Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU football team opened its 2022 season Saturday, dropping a 22-20 decision to Dayton in front of 3,304 fans at Joe Walton Stadium.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
The Flyers scored 16 points over the course of 3:27 in the third quarter to turn a 14-6 halftime deficit into a 22-14 lead with just 1:10 remaining before the final quarter. Dayton (1-0) closed to within 14-9 on a 42-yard field goal from Sam Webster, and on the ensuing drive the Colonials went three-and-out, getting the ball back at its own 37-yard line. On the first play of the drive, Luke Brenner went in motion, took a handoff and found daylight on the near sideline, scampering 63 yards to put the Flyers on top, 15-14. Dayton went for two, but the pass attempt was off the mark.
THE TURNOVER BATTLE
On the next drive for the Colonials, RMU was faced with 3rd-and-21 from its own 24-yard line. Ben Schmiesing came up with the big play for Dayton, intercepting junior
Anthony Chiccitt and returning it 29 yards to set up the Flyers at the two-yard line of the Colonials. Four plays later quarterback Dante Casciola punched it in from a yard out to expand the lead for Dayton to 22-14.
QUOTABLE
"We didn't play with discipline," said RMU head coach
Bernard Clark, Jr. "Dayton is one of the most fundamental teams that we're going to play. That's how they play every single time they step on the field. They play their fundamentals right and their discipline is right. We didn't do the little things today to win a tough ball game. Now we have to be resilient and see if we can bounce back from adversity."
MOVING
RMU fell behind, 6-0, on a pair of Webster field goals, but was able to grab a 14-6 lead at the break by engineering a pair of scoring drives that exceeded 60 yards. The Colonials grabbed the lead, 7-6, at the 7:43 mark of the second quarter when junior
Parker Fetterman took a pitch on a reverse and moved left to right. He raced to the front pylon, diving for the touchdown to push RMU in front. On its next possession, junior defensive back
Dakarai Cabell came up with the interception, and the Colonials capitalized. Chiccitt would hit redshirt junior wide receiver with a five-yard touchdown pass to give RMU a 14-6 lead.
NO QUIT
RMU inserted junior
Jake Simmons in at quarterback in the fourth quarter, and he pulled the Colonials to within 22-20 with a 10-play, 68-yard drive that was capped by a one-yard touchdown plunge from running back
Anthony Purge. Simmons finished 4-for-6 passing during the drive for 61 yards, including a 24-yard strike that set up the Colonials at the one-yard line of the Flyers. RMU was able to hold Dayton on its next possession and got the ball back with 2:10 to play, but the Colonials couldn't capitalize, turning the ball over on downs.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
In his first collegiate start, Chiccitt finished 18-for-26 passing for 189 yards and a touchdown, while Simmons completed nine of his 16 passes in relief for 107 yards. Fetterman notched five catches for 53 yards to go along with his touchdown run, while fifth-year
Alijah Jackson caught five balls out of the backfield for 40 yards. A total of 10 different Colonials finished with a reception against the Flyers. Defensively, RMU was led by linebacker
Joe Casale, who notched 10 solo stops and 13 tackles overall, including four and-a-half for losses that totaled 10 yards. Included among those takedowns was a sack. Junior linebacker
Amauri Floyd, also making his first start for RMU, added 10 tackles.
UP NEXT
RMU heads to Oxford, Ohio, Saturday, Sept. 10, for a 6:00 p.m. kick against Miami (Ohio).
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