DAYTON, Ohio – The Drake University football team fell to Dayton, 35-10, on Saturday afternoon at Welcome Stadium.
The Flyers improved to 3-2 on the season and 1-1 in the Pioneer Football League, while the Bulldogs settle to 2-3 and 1-1 in the PFL.
"I give all the credit to Dayton. They played a great football game today in every phase. They didn't make too many mistakes and took advantage of ours," said Drake head coach
Rick Fox. "Secondly, we didn't play with energy. You have to play football with a burning desire in your gut and we didn't have that."
The Flyers, who averaged just over a 100 yards rushing going into the game, racked up 323 rushing yard. Tucker Yinger led the Dayton ground game with 172 yards on 21 carries. Alex Jeske completed just 7-of-15 for 126 yards, but rushed for 92 yards with two touchdowns.
Drake's
Grant Kraemer threw for 247 yards and completed 22-of-40 passes.
Eric Saubert was Kraemer's top target as he recorded a game-high 96 receiving yard on nine receptions.
The Flyers used two big plays to take a 14-0 lead into the second-quarter. Jeske struck first for Dayton with a 48-yard touchdown run midway through the opening quarter. Then on Dayton's next possession, Jeske found Jack Euritt for a 42-yard touchdown pass to cap off the six-play 84-yard scoring drive at the 3:13 mark.
On the Flyers' first possession of the second-quarter, Jeske orchestrated a 13-play 81-yard scoring drive. Jeske capped off the long drive with a five-yard touchdown run to put Dayton ahead 21-0.
The Bulldogs managed to get on the board after a 14-play 80-yard drive stalled at the Flyers' 10-yard line.
Josh Lee drilled a 27-yard field to cut the Bulldogs' deficit to 21-3 with 1:01 left in the first-half.
Dayton put together another long scoring drive in its opening series of the second-half to take a 28-3 lead. The Flyers drove 75-yards on 10 plays which was capped off by a one-yard touchdown run by Jared Ruffing.
Drake answered the Flyers' 5:22 drive with a five-plus minute scoring drive of its own. Kraemer completed a 13-yard touchdown pass to
Zach Zlabis to cap off the 15-play 75-yard drive.
The Flyers came right back and answered with five-yard touchdown run by Ruffing for the final score of the game, giving Dayton the 35-10 victory.
The Bulldogs return to action on Saturday, Oct. 8 when they travel to Valparaiso. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
