Valparaiso closed out Pioneer Football League play on Saturday afternoon with a 51-7 loss to Dayton in Dayton, Ohio.
Dayton jumped on the scoreboard on the second play from scrimmage. Matt Smyth intercepted a pass and returned it 21 yards for a touchdown. Tom Oswald (Cary, Ill./Cary-Grove H.S.) blocked the point after attempt, keeping the score at 6-0.
The Flyers made it 12-0 with 5:00 to play in the opening quarter when Kris Brownlee scored from four yards out. Valpo stopped the two-point attempt and trailed by 12 after the opening quarter.
Matt Shartz made a 37-yard field goal with 12:25 to play in the second quarter to increase the hosts lead.
Valpo answered quickly with a four play drive. Steve Ogden (Wauwatosa, Wis./West H.S.) hauled in a 24-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Doerffler (Fort Wayne, Ind./Concordia H.S.) to cut the Crusader deficit to eight with just over 10 minutes to play in the quarter.
Dayton answered with a four-yard run by Carlton McFadgen with 6:12 left before intermission to push the lead to 22-7. Less than three minutes later, Kevin Hoyng found McFadgen for a 28-yard touchdown to push the lead to 21, 28-7, at the half.
The Flyers added another touchdown on the first drive of the third quarter as Hoyng found Matt Champa for a 15-yard touchdown. Swartz made a 28-yard field goal with 2:29 left in the quarter as the lead grew to 38-10, which it would remain moving into the fourth quarter.
Rob Florian scored a six-yard touchdown with 9:13 to play in the game and Josh Menedez added a one-yard run with 2:24 to play to close out the scoring.
The Crusaders were limited to just 154 total yards for the game. Doerffler threw for 173, with Ogden making five catches for 78 yards.
Hoyng finished 11-of-13 for 236 yards while McFadgen had five grabs for 130 yards.
Defensively, Charlie Thompson (Sheboygan, Wis./North H.S.) made ten tackles, including eight solos to lead the Crusaders.
Valparaiso (2-8, 1-6 PFL) will close out the 2006 season at home next Saturday afternoon. The Crusaders will face Aurora on Senior Day with kickoff set for 12:30 p.m. at Brown Field.
