DAYTON — The Dayton Flyers opened up Pioneer Football League play Saturday afternoon with a 27-14 win over Drake in front of a sellout crowd at Welcome Stadium.
>>Dayton football’s home game Saturday against Drake sold out
Senior running back Jake Chisholm ran for 131 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught five passes for 38 yards.
Freshmen quarter Dante Casciola completed 19 of 24 passes for 176 yards and a touchdown.
UD turned the ball over on downs at midfield to start the game and Drake was forced to punt on its first possession as the Flyers began their second drive from its 10-yard line.
Casciola hit Joey Swanson for a 28-yard completion and Kyle Hazell caught a 14-yard pass to give UD a first and goal from the Drake nine. Chisholm ran nine-yards into the end zone on the next play to put the Flyers up, 7-0, after one quarter.
Dayton got a 39-yard field goal by Sam Webster in the second quarter to increase it to 10-0 but the Bulldogs scored before halftime on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Ian Corwin to Trey Radocha to cut UD’s advantage to 10-7 at halftime.
The Flyers took advantage of two personal foul penalties on the Bulldogs in the third quarter and drove to their 21-yard line.
Casciola hit Ty Stylski on third down for a 21-yard touchdown catch to extend the lead to 17-7.
After forcing a three and out, UD took over at Drake’s 45-yard line and drove to their 17-yard line. Chisholm capped the drive with a 17-yard touchdown run as the Flyers led, 24-7, after three quarters.
In the fourth quarter, Dayton got a 21-yard field goal by Webster and Corwin threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Austin Flax to cap the scoring.
The Flyers improved to 3-1 overall, 1-0 in PFL play. They are on the road at Butler in Indianapolis, Indiana on October 8.
Kickoff is at 1:00 p.m.