Dayton rallies from 23-0 deficit in ‘wild and wooly’ game to beat Presbyterian

Dayton added two more touchdowns in the third quarter to make it a 49-0 run on its way to a 63-43 victory in the Pioneer Football League opener for both teams.

“Oh my gosh, it was wild and wooly,” Dayton coach Rick Chamberlin said. “That’s what you saw there.”

The only bigger comeback Chamberlin could remember came in 1980 when Dayton overcame a 24-0 halftime deficit to beat Widener in the semifinals of the Division III playoffs.

The comeback in this game happened so fast, it was almost forgotten by halftime.

“I just didn’t want to start slow,” Dayton quarterback Jack Cook said, “and that’s exactly what we did. I really wasn’t nervous about it. I thought we had a good game plan. We just had to get into a rhythm and score some points, and once we did that our defense stepped up big time.”

Dayton (2-1) bounced back from its worst loss in 100 years, 55-3 at Southern Illinois, with its highest-scoring performance since it beat Morehead State 63-20 in 2018.

Presbyterian (2-2), which lost 72-0 to Campbell last week, lost its second straight game.

Presbyterian, one of the two new PFL members, showed off coach Kevin Kelley’s unorthodox strategies — no punts and almost always attempting two-point conversions and onside kicks — throughout the game, and his thinking paid off early.

The Blue Hose scored on two-point conversions after their first two touchdowns to take a 16-0 lead. They recovered an onside kick after their second touchdown and scored on the next play, extending the lead to 23-0.

“It was a punch in the mouth for sure,” Dayton safety Joe Bubonics said, “but it was a great test for our team. It was great for us to get down like that and battle. Everything’s not going to be perfect all the time, so it was good for us to get down and have to claw back.”

Dayton’s comeback began with a 32-yard touchdown pass from Jack Cook to Luke Brenner with 18 seconds left in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Cook ran for two scores and threw an eight-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Holderer.

The Flyers also benefitted from two Presbyterian safeties in the second quarter. The second came when the Blue Hose attempted their first punt from near the goal line. The ball hit a lineman and bounced backward and out of the end zone.

Dayton led 35-23 at halftime and scored touchdowns on four of its five drives in the third quarter, building a 63-30 lead.

Cook completed 18 of 32 passes for 254 yards and threw three touchdowns. Tyler Mintz caught four passes for 58 yards and had one touchdown catch. Jake Chisholm rushed 12 times for 60 yards.

Chamberlin credited his team’s mental poise and toughness for the comeback.

“We’re not a very veteran team,” he said. “Defensively, we are a bit, but offensively, we’re not. But we hung in there. The offense kept grinding, and we started making plays and getting scores.”