Football Downs Penn on Homecoming, 42-21

The Central Connecticut football team claimed a Homecoming win over Penn, 42-21, on Saturday afternoon at Arute Field.The Blue Devils would run for 294 yards as a team on the ground and built a three-touchdown lead to open the game en route to their third straight win on the year.

Central improved to 3-3 overall on the season with the victory. 

Central opened the scoring following an interception junior Tymir Hinton on Penn's opening drive. The Blue Devils would cover 70 yards in 10 plays, including a fourth down conversion on a run by senior Cameron Nash. Sophomore Drew Jean-Guillaume would take a carry around the left end for 14 yards for the opening score and Central would lead 7-0 at the 10:04 mark of the first quarter.

After forcing a Penn punt, the Blue Devils would need just nine plays to punch in another touchdown, capped off with an eight yard run by junior Courtney Rush to make it 14-0 in the opening period.

The Blue Devils would stop the Quakers' opening drive of the second quarter when senior Najae Brown picked off a pass at the CCSU 21 and returned it 79 yards for the touchdown to make it 21-0. It was Central's third interception return for a touchdown of the season.

Penn would get on the board with a 15 yard pass from Nick Robinson to Christian Pearson to make it 21-7, but the Blue Devils would quickly answer back. 

Central took over at its own 48 on the next drive and sophomore Enyce Walker ran through the middle for 19 yards on first down. The drive was finished off with a short pass from junior Jacob Dolegala to Jean-Guillaume to extend the lead to 28-7 following the extra point. 

The Quakers would cut the Blue Devils' lead to 28-21 just before halftime with a pair of touchdown passes from Robinson to Justin Watson, but that was as close as the game would get.

The Blue Devils would score on back-to-back drives over the third and fourth quarters to pull away and cap the scoring. Nash would end a 15-play, 86 yard drive with a one-yard run for his fifth score of the year. After sophomore Tajik Bagley ended a Penn drive with an interception, CCSU would go 88 yards in 11 plays. The drive would end with a seven-yard run by Dolegala for the score and push the lead to 42-21.

Central finished with 294 yards on the ground and put up 473 yards of total offense. Nash finished the day with 119 yards on 23 carries and topped the 100-yard plateau for the third straight game. Jean-Guillaume added 76 yards and Walker had 63 yards.

Dolegala finished 19-of-24 for 179 yards and a touchdown. Jean-Guillaume was the leading receiver with 61 yards and a touchdown on six catches.

Defensively, senior Randall LaGuerre had a team-high 10 tackles. The Blue Devils had three interceptions. 

Central travels to Wagner for a 6:00 p.m. kickoff on Staten Island next Saturday, Oct. 14.