Tweet #LOYALandTRUE   |  Photo Gallery (by Sandy King)

DAYTON, Ohio – Eastern Illinois was limited to just five offensive plays in the third quarter on Saturday afternoon as Dayton scored 17 points while holding the ball for most of the quarter.

The 17 points were all the offense the Flyers would score on the afternoon but it was enough as they held off Eastern Illinois 17-10.   EIU fell to 0-3 on the season while Dayton improved to 1-0 with the Flyers playing their first game in 658 days.

EIU led 3-0 at the half as both teams struggled to manufacture any offense.   Stone Galloway drove home a 36-yard field goal for the Panthers points in the opening half.   Dayton would miss a 40-yard field goal during its best drive of the opening half.

At the break, Dayton made some adjustments and held the ball for a long drive to open the second half.  Jack Cook capped the Flyers long drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Jake Chisholm as Cook passed for 122 yards in the game.  

On the first play of EIU's opening second half possession, Dayton forced a fumble to give the Flyers the ball in EIU territory.  Cook would score on a 1-yard run with a 4:38 to play in the quarter to put Dayton up 14-3.

EIU would have four plays on its next possession of the third quarter before turning the ball over on a punt.  Brandon Easterling's big punt return gave the Flyers the ball deep in EIU territory.   Sam Webster capped Dayton's scoring with a 31-yard field goal with 31 seconds remaining to put Dayton up 17-3.

EIU would make a change at quarterback in the fourth quarter with Otto Kuhns twice driving the Panthers deep into Dayton territory.  EIU came up short on a fourth-and-goal play on a dropped pass with just under five minutes remaining.

Kuhns would then hit Robbie Lofton for a touchdown strike with 19 seconds left in the game.  Kuhns passed for 61 yards.  Lofton hauled in five passes for 64 yards on the day.

EIU would hold Dayton to 266 yards to total offense but the Flyers took advantage of the short field for two third quarter scores.   The Panthers finished with 300 yards of offense but turned the ball over twice in the contest.