Football Comeback Falls Short at #17 Coastal Carolina on Saturday

The Central Connecticut football team used an explosive second half but could not overcome a 20-point halftime deficit as #17 Coastal Carolina held on for a 33-25 Homecoming victory on Saturday in Conway, SC.  Central falls to 1-6 overall on the season while the Chanticleers improve to 5-2 overall on the season.

The Blue Devils turned the ball over three times in the first half leading to 17 Coastal Carolina points and they trailed 23-3 at halftime.

Sophomore quarterack Jacob Dolegala finished the game 24-for-40 for 293 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the loss.  He was 15-of-21 for 190 and two scores in the second half.  He had a pair of first half interceptions.

Coastal got on the board first when Dolegala's pass was deflected by Alex Scearce at the four-yardline and Scearce caught the deflection in the end zone for the 7-0 CCU lead in the first quarter.  It was the first of two first half interceptions for Scearce. 

Following a Blue Devil punt in the second quarter, quarter Tyler Keane hit Bruce Mapp for a 22-yard touchdown to cap a 14-play, 85-yard drive for the home team and push the lead to 14-0.

Scearce struck again as Coastal scored for the second time on defense to push the lead to 20-0.  Scearce recovered a Cameron Nash fumble in the end zone for his third touchdown of the season.  He posted his second interception of the game later in the quarter that eventually led to a field goal for Coastal.

Senior Ed Groth's 32-yard field goal was the only scoring of the half for the Blue Devils.  They trailed 23-3 at the break.

Following a Coastal field goal the Blue Devils cut the lead to 26-10 with 5:25 left in the third quarter on a 12-play, 75-yard drive.  Dolegala capped the drive with one yard touchdown run and was 5-of-5 for 60 yards on the drive.

The Blue Devils forced a Coastal punt and then posted their second straight scoring drive to cut the lead to 26-17 with 13:31 left in the fourth quarter.  The drive went 10 plays for 82 yards and was capped by a 14-yard scoring strike to sophomore Jose Garcia.  It was Garcia's second touchdown in as many weeks and cut the lead to nine.

The Chanticleers answered with a score of their own and pushed the lead 33-17 with 9:13 left in the game.  Keane hit Chris Jones for the score to push the lead back to 16.

Central answered with another scoring drive to cut the lead to 33-25 with under eight minutes to play in the fourth.  Junior Joey Fields caught a six-yard touchdown to get the Blue Devils within one score, after a two point conversion attempt to Brian Kowalczyk was successful.

Central forced a CCU punt but eventually turned the ball over on downs on their last possession.

The Blue Devils will travel to Robert Morris next Saturday at 12 p.m.  The game will be shown live on NECFrontRow.com and fans can listen live on News Radio 1410 AM and iHeartRadio.com.