The opening game of Saint Francis’ 2024 football season was a defensive slugfest that ultimately saw Dayton prevail, 18-10.
The game started off rocky for the Red Flash, with starting quarterback Nick Whitfield fumbling on the third play from scrimmage. The turnover would set Dayton up at the SFU 28-yard line and the Flyers would capitalize on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Drew Van Vleet to Gavin Lochow.
Dayton’s next drive saw them go three and out, but a 75-yard punt from DU’s Logan Forcum backed SFU up at its one-yard line and led to a safety.
After the Saint Francis safety, Dayton fumbled Saint Francis punted, and DU turned the ball over on downs, A Saint Francis field goal by Mac Plummer and back-to-back punts ended the half with Saint Francis trailing, 9-3.
The second half would start off with a bang as the Flyers mounted an eight-play, 74-yard touchdown drive that ended with a 27-yard trick play touchdown pass from Lochow to fellow receiver Luke Brenner.
Later in the third quarter Saint Francis would score its first touchdown of the season after a Dayton fumble set SFU up on the Flyers’ end of the field. The touchdown came on a one-yard rush by sophomore running back Markell Holman. It was his first TD in a Red Flash uniform.
A Dayton Field goal on the next drive would be the last points of the day. Saint Francis’ best chance to even up the game came early in the fourth quarter, but a seven-play 70-yard drive ended with a fumble.
Despite the loss for Saint Francis, outside linebacker Paul Tangelo was dominant the entire afternoon. Tangelo had seven tackles and two sacks and both quarterback takedowns resulted in fumbles. Tangelo’s second forced fumble led to SFU’s only touchdown of the day. For his efforts, the Gaithersburg, Maryland native was named NEC Co-Defensive Player-of-the-Week.
Saint Francis returns to action this weekend with a game at Kent State on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The game can be viewed on ESPN Plus.
