Football Evens Record With 24-13 Win on the Road at Fordham

The Central Connecticut football team evened its record at 2-2 on the season with a 24-13 victory on the road at Fordham on Saturday afternoon.  The victory is the third for the Blue Devils over a Patriot League team since moving to the Division I level.  Central will also travel to Lafayette next weekend for a game on Saturday at 6 p.m.

The Blue Devil defense led the way on the day, posting an interception for a score and sacking Fordham quarterback Tim DeMorat five times in the win.  The Rams managed just 256 total yards in the game and only 72 rushing yards.  Senior Kenneth Keen led the attack with six total tackles, and one sack.  Classmate Chris Tinkham also posted a sack, stopping Fordham on their last and final offensive play of the game and sealing the win.

Senior quarterback Jacob Dolegala led the offense with 168 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns.  Neither team had a big day offensively, combining for just over 500 total yards.  Central ran for 97, led by 45 from junior Drew Jean-Guillaume.  

Central forced a pair of turnovers in the first half, including a fumble by junior linebacker Mike Mushaw and a blocked punt just before halftime from sophomore DJ Exilhomme.  The two plays led to a total of 10 points for the Blue Devils before halftime.

Central got on the board first with an impressive drive that was capped by a scoring throw from Dolegala to junior tight end Arthur Gilmore, Jr.  The five-play, 72-yard drive took just over a minute and Dolegala was 3-of-4 on the drive to give the Blue Devils the early lead.

The Blue Devil lead reached 10-0 on a 28-yard field goal from junior Francis Cole. 

Fordham cut the lead to 10-6 with their first score of the game.  Following a Dolegala interception, his first of the season, the Rams needed just two plays to score.  The extra point was wide left, and the Blue Devil lead was four.

Central's lead reached 17-6 just before halftime when Dolegala hit Gilmore again for their second scoring hook-up of the game.  The score came following a blocked punt by DJ Exilhomme with under a minute to play that gave the Blue Devils the ball at the Fordham 30-yardline.  Four plays later the scoring pass gave Central the 17-6 lead going into halftime. 

The Blue Devils punted to open the second half and then Fordham drove 70-plays on six plays to cut the Blue Devil lead to 17-13 with 11:11 left in the third quarter.

Central pushed the lead to 24-13 when junior corner Grant Ibeh intercepted a pass and returned it 19 yards for a touchdown.  It marked the eighth time in the last 25 games that the Blue Devils have returned an interception for a touchdown.

The Blue Devil defense did the rest, forcing seven Fordham punts and a pair of turnovers (and a blocked punt) in the victory.  The road win moves the Blue Devils to 2-2 on the season. 

The Blue Devils return to action next Saturday night at 6 p.m. on the road at Lafayette.