A 13-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Andy Rice (Stevens Point, Wis.) to Michael Hudson (Urbandale, Iowa) with just 18 seconds left in the game helped the Drake University football team rally for a thrilling road victory over the Dayton Flyers, 34-30, on Saturday (Nov. 8) at Welcome Stadium.
Down to its final possession, Dayton drove the ball to the Drake 45-yard line in the waning seconds, but the Flyers final pass attempt was intercepted by Caz Zyks (Carpentersville, Ill.) at the goal line as the clock ran out to seal the comeback. The win by Drake improves its record to 6-4 and 5-2 in Pioneer Football League play. The loss drops Dayton to 6-3 and 4-2 in the PFL.
“Our guys hung in there and we told them that the team that was the most physical would win the game,” said Drake head coach Rick Fox. “Our guys did that on both sides of the ball and that set up our opportunity to win the game. I couldn't be more proud of Drake football today and how these guys fought.”
Rice finished the day with 215 passing yards and three touchdowns, while Hudson hauled in two touchdown receptions. Rice added 99 yards on eight carries, including a huge fourth-and-one conversion on the final drive. With 19 second left in the game at Dayton 18-yard line, Rice bulldozed behind his offensive line for two yards and the drive-continuing first down. Three plays later, Rice found Hudson open for the go-ahead score.
“We could have kicked a field goal and played for overtime,” Fox said. “We called a timeout and asked them [the team] what they wanted to do. We talked all week about playing reckless and not playing it safe. That was the theme in the huddle, 'we're going to go and get it.'”
TJ James (Des Moines, Iowa) rushed for a career-high 117 yards, while Conley Wilkins (Overland Park, Kan.) had two touchdown runs to give him 12 scores on the season.
On defense, Taylor Coleman (Hawthorn Woods, Ill.) and John Hugunin (Oswego, Ill.) recorded 19 and 14 tackles, respectively. Coleman added one sack and Hugunin forced a fumble. Brad Duwe (Dubuque, Iowa) forced and recovered another fumble for the Bulldogs.
Drake received the ball to start the contest, but went three-and-out. A 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty by the Bulldogs on the punt return moved Dayton into short field position. The Flyers capitalized, as they needed three plays and 47 seconds, capped by a 24-yard touchdown run by quarterback Will Bardo to take a 7-0 lead.
Trailing 14-0 after a 28-yard touchdown run by Connor Kacsor, Andrew Yarwood (South Elgin, Ill.) of Drake was wide open over the middle on the Bulldogs first play of the next drive as he hauled in an 84-yard touchdown catch. The drive took only 12 seconds, which ranks as the second fastest touchdown drive in program history.
On its next possession, Drake used a 16-play, 96-yard scoring drive capped by Wilkins' first touchdown to trim the deficit to 14-13, but the extra point attempt by Spencer Lee (Johnston, Iowa) was blocked and scooped up by the Flyers as Nolan Harmotto took the ball to the end zone as the two-point conversion extended Dayton's lead to 16-13 with just over seven minutes left in the second quarter.
Dayton answered on its next opportunity as a 38-yard completion off a flea-flicker pass from Bardo to Ross Smith set Dayton up on Drake's nine-yard line. Two plays later, Kacsor ran into the end zone from five yards out to push Dayton's lead to 23-13.
Drake's special teams came up big later in the quarter as Cam Bohnert (Edmond, Okla.) boomed a deep punt to push Dayton all the way back to its own 14-yard line. One play later, Hugunin forced a fumble that was recovered by Sean Conerty (Arlington Hills, Ill.) at the Flyers' 14-yard line.
The Bulldogs capitalized on the miscue as Rice hit Hudson for a 10-yard touchdown catch. The extra point was good and Drake trailed, 23-20, at halftime.
Dayton opened the second half going 79 yards on eight plays capped by a 20-yard touchdown from Bardo to Smith to extend its lead to 30-20.
On their next drive, the Bulldogs drove all the way inside the Flyers 10-yard line, propelled by a 42-yard run by James and additional 15 yards on a sideline interference penalty on Dayton. However, the drive stalled as Drake had to settle for a 22-yard field goal attempt by Lee. The Flyers once again pushed through in the middle and blocked the low kick to keep the score at 30-20 in Dayton's favor.
Wilkins recorded his first rushing touchdown of the afternoon with an eight-yard scoring run to pull the Bulldogs within 30-27 with 1:20 remaining in the third quarter.
Drake heads into its bye week and returns to action on Nov. 22 as the Bulldogs visit Stetson for the first-ever matchup between the teams in the season finale.
