Dayton offense fails to click in loss to Truckee

DAYTON - Dayton's defense held Truckee to just one offensive score in the first half, but couldn't overcome early turnovers as Truckee built up a 20-0 halftime lead en route to a 33-14 win Friday night.

The Dust Devil offense shot itself in the foot repeatedly, going punt, fumble, punt, fumble, punt, fumble on its six possesions of the game.

The Dayton defense was able to stop Truckee on downs on the Wolverines' first two possesions, firing up the crowd and the sideline.

Unfortunately, a muffed snap on a punt attempt set Truckee up on Dayton's 27. Senior QB Patrick Shaffer took two plays to score. An 11-yard pass to Eric Holmer was followed by a 16-yard completion in the left corner of the end zone to Braden Waters gave Truckee the lead.

Truckee's second score also came on a bad snap.

Dayton had just gained its initial first down at the 34. On the next play, the snap sailed over QB Jake Turner's head. Defensive back Graham Millie scooped it up and was off to the races, scoring on a 30-yard return.

The second half was filled up by big plays as Dayton managed to score twice with long fumble recoveries and Truckee broke off a long run of its own.

Starting the second half with a fumble on the second play, Dayton looked to be in trouble deep in its own territory. Up steps the defense. Dayton's Austin Fletcher stripped Jake Pettit of the ball on a sweep and rumbled 80 yards down the sideline, cutting the lead to 20-7.

Pettit got his revenge six minutes later, breaking loose for a 97-yard run that started as a sweep to the left. Pettit cut upfield inside the left tackle and then back against the grain, breaking free on the right side before taking it to the end zone.

Cody Yeater scored the final time for Dayton, picking up a fumble at the Dust Devil 15 and returning it 85 yards.

Rob Turner, first-year Dayton coach, was philosophical after the game.

"I'll take a defensive score any day, and we got two of 'em," he said. "Defensively, it wasn't as bad as the score would seem.

"We've got to be able to get rolling on offense and keep the pressure off our quarterback when we do throw. We don't throw a heck of a lot, but we've got to keep the pressure off and he needs to step up and get it done too.

"We know what Truckee's going to bring. They bring intensity, they block well, they do everything right. They're well coached, and they didn't really do anything that surprised us. We came out a little flat."

Tyler Firestone led The Dust Devils with 68 yards rushing on 15 carries. Sean deruburtis carried six times for 19 yards and Cody Yeater gained 15 yards on 10 carries.

Truckee's Jake Pettit led all rushers with 115 yards and two touchdowns on five carries. Patrick Shaffer threw for 106 yards and a score on 9 completions of 15 attempts.

Truckee 7 13 7 6 - 33

Dayton 0 0 7 7 - 14

First Quarter

T - Waters 16 pass from Shaffer (Ferreira kick) 3:04

Second Quarter

T - Auldridge 30 fumble recovery (Ferreira kick) 9:43

T - Pettit 8 run Ferreira kick no good) 7:14

Third quarter

D - Fletcher 80 fumble recovery (Gomez kick) 10:49

T - Pettit 97 run (Ferreira kick) 4:12

Fourth Quarter

T - Curtis 10 run (Ferreira kick no good) 9:14

D - Yeater 85 fumble recovery (Gomez kick) 6:12