Saturday’s game
Who: Dayton (4-3, 2-2 PFL) at Morehead State (2-5, 1-3)
When: 1 p.m.
Radio: WHIO-AM (1290), WHIO-FM (95.7)
Senior Luke Bellman wasn’t the top receiver on the University of Dayton football team last season.
He probably isn’t even the best player to suit up for the Flyers from Ottawa-Glandorf High School. Nick Ruhe (2003-07) and Al Laubenthal (1977-80) are third and 10th, respectively, in career receiving yards at UD.
But Bellman can say he accomplished something those other wideouts never did: crack ESPN SportsCenter’s top 10 plays of the day.
He had a 37-yard touchdown catch with one second left against Drake last season for which he reached over a defender in the end zone, helping the Flyers turn a 25-24 deficit into a 31-25 victory. The reception was No. 6 on the show that day, and it was a season-altering play since it came in the second-to-last game of the year and kept the Flyers on pace for a Pioneer Football League co-championship.
He would have missed seeing it, too, if teammate Branden Johnson hadn’t spotted it first.
“I got a call at 1:30 or 2 in the morning, and he said, ‘We’re watching ESPN, and, boom, the play was on.’ I said, ‘All right, you guys are pulling my leg. Nice joke.’ They were like, ‘Seriously, watch ESPN the next hour and the play will be on there.’ ... It (was) really cool,” Bellman said.
It still lives in cyberspace on YouTube, but Bellman doesn’t believe it’s the best catch he’s made. He had one against Marist this year to top that.
“I was in between two defenders, and I honestly don’t know how I caught it,” he said. “I was parallel to the ground, full arms out, two defenders next to me, and I got it,” he said.
Bellman has a team-high 24 receptions this season and is worthy of all-league honors, according to coach Rick Chamberlin.
“He’s the most steady receiver we have. ... He can make the catch when you need it done,” he said.
Learning the ropes: Defensive tackle Brannon Dunn, a third-year sophomore from Brookville, is fifth in the PFL in sacks with seven. Instead of raising up after the snap to see where the ball is going, the first-year starter has learned to stay lower and maintain leverage.
“Brannon was a typical high school defensive player. ... He was peeking all the time,” Chamberlin said. “He’d be looking here and there, and he’d get blocked.
“He’s overcome that now. He’s grown out of that. He knows his keys. He’s always had that motor all the time, which you want with your D-linemen. Now he understands what’s going on around him.”
Streak alive: The Flyers haven't been shut out for 393 consecutive games, the longest streak in any level of college football. The last time they were blanked was a 9-0 loss to Marshall in 1976.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2125 or dharris@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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