Football Wins Fourth Straight, Tops Wagner in Four OT on the Road on Saturday Night

The Central Connecticut football team played its first overtime since the 2013 season and came away with a 51-45 quadruple overtime victory on the road at Wagner College on Saturday night.  Senior Cameron Nash rushed 24 times for 104 yards and three touchdowns, all in overtime, to lead the Blue Devils to their fourth straight win.

With the win the Blue Devils are 4-3 overall and 2-0 in the Northeast Conference.  It's the best NEC start for CCSU since they started 5-0 in 2010. The win is the fourth straight for the Blue Devils, the longest streak since they won five straight during the same 2010 season. 

Wagner is 2-5 overall and 0-3 in the NEC with the loss.

Central took a 3-0 lead on a 31-yard field goal from senior Frankie Palmer midway through the first quarter.  Redshirt freshman DJ Exilhomme blocked a Wagner punt on their next possession and the Blue Devils capitalized with the game's first touchdown.  Sophomore Enyce Walker ran it in from one-yard out to cap a quick 15-yard drive and push the lead to 10-0 before the end of the first quarter.

Central drove into the Wagner red zone on its next drive but a penalty ended the touchdown threat and Palmer kicked a 37-yard field goal to make it 13-0.

The Seahawks put together a solid offensive drive and cut the lead to 13-7 with 9:56 left in the second quarter.  Luke Massei hit John Williams with the scoring throw to cap a 75-yard drive.

Central responded quickly as junior Jacob Dolegala hit sophomore running back Drew Jean-Guillaume with a 43-yard touchdown pass to stretch the lead to 20-7.  The score was the fifth in the last three weeks for Jean-Guillaume. 

The defense struck again and scored on an interception for the fourth time this season.  Junior Tymir Hinton returned the pick 100-yards for the score and the 27-7 lead for the Blue Devils with under five minutes to play in the second quarter.

Wagner answered and cut the lead to 27-14 with 3:04 left before halftime.  The Seahawks kicked a field goal to open the third quarter to cut the CCSU lead to 27-17.

The rest of the third quarter was scoreless before Wagner kicked another field goal to make it 27-20 with 11:49 left in the fourth quarter. On the next Blue Devil possession Dolegala threw his second interception of the game and this one was returned 39-yards for a touchdown by Myron Morris and the score was tied 27-27.

In the first overtime the Blue Devils needed just one play as senior Cameron Nash rushed in from 25 yards out to make it 34-27.  Wagner answered and a touchdown pass from Massei sent the game to a second overtime.

The Seahawks kicked a field goal to take a 37-34 lead in the second overtime.  Palmer kicked his third field goal of the game, this time from 22 yards, to make it 37-37 and send it to a third overtime.

Nash scored his second touchdown of the game in the third overtime, and the two point conversion pass to Jose Garcia was successful and CCSU took a 45-37 lead.  Wagner scored on their possession and a wild two point conversion attempt was successful to tie the game 45-45 and send it to a fourth overtime.

Nash's third touchdown came after the Blue Devils forced an interception on Wagner's possession in the fourth overtime.  Jarrod Cann picked off his fourth pass of the season to stop Wagner's scoring attempt.  Nash than ran it in from one-yard out for the game's deciding score.

The Blue Devils return to action next Saturday hosting Bryant beginning at 12 p.m.