Marist football opened up their first PFL game of the season at home against Dayton, but their new opportunity to establish themselves in conference play washed away, losing 47-14 in front of a record-setting Marist crowd on family weekend for their fourth straight loss.
Dayton, who entered the season with fiery momentum after taking down Ave Maria from the NAIA 49-7, did not miss a beat on offense. Despite an early interception (the first collegiate interception from Marist redshirt freshman James Kratchovil), redshirt freshman quarterback Drew VanVleet dominated with 323 passing yards and five touchdowns.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Sonny Mannino managed the Red Fox offense today under center with redshirt sophomore Enzo Arjona inactive with a right-hand injury.
The Red Foxes also relied on Mannino to establish the run game with redshirt sophomore runningback Carter James out with an undisclosed illness, but the Dayton offense out-scrimmaged Marist 443 to 219 on the day.
“It starts with me. I need to clean up and create a structure that allows these guys to play confidently,” said Marist head coach Mike Willis.
The Red Foxes have had a rough go on special teams this season; a clear shortcoming on the day against the Flyers. While the Red Foxes forced a three-and-out stop on their first drive, graduate student runningback Tristan Shannon muffed the punt, allowing field possession at the 22-yard line for Dayton and a passing touchdown to redshirt sophomore Mason Hackett for an early 7-0 Dayton lead.
To cap off the special teams mishaps, Marist had a blocked punt by the Flyers towards the end of the fourth quarter, which the Flyers then fumbled at the goal line. While Marist special teams scooped up the punt, they bobbled the pick up, leading to Dayton recovering on the one-yard line for their final score of the game.
Willis mentioned that freshman punter Ethan Youska was battling a leg injury on field in an interview after the game.
“We are experiencing some struggles in the punting game right now. We need to clean up our operation time, and we need to do the things in practice to allow our punter to kick it a little farther.”
Marist’s defense established themselves early on Dayton’s second drive. A 15-yard low-blocking foul sent Dayton back to the 16-yard line to start their second offensive drive, followed by true freshman Braylen Ricks recording his first collegiate sack and a corresponding panic interception from VanVleet.
Mannino–who has lined up at tight end, slot and out at receiver this season–used his legs to propel Marist to their first offensive conversion of the day. At the seven-yard line, the quarterback read through all his progressions, but rolled out left of the pocket and broke a tackle to get his first collegiate touchdown, tied 7-7 at the end of the first quarter.
“Sonny played with real toughness,” said Willis. “He got hit multiple times during the game, extending plays, trying to make plays with his feet and his arm. I’m proud of the effort he put forth.
Dayton’s inside run attack propelled them downfield with ease in the second quarter, using motion looks to confuse the Marist line.
VanVleet looked poised leading the offense six-for-six on passes on the second touchdown drive, with a rollout pass to sophomore receiver Gavin Lochow for the second passing touchdown of the day to put up Dayton 14-7.
Using a play-action-heavy scheme, Mannino strung a couple passes to Will Downes in open field space, getting Marist within the Redzone late in the second quarter. On another pass look, Mannino had arguably the statement throw of his career: an 18-yard floater over the head of the defensive back, perfectly into freshman receiver Jack Melore’s hands in the right side of the endzone for six, the first touchdown of his career.
“It’s not surprising to me that he’s playing well because he understands the playbook as well as anyone on our team,” said Willis when asked about Melore.
That’s when the momentum for Marist got gutted. On the following drive, a 69-yard jet sweep run to the house by graduate student Luke Brenner wiped away Marist’s impressive offensive drive as the Flyers took a 21-14 lead and silenced the Marist crowd.
With a chance to get even, another three-and-out drive for Marist brought out the punt team, which freshman receiver Paul Kelly took off on the return. He brought Dayton back to the 22-yard-line with key field position for a field goal.
To top it off, Dayton scored once again within a minute of the half ending, with two deep throws from VanVleet to Coleman to get to the six-yard line and walk to the locker room up 27-14.
Coleman and VanVleet shined out of the gate in the third quarter, with an efficient drive capped off with an 18-yard grab to Coleman to go up three scores. The two connected once again in the fourth quarter for Coleman’s first multi-game touchdown of his career.
Despite the apparent arm talent, Mannino’s deep ball accuracy was lackluster and prevented from stringing together first downs in the second half. The Dayton pass rush stepped up in the second half with multiple sacks, submitting Mannino from building on his strong first half, racking up four sacks to Marist’s two.
Marist heads back on the road against Davidson next Saturday at 1 p.m.
Edited by Jimmy Tsiantoulas
Photo and Graphic by Jaylen Rizzo
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