The day began on a positive note in all three phases of the game for the Valparaiso University football team, but the key plays started to turn in Dayton's favor as the game unfolded, leading to a 26-14 victory for the hosts in Saturday's Pioneer Football League clash at Welcome Stadium in Dayton, Ohio. Freshman Gary Givens III (Tampa, Fla. / Jesuit) had five catches including an ESPN-worthy grab, while Jake Birmingham (River Forest, Ill. / Oak Park and River Forest) paced the defense with a career-high 15 tackles.
 
How It Happened

• After the Valpo defense forced a three-and-out on Dayton's opening drive, Alex Goworowski (Chicago, Ill. / Saint Patrick) blocked a punt to allow the Beacons to start their first drive of the day at the Dayton 38. Redshirt freshman quarterback Caron Tyler (Temecula, Calif. / Chaparral) ran for 33 yards on the first play from scrimmage, and Michael Mansaray (Columbus, Ohio / Westerville South [South Dakota]) later waltzed into the end zone from six yards out to put Valpo ahead 7-0 early.
• The two teams exchanged punts as the game played out very much as expected – with both teams featuring a ground-heavy offensive attack and both teams thriving on defense.
• Dayton leveled the score at seven on a 42-yard run by Gavin Lochow with 6:21 left in the second quarter.
• On the ensuing drive, Valpo had third-and-1 from the Dayton 46 and the Beacons were stopped for no gain. They went for it on fourth-and-1 and were dropped for a two-yard loss and a turnover on downs. That represented a key swing as the Flyers took over at midfield and eventually made their way into the end zone on a seven-yard connection between quarterback Drew VanVleet and Lochow to go ahead 14-7 at halftime.
• Dayton extended the lead to 17-7 on a 36-yard field goal by Danny Baker with 3:44 left in the third quarter.
• Givens had three catches on Valpo's late-third-quarter drive including an impressive, one-handed, over-the-shoulder catch for a 25-yard gain. That drive finished with Tyler faking it to Mansaray and taking it himself for a six-yard touchdown to trim the lead to three at 17-14.
• The two teams continued to exchange punts, and with 10:22 to play in regulation, Dayton had a punt travel 59 yards and just when it looked like it would bounce into the end zone for a touchback, it veered left and out of bounds at the Valpo two-yard line.
• That drive resulted in a safety to make it 19-14 Dayton, and the Flyers ate up much of the remaining time before a 1-yard plunge by Luke Hansen extended the lead to 26-14 with 1:32 to play. That stood as the final.

Inside the Game

• Birmingham became the first Valpo player with 15 tackles in a game since James Doerer also had precisely 15 on Sept. 17, 2022 at Dartmouth. Birmingham has 27 tackles over his last two games, has seven straight games with at least seven tackles and has double-figure totals in three of his last four.
• Senior Colin Graves (Seattle, Wash. / Bishop Blanchet) also had a career-high in the tackle department with 12, his first double-figure output of the season and his first time with more than six in the last seven games.
• Redshirt freshman Isaiah Fowler (Gary, Ind. / Chesterton) accrued a career-high seven tackles including five solos. He had one career solo tackle before racking up five on Saturday. Senior Sam Hafner (Green Bay, Wis. / DePere) and redshirt junior Hayden Bedell added eight tackles apiece, both season highs and for Bedell a career high.
• Givens finished with 52 receiving yards on a career-high five catches.
• Tyler had an efficient day passing the football, going 10-of-12 through the air. He was also the team's leading rusher with 58 yards on the ground.
• Mansaray's rushing touchdown was his eighth of the year, while Tyler's marked his third.
• Dayton went 13-of-21 on third down, as 13 of the team's 18 first downs came on third-down plays. One of the Flyers' conversions came on third-and-19.  
• Valpo took on a Dayton team that entered the game leading FCS in total defense (247.4 yards per game) and ranking fourth in scoring defense, allowing just 15.7 points per game.
• Goworowski had his second blocked kick this season, becoming just the 14^th player nationally and the second Valpo player with multiple blocked kicks this year, joining Onye Nwosisi.
• This was Valpo's 27^th blocked kick in Landon Fox's six seasons at the helm including the team's fourth of the season.
• Redshirt senior Sam Johnson (Birmingham, Ala. / Oak Mountain [Jackson State / Alabama]) had five punts averaging 46.8 yards per punt with a long of 53, pinning a pair inside the 20. He was also credited with a 55-yard kickoff for his free kick after a safety.
• Redshirt junior Ryan Hawk (Columbus, Ohio / Bishop Hartley) went 2-for-2 on PATs, improving to 15-for-15 this season.

Up Next
Valpo (3-7, 1-5 PFL) will close out the season on Saturday, Nov. 23 against Davidson at Brown Field. The senior class will be recognized prior to the contest as part of the Senior Day festivities, and then the game will kick off at 1 p.m. with tickets available on tickets.valpoathletics.com.