Flyers ready for unbeaten Butler

By Doug Harris, Staff Writer 12:45 AM Saturday, November 7, 2009

Who: Dayton (7-1, 5-0 PFL) vs. Butler (8-0, 5-0)

When: 1 p.m. today

Where: Welcome Stadium

Series: UD leads, 25-8-1

Radio: WHIO-AM (1290), WHIO-FM (95.7)

About the Flyers: They have their destiny in their hands. After playing the unbeaten Bulldogs, they travel to league co-leader Drake and finish the season at home against Marist. Three wins will give the Flyers an outright PFL title and put them in the Gridiron Classic for the second time in three years.

About the Bulldogs: They’re 8-0 for the first time since 1961. They’ve won four of their five PFL games by a touchdown or less. They lead the league in scoring (30.8 points per game) and total offense (400.9 yards). They took the Flyers to overtime last year before falling, 28-21.

Key players

Butler: Sophomore QB Andrew Huck leads the PFL in total offense with 256.5 yards per game, one yard more than UD’s Steve Valentino. WR Zach Watkins leads the league in catches per game (6.6). DE Grant Hunter is first in the PFL in sacks (1.07 per game).

UD: LB-DB James Vercammen had 19 tackles against San Diego last week. He has 97 this year, 45 more than the next most productive Flyer. WRs Justin Watkins (32 catches), JMichael Jonard (27) and Nick Collins (17) give Valentino reliable options in UD’s spread offense.

Keys to  the game

While Butler is a newbie among league contenders, the Flyers have won or shared nine of the last 16 titles. They went into the last game of 2008 with a chance at the crown but lost a close tussle with Jacksonville. With so much at stake today, that disappointment should provide UD with a mental edge that could be the difference.

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