Dayton Downs Davidson in Weather-Shortened Game

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DAYTON, Ohio – Despite three turnovers, a dominating running game and strong defense led Dayton to a 40-8 victory over Davidson in a weather-shortened Pioneer Football League game Saturday in Welcome Stadium.

The game was called at 3:42 p.m. with 7:46 remaining due to lightning in the area.

Running back Connor Kacsor and quarterback Will Bardo proved hard to stop on the ground for Dayton (3-2, 1-1 PFL), as Kacsor rushed 26 times for 244 yards and two touchdowns, while Bardo added 69 yards on eight attempts and a touchdown. Ultimately, four Dayton rushers combined for 335 yards. Bardo was efficient in the air too, completing 12 of 17 passes for 103 yards and a touchdown with one interception. Gabe Macsis was his top target, catching five passes for 46 yards and a touchdown.

"Dayton came in and played very hard," said Davidson head coach Paul Nichols. "Their quarterback did some things from a scrambling standpoint to keep some plays alive, and at times we struggled to tackle."

Davidson (0-5, 0-2 PFL) quarterback Jonathan Carkhuff was held to a season-low 145 yards, completing 14 of 32 attempts with a rushing touchdown and his first interception since the season opener. William Morris was once again his top target, catching seven passes for 93 yards.

Matt Casey led Davidson in tackles, matching his career high of 13. Freshman Nate Casey, playing in just his second game, made nine tackles and broke up one pass. Ryan Schwenke led Dayton with seven tackles, of which 2.5 were for loss. Nate Sudnick also made 3.5 stops behind the line.

The Flyers raced out to a 14-0 lead in the first half of the first quarter. After receiving the kickoff, Bardo capped a nine-play, 62-yard drive that took 3:56 off the clock with a 20-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Macis. A John Cook punt on Davidson's next possession went off a lineman pushed into his kicking lane, giving the Flyers a short field at the Davidson 31. Bardo then capped the three-play drive with a rushing touchdown from 13 yards out with 7:49 remaining in the first quarter.

Neither defense budged until later in the half, as the Flyers allowed just one first down on the next five Davidson drives, and the Wildcats stopped Dayton on downs in the red zone on 4th-and-2 and took the ball away twice over Dayton's next five drives. With 10:58 remaining in the half, a botched option pitch by Dayton was recovered by Ricky Tkac at Davidson's 34, but the Wildcats were unable to take advantage. Freshman Ryan Leak made his first career interception to give Davidson the ball on the Dayton 23, but after reaching the Dayton one-yardline, the Flyers moved the 'Cats back to the two and broke up a fourth down pass.

Dayton then drove 77 yards on seven plays to setup a 38-yard field goal attempt for William Will, which he converted for a 17-0 Dayton lead at halftime.

Davidson received the second half kickoff, but Dayton forced a three-and-out and Kacsor bounced off a few tacklers on a 32-yard touchdown run with 13:43 remaining in the third quarter for a 24-0 Flyer advantage. Dayton added a 31-yard field goal on its next drive to go ahead 27-0.

"We put ourselves in a couple different positions where we couldn't get off the field and allowed them to continue a drive," said Nichols. "No. 1, we have to be able to tackle better, and No. 2 when we have opportunities, whether it is offense or special teams, we need to seize those opportunities and capitalize on them."

A 40-yard pass from Carkhuff to Morris keyed Davidson's scoring drive in the third quarter. The play moved the Wildcats to Dayton's 23, and a pair of six-yard rushes by Robert Klein gave Davidson 1st-and-10 from the Dayton 11. On 3rd-and-9, Carkhuff connected with Garrett Diehl for eight yards, and then the 'Cats hustled back to the line, and Carkhuff kept it and followed center Caleb Krause into the end zone on 4th-and-1.

Bryant Bednarek recovered a muffed punt late in the third quarter on Dayton's 42 after a steady rain began to fall, but Davidson was unable to advance after a personal foul negated a successful 4th-and-5 conversion.

"I thought the three takeaways we created were tremendous," said Nichols. "I thought at times on offense we moved the ball well. Defensively I thought we did a nice job in the latter part of the first quarter and the second quarter, as well as the third quarter, despite some tough situations."

Kacsor added a 17-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. On Davidson's ensuing drive, Chris Beaschler returned an interception 42 yards for a touchdown for what ended up being the final margin.

Davidson hosts Drake next Saturday in Richardson Stadium at 1 p.m.

NOTES: Jeff McDaniels had a career long 59-yard punt for Davidson … Game captains for Davidson were Jeff McDaniels, Chris Woods, Ethan Corcoran and Michael Corbett, and former running back John Webel '74 served as an honorary team captain … Nine of the 56 players on Davidson's travel roster were Ohio natives … Carkhuff extended his career records for completions (960), attempts (1581) and passing yards (9863) … He needs 147 yards to become the first Wildcat to throw for 10,000 yards … QB J.P. Douglas lined up behind center for the first time in his Davidson career midway through the fourth quarter.

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