Football Wins School-Record 12th Straight Home Game Over Duquesne on Saturday

The Central Connecticut football team won for the 12th straight time at home, setting a new school-record, with a 31-29 win over Duquesne on Saturday afternoon. A missed two-point conversion attempt with no time on the clock helped Central seal the victory. With the win the Blue Devils move to 4-2 overall and 3-0 in Northeast Conference play.

Senior running back Eric Richardson scored a pair of touchdowns, one on the ground and another receiving, as the Blue Devils won their third straight game overall.

Duquesne rallied in the final 2:07, scoring 13 points and climbing to within 31-29 with no time on the clock. Quarterback Sean Patterson hit Dave Williams from five-yards out with the score as the clock expired. On the two point conversion Patterson hit Akeem Moore on the attempt, but Moore was ruled to have gone out of bounds before making the reception, giving the Blue Devils the victory.

A homecoming crowd of almost 4,000 saw the Blue Devils hang on for the victory.

Central led 17-0 just into the second quarter, after senior Josue Paul caught a 64-yard touchdown pass from quarter Gunnar Jespersen. The score was the first of the year for Paul, and the longest scoring pass of the season for the Blue Devils.

A pair of field goals before halftime made it 17-6 in favor of the Blue Devils.

Duquesne scored first in the third quarter on a 48-yard scoring run from Larry McCoy, making it 17-13. McCoy finished the afternoon with 246 yards on the ground for the Dukes, on just 24 carries. He averaged 10.2 yards per carry.

Central answered on the first touchdown of the game from Richardson. He caught a pass from Jespersen for four yards and the score, making it 24-13 with 3:41 left in the third quarter.

The Blue Devils led 31-16 after Richardson's second score in the fourth quarter. He ran it from one-yard out with 3:50 to play, his second rushing touchdown of the year.

Duquesne scored twice in the final 2:07. Both touchdowns went to Williams, who finished the day with seven catches for 63 yards and the two touchdowns.

Central's offense again ran through senior running back Everette Benjamin. He finished the game with 32 carries for 142 yards, his fourth 100 yard performance in a Blue Devil uniform. He came into the game 13th in the nation in rushing, and is now averaging 115.0 yards per game on the ground.

Jespersen finished the day 11-of-18 for 175 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for 23 yards in the victory.

Defensively senior Jeff Marino led the attack with 13 tackles. Junior Nick Delgado added eight, and senior Dominique Rose and freshman Chris Linares each had two pass break-ups in the victory.

Central has a bye next week, and returns to action on Friday night, Oct. 22 at Albany at 7 p.m.

GAME NOTES
- Head coach Jeff McInerney wins his 34th game at CCSU, moving into second all-time at CCSU in wins.
- Central wins its 12th straight home game, a new school record.
- Everette Benjamin's 142 yards give him four 100+ rushing performances this season.
- Central is now 29-3 at home since 2004.
- CCSU is now 20-2 at home under McInerney.
- Senior Joe Izzo is now 7-of-7 on field goal attempts this season. He is 16-of-18 in his career and has hit 10 straight inside of 30 yards.
- Freshman Chris Tolbert scored his first career touchdown in the first quarter. He was playing running back in place of the injured Nate Pagan.