Football Falls in Snowy Loretto to SFPA
Blue Devils return home next week hosting Robert Morris at 12 noon
The Central Connecticut football team dropped its sixth straight game, 27-13, on the road at St. Francis (PA) on a snowy Saturday in Loretto, PA. The driving snow lasted from the opening kickoff until the game's final play.
With the loss the Blue Devils are now 2-7 overall and 1-5 in Northeast Conference play. St. Francis (PA) improves to 2-7 overall and 1-5 in the NEC.
The Red Flash win snapped a five-game CCSU winning streak in the series.
The Red Flash rushed for 304 yards in the game on 61 carries. The Blue Devils had a strong second half and finished the game with 163 rushing yards and 244 yards of total offense.
CCSU sophomore Chris Tolbert rushed 15 times for 81 yards, and senior quarterback Gunnar Jespersen finished the game with 26 yards on the ground and just 83 through the air.
The Red Flash dominated the first half, scoring three times on their first three possessions and taking a 21-0 lead at the beginning of the second quarter.
Kyle Harbridge scored his first touchdown of the game to open the scoring with 9:47 left in the first quarter. His score capped a 10-play drive for the Red Flash, all runs, and gave the home team the 7-0 lead.
Following a quick Blue Devil punt, St. Francis (PA) scored through the air, as Ryan Zarnich caught a 32-yard pass from Josh Kelly to make it 14-0 in the first quarter.
The final touchdown of the first half came at the beginning of the second quarter, as Harbridge scored for the second time in the game, pushing the Red Flash lead to 21-0. They added a 45-yard field goal from Josh Thiel as the first half expired to give the home team a 24-0 lead.
St. Francis (PA) dominated the statistics in the first half holding the ball for over 20 minutes in the half and putting up 221 yards of total offense. They ran 41 plays and rushed the ball 37 times in the driving snow. Central managed just 57 offensive yards on 21 offensive plays before halftime. Jespersen was 2-for-7 through the air with an interception.
Central opened the second half and put up their first score of the game, on an 11-yard touchdown run from senior Brian Fowler.
Following a London Lomax interception, the Blue Devils drove the ball into St. Francis (PA) territory but a sack and fumble by Jespersen gave the Red Flash the ball at midfield. They responded with the second field goal of the game from Thiel, making it 27-7 with 37 seconds left in the third quarter.
Senior Raul Debenendittis returned the kickoff to the St. Francis (PA) 25-yardline, and Fowler ran for his second score of the game to cut the lead to 27-13 with 13:55 left in the fourth quarter. The extra-point was blocked.
Later in the quarter the Blue Devil defense forced a fumble and recovered at their own 25-yardline with 4:19 left.
Central drove to the one yardline of the Red Flash but were stopped inside the one on a fourth and goal play with under a minute to play. St. Francis (PA) was able to run out the clock to end the game.
Defensively the Blue Devils were led by sophomore Antwione Reese and senior Gene Johnson who each finished the game with 13 tackles. Junior Lorenzo Baker added 11 in the loss, and Lomax, a senior, had his second interception of the season.
The Blue Devils return to action next week at home, in their final home game of the season, hosting Robert Morris beginning at 12 noon.