Football Falls to Stonehill on Last-Second Field Goal Saturday

Central Connecticut would erase a 16-point deficit in the second half to tie the game before Stonehill kicked a 52-yard field goal as time expired to win, 33-30, at Arute Field on Saturday. The Blue Devils trailed 23-7 in the third quarter before scoring twice in a span of 1:16 to tie the game. Stonehill covered 40 yards in the final 1:03 to set up the winning kick.

C.J. Duell would throw for 299 yards, while Isiah Williams had seven catches for 95 yards. Naj Johnson would have two catches for 64 yards and a score. Davion Johnson and Elijah Howard ran for 48 and 43 yards, respectively.

Kimal Clark led the Blue Devils defense with 10 total tackles. Jayden Anderson chipped in with seven  tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.

The Blue Devils travel to Kent State for a 12:00 p.m. kickoff next Saturday.

GAME INFORMATION

Score:  CCSU 30, Stonehill 33
Records: CCSU (1-1), STO (1-1)
Location: Arute Field | New Britain, CT

KEY MOMENTS

• Stonehill forced a CCSU fumble  on the opening play and recovered the loose ball. The Skyhawks would drive 47 yards, capped off by a 12-yard touchdown from Ashur Carraha to Chris Domercant.
• Central would tie the game with 5:42 left in the opening quarter.  A 51-yard score from C.J. Duell to Naj Johnson would cap an 80-yard drive to make it 7-7.
• Stonehill would open the second quarter by capping off a 66-yard drive a two-yard run by Jermaine Corbett. The Skyhawks would miss the point after try, but took a 13-7 lead.
• CCSU would respond with a quick drive to the doorstep of the endzone. The drive opened with a run and reception by Elijah Howard to put the ball at the Stonehill 27. A 21-yard pass to Isiah Williams would move the ball inside the 10. CCSU had three tries to punch it in, but would fumble on third down and the Skyhawks recovered on their own one-yard line.
• The Skyhawks would take advantage of the third CCSU fumble of the half, taking over at the CCSU 37. A 32-yard drive would end in a 22-yard field goal to make it 16-7 at halftime. Stonehill extended its lead to 23-7 with early in the third quarter. Tom Comella would evade the Blue Devils defense and break off a 47-yard run to make it a double-figure lead..
• Central made it a one score game with 9:26 remaining after covering 68 yards. Davion Johnson would punch in a 21-yard score and Jadd Dolegala would push across to convert the two-point try to make it 23-15.
• The Blue Devils would tie the game just over a minute later. The CCSU defense would force Stonehill to set up for a punt on their own 32. Trey Howe would get through to block the punt and recover the ball to take into the endzone for the score. Davion Johnson would catch the conversion try to tie the game 23-23 with 8:10 to play.
• Stonehill came back with a 67-yard drive over 3:57 to regain the lead. The Skyhawks would convert a third down on the drive that was capped off with a six-yard pass from Carraha to Newsham to make it 30-23 with just over four minutes to play.
• Central would knot the score following a 77-yard drive in 2:54. The Blue Devils would convert a third and 17 from their own 31 yard line to keep the drive alive. A 30-yard completion from Duell to Paul Marsh, Jr. would advance the ball to the three-yard line where Ricky Ortega would punch it in from on the next play. The point after kick would tie the game at 30-30 with 1:03 to play.
• The Skyhawks would move into CCSU territory and face a 4^th and six from the CCSU 35 with 0:02 to play. Stonehill called a timeout to setup the game-winning try for Perry Shelbred.

NUMBER TO KNOW

5 – The Blue Devils were hindered by five fumbles in the game, with three of them being recovered by Stonehill.

NOTES

• The teams were meeting for the second time with each team winning once..
• Howe's blocked punt for a touchdown was the first for CCSU since Alonzo Mitchell returned a blocked kick at Wagner on Nov. 2, 2019.
• Barnum, the NEC Special Teams Player of the Week on Sept. 4, had a 51-yard field goal miss in the first quarter that would have been a CCSU record with a make.
• CCSU Director of Athletics Tom Pincince is a 1997 graduate of Stonehill where he played football and ranks fifth all-time with 2,311 passing yards.

UP NEXT

The Blue Devils travel to Kent State for a 12:00 p.m. kickoff next Saturday

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