Nov. 21, 2009
Box Score
DAYTON, Ohio - The Marist football team suffered a 27-16 loss to Dayton in its season finale on Saturday at Welcome Stadium, as the Red Foxes finished their season at 7-4 overall and 5-3 in Pioneer Football League play. Senior wide receiver James LaMacchia (Bronx, N.Y.) became the first player in program history to exceed 1,000 yards receiving in a season, as he set the mark on a 77-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter.
LaMacchia finished the game with 111 yards on four receptions. He finished the year with 62 catches for 1,075 yards, which are both single-season program records.
Dayton opened the scoring on an 11-yard touchdown pass from Steve Valentino to Justin Millio with 51 seconds left in the first quarter, putting the Flyers up 7-0. However, field goals from freshman kicker Jason Myers (Chula Vista, Calif.) of 34 and 40 yards cut Dayton's lead to 7-6 going into halftime.
After receiving the second half kickoff, Dayton scored a touchdown on its third play of the drive, a 50-yard pass from Valentino to Justin Watkins. The Flyers extended their lead to 21-6 with 7:02 left in the third quarter on a one-yard touchdown run by Valentino.
On the second play of Marist's ensuing drive, Debowski found LaMacchia for the 77-yard scoring strike that cut the Red Foxes' deficit to 21-13. However, Dayton's next drive culminated in a 24-yard field goal by Nick Glavin, which gave the Flyers a 24-13 lead entering the final period.
With 9:53 remaining, Myers' third field goal of the day - this one coming from 24 yards out - capped an 11-play, 67-yard drive and made the score 24-16 with 9:53 remaining. Dayton, however, put the game away with an ensuing 15-play, 63-yard drive the ended with another 24-yard field goal by Glavin. The kick gave Dayton a 27-16 lead with 2:54 to go.
Debowski accounted for 290 yards of total offense, throwing for 259 and rushing for 31. He completed 13 of his 25 pass attempts. Senior running back O'Neil Anderson (Dorchester, Mass.) led the Red Foxes with 40 yards on the ground. Defensively, senior captains Terrence Turner (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Nick Andre (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) led the team with eight tackles apiece.
For Dayton, Valentino completed 19 of his 27 passes for 275 yards. He also added 72 yards on the ground. Justin Millio caught a team-high nine passes for 80 yards, and Justin Watkins had a team-high 113 yards receiving on five receptions. James Veracammen led Dayton with 11 tackles.
With seven victories, Marist tied the varsity record for wins in a season, which had been previously set in 1990, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2002 and 2005.
